Page 175 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 11 February 2015
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Of course, as we know, Canberrans prefer to park closer than that. I have certainly been doing my best. The one bit of feedback I have had from the public, which I only got last week and will take up with CSD when I next have the chance, is that signage be provided to indicate that that parking is there and available. I think people have not realised how convenient that parking is relative to the site.
Mrs Jones: During the week it is full.
MR RATTENBURY: The feedback I have had is that predominantly the parking pressures arise on the weekends, and that is the basis on which that was designed. But members may wish to take that up with the Community Services Directorate.
Anyway, when it comes to the maintenance of playgrounds, as I was saying, the government continues to provide playgrounds and also to receive playgrounds as new suburbs come on stream. So the number of playgrounds continues to grow and they continue to provide an increased management issue in terms of maintenance.
In terms of the maintenance standard, all ACT public play spaces were designed and built in line with the Australian and ACT standards for play spaces in effect at the time of building. That is something that many members of the public send me questions about. They say, “It does not meet current standards.” Well, they were designed to meet the standards of the time. TAMS are responsible for the provision of playground maintenance and conduct regular safety inspections at all playgrounds across the city. The Australian standards for playground inspections are not mandatory. However, TAMS endeavours to achieve the recommended standards as a minimum practice.
The frequency of the inspections varies, depending on the size and usage of each playground. High usage playgrounds, such as town and district parks, receive a more rigorous inspection program than smaller neighbourhood playgrounds. The number and type of inspections that each playground receives is regularly reviewed to keep pace with changes over time.
The Australian playground standards recommend a three-tiered approach to safety inspections. In Canberra, all playgrounds currently receive a level 1 inspection weekly or fortnightly, a level 2 inspection every one to three months, and an independently assessed level 3 major inspection annually. This inspection regime results in TAMS conducting in excess of 20,000 documented playground inspections each year. That is 20,000 inspections right across the city. There are varying levels, as I have just described, but members can see from that information that there is an extensive regime of ensuring that playgrounds are kept in good condition.
The delivery of the three types of inspections occurs across Canberra at different times and is affected by coinciding maintenance works. There is a need for flexibility in operational programs, and it is therefore not practical to publish a maintenance schedule as suggested by Mrs Jones. Any safety, maintenance, vandalism or cleanliness issues are addressed as they are identified during weekly or fortnightly inspections or from reports from the public. Minor repairs are usually addressed
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