Page 177 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 11 February 2015
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want to keep as many? How do we upgrade them? What order should they be upgraded in? Do we have a bigger one in each suburb, with smaller ones perhaps even with natural play elements? There is a whole series of important questions that need to be addressed there.
I intend to have that conversation with the community. I have not started that conversation yet. I have asked TAMS to provide me with a range of options. Then I intend to undertake a community discussion, potentially with the assistance of other members of this place, and certainly in a very public way, about how we proceed on that. I think people have different expectations. Some people would rather see some of the old swings taken away and half-court basketball put in. Some people have suggested that they do not need a playground anymore because it is mostly older people in the area and that a bench they could sit at and have a cup of tea would be a better solution. There is a range of community views that Mrs Jones can talk about in her reply.
Mrs Jones interjecting—
MR RATTENBURY: She does not need to heckle across the top of me. Those conversations need to be had with the community, and that is what I intend to do.
I have circulated an amendment which goes to these very issues. It talks about what the government is continuing to do and it talks about the fact that the government is committed to undertaking community consultation in relation to developing a long-term playground strategy. That is the commitment I give.
I think that the situation in Narrabundah was regrettable. I am disappointed in the way the community found out about that, because that is not my expectation of how the community should hear about it or how they should be involved in the conversation. We have been able to find a much better solution in the short term for the Narrabundah community; I am pleased with the outcome. I appreciate that the TAMS staff went away, thought more about the issue and came back with new solutions. It is a much better outcome for the community and I look forward to having a broader discussion with the community about how we keep up a sustainable set of playgrounds in the ACT for the long term.
I move:
Omit all paragraphs after paragraph (1)(c), substitute:
“(d) that the Government will continue to implement its playground maintenance schedule consistent with Australian Standards which define requirements for maintenance inspections of playgrounds;
(e) that the Government is currently developing a playground strategy that focuses on improving ACT play spaces, in line with Australian and ACT standards and best practice contemporary play space design, which aims to improve health and recreational outcomes and will be implemented subject to future budget funding; and
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