Page 3621 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 13 September 2017
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(e) construction of a dedicated bike lane on Sulwood Drive.”.
I look forward to what I understand will be agreement on this amendment. Mr Coe noted in the debate on the previous motion that it is not very often that we have agreement across all parties in this place, but today I am pleased to say that it looks like we will have at least two.
I thank Mr Parton and Mr Steel in particular, who I have been speaking with about this particular matter for a number of months now. As Mr Parton was speaking, I almost was taken back to drives into work a couple of years ago, listening to Mr Parton describe those magnificent views, but I did not know that dogs talked on Mount Taylor, so I will have to check in with Mr Steel as to whether those conversations with dogs have extended to Pickles now talking as he walks up Mount Taylor.
It really has been fascinating, over the course of this Assembly, to see the amount of community engagement that has been expressed through this place, in the form of motions and petitions. It is tremendous. But I also note we had a discussion in the last sitting about how governments shape budgets, and Ms Le Couteur’s motion, which the government also supported in part after it was initially amended, talks about how a government might form its priorities for each budget. We of course debated and passed the budget in the last sitting, so this is grist to the mill as we head towards the next budget—thinking about all the sorts of priorities we have in our community and how we invest equitably and sustainably right across all the different regions in the city.
As has been noted, there is a lot of activity on Mount Taylor. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Steel and Mr Parton that this sort of activity is exactly the sort of activity that the government wishes to encourage and support. Not only do people get a chance to celebrate our city, to get active, to get out into our nature parks but also the social connections that people make as they make new friends walking up and down Mount Taylor really cannot be assessed in one particular way.
Mount Taylor nature reserve forms part of the over 35 reserves across the ACT that comprise the Canberra Nature Park. These reserves conserve the natural values of the ACT while also providing access to our bush setting. Reserves are greatly valued by the community for the recreational opportunities they provide. They are a well-regarded feature of the Canberra landscape and our bush capital. They are a unique feature of our growing and developing city; you can escape to the natural surrounds of parkland and bush areas so close to home.
The opportunities for informal activities on Mount Taylor reflect the low-key facilities provided across the Canberra Nature Park. The government maintains an extensive network of management trails and walking tracks on Mount Taylor and has installed a number of seats at key locations across the reserve. There are also picnic tables located at the end of Waldock Street for the ACT community to use.
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