Page 4336 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 25 October 2017
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Our investments and our priorities reflect our community’s progressive values. We are investing in education with upgrades to schools, particularly in Weston Creek and Woden, and planning a new school in the Molonglo Valley and investing in our 10-year health plan, as well as investing in the Canberra Hospital, planning our new nurse-led walk-in centre for the south side and building an integrated public transport system fit for our growing city with light rail stage 2 and new rapid bus services, all the while investing in the regeneration of our group centres.
I want to briefly take us through the record of delivery for the south side in my electorate over the past year. I am incredibly proud of what we have already delivered in Kambah. The government started and completed a $300,000 investment in stage 1 of the upgrades to Kambah Village. It has made an incredible difference to the use and amenity of the square and courtyard and to the pride of the local community as well. In the budget the government funded $2 million needed for the final stage of the upgrades, which will make more significant improvements to the village.
In Kambah we are rolling out green bins for plant matter, as well as in the suburbs of Weston Creek. We have improved Kambah’s transport connections by establishing a new park and ride and a new bus stop on Athllon Drive so that people can catch the rapid services, including the new purple rapid which was announced last week for 2018. We have started upgrades to Anketell Street in Tuggeranong through our investment of $3 million in the budget.
Moving north to the Woden Valley, the government has made significant progress on one of the central city building projects of this term of government, the early stages of light rail stage 2, which will take Capital Metro from the city to Woden town centre. The government engaged in extensive consultation on the potential route alignment and stop locations, with online feedback, written submissions, public meetings and visits to local community groups. The government has already invested millions of dollars in developing the business case and creating detailed modelling for stage 2 of the project, a project which will be transformative for Woden in the wake of years of commonwealth cuts and relocations since 2013.
I am very committed to regeneration of Woden town centre. Earlier this year we hosted a Woden renewal round table with businesses and community groups that has fed into the proposed Territory Plan variation. We have introduced new green rapid buses that take passengers from Woden town centre through the employment hubs of Barton and Manuka to the city every 15 minutes. The government has invested in the construction and operation of a large-scale bus depot in Phillip through the budget as well.
We are revitalising Woden Library by expanding activity and group spaces available for bookings to the public and community groups and freeing up space previously used by the ACT Heritage Library. Works have commenced on the $6.2 million investment in the redevelopment of Phillip Oval.
We are also investing in our 10-year health plan and our hospital at Woden. It is a significant investment: $236 million to start work on building the new surgical procedures, interventional radiology and emergency centre at the Canberra Hospital.
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