Page 115 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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There is no doubt that Woden has had a tough five years. As I revealed through my freedom of information request to the federal government, the total public service headcount in Woden reached a high of 6,099 under Labor in 2013 and fell to a low of just 4,771 under the Liberals. That has left many of the buildings in the town centre empty and in need of redevelopment. Despite these setbacks, there is a significant opportunity to make Woden a better place: not just a place for work but a place for people to live and a place for community. This was the focus of discussions last year at the Woden roundtable that we hosted, which has since led to the finalisation of the Woden town centre Territory Plan variation. The vision and implementation of the plan continues to inform our approach and real measures to support regeneration.
There is no doubt that government has a significant role to play in urban regeneration. Our government has a strong track record of investment in Woden: refurbishments to older buildings, including the Health Directorate’s building on Bowes Street and Access Canberra in the Cosmopolitan building; relocating 1,000 ACT public servants to the Woden town centre; building the new performing arts centre at Canberra College; building the oval and cricket training centre at Phillip; the investment of $3.2 million in the budget last year to free up valuable community space on the mezzanine level of Woden Library; building a new bus depot for Woden; improvements to active travel, with cyclepaths and footpaths in the town centre; and investment in public transport, with the new green rapid service and the new purple rapid service due to begin this year. In addition to this, we are investing in the single most significant infrastructure project in Woden’s history: light rail stage 2.
Over the past month the government’s micro park initiative has also come to Woden. The reimagining and experimentation in the use of public spaces is making an impact in the city. It is great to see the government taking that approach to other locations. It was also great to have arts minister Gordon Ramsay on the south side late last year to kick off a conversation with the community about an arts presence in Woden. This is something that I look forward to working with him on this year, with the local arts community. So the ACT government is working actively to make Woden a more attractive place to live and work, and our work and our investments will continue.
While the ACT government is significantly investing in the future of Woden, it is also pleasing to see new private sector investment, with four major new developments either planned or under construction in the town centre core. The fact that we have seen a flurry of interest in new residential projects for the town centre since the announcement of light rail stage 2 shows the transformative effects the project will have for Woden and also demonstrates the growing confidence in the town centre.
As I engage broadly with the Woden community, I get a very strong message that the redevelopment of buildings in the town centre is a priority. Sixty-nine per cent of people that responded to my Woden renewal survey wanted to see old buildings in the town centre demolished or adaptively reused.
The government is not selling off a lot of land in Woden, as is suggested, because there is not a lot of land in Woden for the government to sell. It is mostly privately owned. Ultimately a large part of Woden is privately owned and private investment is
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