Page 2011 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 4 June 2019
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Another planning failure is turning part of Arabanoo Park potentially into community facility zones rather than open space. God knows we have a lot of open space further out from Woden town centre. But in terms of Woden town centre itself, we do not have very much. Arabanoo Park is very small, but it is quite well designed and pretty. There is really no reason to take out that space when next to it is a large surface car park. When the planning committee looked at this, our conclusion was that it should have been retained as a park, and I am disappointed that the government did not come to the same conclusion.
My other petition is on the cross-border issues with the Parkwood area redevelopment. These are really important issues. Part of the parliamentary agreement between the Greens and the Labor Party was to work on trying to move the border. It is not going to work to have a development just over the border in Ginninderry when all the servicing has to come through the ACT. How is it going to be paid for? What rates will they pay? Will they pay ACT rates? Will they pay New South Wales rates? Will they pay stamp duty? How will they get representation for services they get when the taxation presumably will be paid to another organisation? And I put a plug in for turning quite a bit of the area, including Ginninderra Falls, into a national park.
MRS JONES (Murrumbidgee) (10.08): On the petitions raised by Ms Le Couteur, I welcome the petitions to the Assembly, particularly matters associated with planning in Woden. I thank all signatories for their involvement. I hope that the government will take very seriously these concerns as they pertain to my electorate and to the good people of the Woden area.
ACTION bus service—school services—petition 17-19
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (10.08): Today I have tabled yet another petition calling on the government to reconsider the dedicated school bus services that they cut five weeks ago. This petition, with around 70 signatures, joins the ever-growing list of disappointed and concerned signatories who want to see changes made to this disastrous public transport network.
In August last year I lodged a petition containing over 500 signatures calling on this government to reverse its decision to cut a whole lot more dedicated school services. Earlier this year we saw a petition with over 1,000 signatures calling on the government to reinstate bus services to the ANU. Last sitting week my colleague Mrs Kikkert tabled a petition with over 500 signatures calling on the government to restore services that disproportionately impact school students in the Belconnen area.
There have been five other petitions lodged since the conclusion of the minister’s disingenuous consultation process, yet the minister continues to claim that the new network is a success. What continues to concern me is the minister’s complete disregard for parents’ concerns about their children’s safety under the new network. Just last week the minister claimed she was offended that the Canberra Liberals dared to raise this issue. The only thing offensive about our continued representations on the issue of child safety has been the minister’s indifference.
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