Page 3493 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 17 September 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Adjournment
Motion (by Mr Gentleman) proposed:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Waste—rubbish sizzle
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (4.12): On 25 August I had the pleasure of holding a rubbish sizzle at John Knight Memorial Park. Residents received a free sausage sandwich in exchange for handing in a piece of rubbish found in the park or, indeed, in Lake Ginninderra. It is the first time I have held an event like this and I am glad to say that we had a phenomenal turnout.
I want to thank the many people who were out and about in the park on what was a really lovely day, ushering in I guess what was a false spring, based on what we have seen in the last two days. I thank the people who were kind enough to drop by and hand in the rubbish they found. Whether they were motivated by a desire to clean up the area or by the promise of a free feed, I cannot say, but we luckily had enough sausages to feed a small army, and we did.
I was particularly pleased to see so many families turn up. I think a real theme that we have seen in this place and in this community is just how much young people really are taking such an interest in their environment and in ensuring that their community is kept clean and pristine. I really love seeing families come out with their own bags and their own containers to pick up rubbish.
Even though the deal was that you only had to provide us with one piece of rubbish to get a sausage sandwich, which I think is an awesome deal, many people—I think almost everybody—managed to give more than a handful of rubbish and, in some cases, a big bag of rubbish. But with that said, it was incredibly encouraging to hear that people were often struggling to find rubbish in the park. It reached a point where some participants were almost apologetic about the little amount of rubbish they had collected.
It is clear that the Belconnen community treasures, takes pride in and seeks to look after Lake Ginninderra and the surrounding green spaces. The community complements the efforts of our fantastic city services rangers who I see out most mornings when I am in that area myself with my dog.
Regardless of how difficult it was to find the rubbish, we still managed to collect a sizeable haul by the end of the event. So our efforts were definitely not in vain and I think we can be really proud of just how good the area looked, combined with the efforts of our excellent rangers.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to put on record my thanks to everybody who participated. It is always fantastic to see people actively engaged in the community, giving up their own time to ensure that Belconnen continues to be the beautiful and friendly place that it is.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video