Page 1216 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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place at the moment during the COVID period, but that is the normal standard. While recognising that our garbage truck fleet cannot be in all places at the same time, we still think there would be a way that residents of our more lively precincts can be afforded similar status to those in quieter suburbs.
The entertainment action plan mentions waste collection in passing, in the context of events. By reviewing the ACT commercial waste industry code of practice, the ACT government can go further than the action plan on its work to address a source of conflict between residents and venues.
The Greens have a long history of bringing the cohesion between residential and entertainment spaces into the Assembly, and it is something we continue to raise. It needs to be kept on the agenda. Our hospitality and music industries have taken a heavy hit over recent months. We need to keep looking at ways to support them and keep their issues alive.
Although the work of the broader entertainment action plan is still being undertaken, and I look forward to hearing from Minister Gentleman about phase 1 of the plan when he reports back to the Assembly next month, we do not need to halt all work in this area until that plan is complete. We believe there can be small changes separately as the issues arise.
My colleague Ms Le Couteur noted when she spoke to Mr Parton’s motion in July last year that we need to protect venues and protect residents. New apartments and hotels need to include decent noise insulation, and residents need to know before they move in what is likely to happen in their area. It is not just the noise from music; if you are in these sorts of areas it might be that at 4 am the garbage is being picked up. It is a small change, but I think that noise of a hopper being picked up, full of glass bottles, and dumped into a truck at 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock in the morning is something on which we can do a better job. I think it could make a big difference for residents in our town and group centres.
I have talked today specifically about Braddon, because that is where I receive constituent representation from, but I believe this issue impacts on a whole range of areas. I can think about the growth in apartments in Belconnen town centre, in Tuggeranong around the town centre, in Kingston and Manuka; I can even think of Jamison, where there are now apartments just across the road from the shopping centre. As the city is changing and evolving and more residents are living in these areas, which I think overall is a positive urban fabric outcome, we also need to adjust other measures.
I thank the members that we have spoken to for their consideration and their engagement with me and with my office on this motion. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for City Services, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Recycling and Waste Reduction, Minister for Roads and Active Travel, Minister for Tertiary Education and Minister for Transport) (11.26): I thank Mr Rattenbury for bringing this motion to the Assembly today. The code of practice
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