Page 1171 - Week 04 - Friday, 23 April 2021
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include public toilets; people can only respond about seating, signage, landscaping and so on. Minister, have you done an about-turn on public toilets, and are you now open to installing toilets at the Kaleen shops?
MR STEEL: I thank Mr Parton for his question. I do not know how much clearer I can be in here. For the second time this week, I will say to the Assembly that we are very keen to hear from the communities around Kaleen Gwydir Square, the Duffy shops and the Campbell shops about what they would like to see as part of the government’s upgrades there. I have not ruled anything in or out. I will be absolutely clear about that again: I have not ruled anything in or out. If people want to see toilets, they can put those views forward. Of course, there is a certain quantum of funding that will be going into these upgrades, so if we do more of one thing, like putting in toilets, we will have to do less of something else. That is something that the community is going to have to grapple with as part of this consultation.
We are consulting with the community. I spent 2½ hours out at Duffy on Sunday talking with the community there. I did hear from some people that they wanted to see toilet upgrades. I heard from others that they want to see an expanded playground. Draft plans have been put forward. That is all they are—drafts. We want to hear the community’s views about what they would like to see as part of these upgrades.
MR PARTON: Minister, why are public toilets not on the government’s list of eight items it asks people to rate as important, particularly given that, as you have said, nothing is ruled in or out? Will you change that?
MR STEEL: I thank Mr Parton for his supplementary. I have made it very clear that we are keen to hear from the community about a whole range of things. Of course, we have to put up some draft plans in order to prompt feedback and discussion about the upgrades. That includes noting some of the features that might be included in some future upgrades so that people can respond to them. Clearly Mr Parton is responding very much to those things. I am sure other members of the community will put their views forward as well; I encourage them to do so.
MR DAVIS: Minister, does this government have a plan to upgrade the Livingston Avenue shops in Kambah, which have now been vacant and derelict for over a decade?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for his question. That shopping centre is not owned by the government. The public areas around shopping centres, as I explained earlier in the week, are often owned by the government. It is a matter for the private owner of those shops to upgrade them and let them. We hope that they do. The government has very few powers to be able to intervene in relation to private shopping centres. We encourage shop owners to get a move on and to revitalise that local shopping precinct.
The government will get on with making sure that the public realm is up to standard and well maintained and that old assets are upgraded, as we are doing in many shops around Kambah, including the recent upgrades at Kambah village. We have also recently upgraded some of the ramps and footpaths at the Marconi Crescent shops. In the past, in 2016, we also upgraded the shops at Mannheim Street. A range of
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