Page 242 - Week 01 - Thursday, 10 February 2022
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MR DAVIS: Minister, does the environmental impact statement address the impact that the duplication will have on our greenhouse gas inventory and our legislated target for net zero emissions?
MR GENTLEMAN: If Mr Davis is talking about William Hovell Drive, as I said, that is being considered at the moment so I will not comment any further on that. Generally, though, in looking at an EIS and planning into the future, we take all of those into account.
Umbagong District Park—facilities
MR CAIN: My question is to the Minister for Transport and City Services. Minister, as you would be aware, the Umbagong Park bridge has been closed for close to a year, since early 2021. This is a noticeable community loss. This bridge was regularly used, and during COVID lockdowns the community were significantly hampered in their ability to use their local green space because of the closure. Minister, as you are aware, I have written two letters to you asking for this to be fixed, spoken in the Assembly on this topic and met with the community and the Belconnen Community Council, who are concerned about the Labor-Greens government’s ongoing inability to deliver basic council services. I am aware, Minister, that recently it was announced that the bridge will need to be replaced. When will the Umbagong Park bridge be replaced?
MR STEEL: I thank the member for his question. We certainly recognise the importance of the Umbagong Park bridges and the values of that particular area, which has meant that we have had to undertake significant work, following the safety audits that were undertaken by our government that found that there were concerns in relation to the existing bridges. That has meant that we have had to go through a process of looking at how we replace those in a way that matches the ecological and cultural values of this very sensitive and well-loved area.
I can inform the Assembly that a design consultant was engaged in January to ensure a quick transition from the planning and assessment stage to the preliminary design stage of designing the new bridges in Umbagong Park. Community consultation has been occurring already with Belconnen Community Council around this process, and we will be engaging with the community again on a concept design in March and April.
In the first half of 2022, we expect that a development application will be submitted for the proposed replacement of the footbridges. As part of this process, there will again be a public notification stage where the community can have their input. We understand the importance of these bridges and we are going through the necessary process, given the sensitive area that they are in, to make sure that we do this properly and as soon as we can so that these much-loved bridges can be returned to community recreational use.
MR CAIN: Why has the temporary fencing that has been described as dangerous and unsightly by constituents still not been replaced with a safer solution since it was damaged in mid-2021?
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