Page 3577 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 22 November 2022
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It is fair to say that our community is growing increasingly resistant to and concerned about the threat of multinational conglomerates and for-profit fast-food chains buying up corners of our communities. I understand that Mr Parton may not share that view. His fondness for KFC is known in this place! But I am of the view, and my constituents who I speak to regularly are of the view, that it is a great threat to our group centres and our community centres that fast-food chains, multinational conglomerates, continue to buy up corners of our suburbs.
That is not to say that restaurants like McDonald’s and KFC cannot exist, but good planning means they must exist in appropriate places, with useful auxiliary amenity, and not detract from the suburban locality. The constituents that I have spoken to in Chisholm, and that no doubt you have spoken to as well, Madam Speaker, have made that point very clear.
Where these two petitions for me are so interconnected is about the need to put community voices front and centre in planning decisions. It is about putting people first, when we decide what our suburbs look like, what our districts look like and what our city looks like, not necessarily the interests of people who can afford to own and hoard property. That is the case for the owners of the Chisholm shopping centre and it is the case for the Richardson shopping centre.
On that note, I encourage all of my constituents to participate earnestly in the government’s ongoing review of the Tuggeranong district planning strategy, which is taking place later this week. If memory serves, it is on Wednesday, but you can look at my social media to get the exact date.
We have provided an awful lot of carrot for a long time, to help development in this city. We see two very different cases—one in Chisholm and one in Richardson, and what happens when we allow too much carrot and too much incentive to rich property developers. The time has come for people to be put back in the centre of planning decisions.
Development—block 6 section 88, Gungahlin—petition 26-22
MS CASTLEY (Yerrabi) (10.17): I would like to speak briefly in support of businesses in Gungahlin, particularly in Gribble Street. I believe there are 590 signatories who want to see change. It is incredibly difficult to get parking there, so I was thrilled to hear about this petition. Having spoken to business owners, they would particularly like to see parking time reduced and have inspectors in the area. This will enable delivery drivers to park safely, to pick up food and get it out to the people in Gungahlin who desperately want to support businesses in these mixed use development sites.
We have seen that the parking is inadequate. Many residents are parking there, and other workers are parking there. It makes it difficult to pop in and grab your fish and chips or your fruit and veggies. There is a kebab shop. There are all sorts of great things in that area. It is great to see so many locals signing this petition in support of our courageous business owners.
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