Page 1202 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 23 March 2010
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as only one member of the committee, I believe, attended any of these consultations, I find it entirely inflammatory and presumptuous of those members of the committee to make such a claim. Therefore, I need the report to reflect that I cannot support the inclusion of clause 4.31.
You will note that I have also noted in the report that I do not support recommendations 10 and 11. Recommendation 10 asserts that Green Square in Kingston is, in effect, the backyard of unit dwellers in Kingston. I am sure many members have sat on weekends in one of the outdoor facilities of the cafes that are adjacent to Green Square and observed the number of people sitting and enjoying a quiet cup of coffee. Often, I used to sit there at lunchtimes during the week, or on weekends, particularly when I worked in the vicinity. I often saw children climbing the brickwork and saw skateboard riders performing some quite amazing but potentially dangerous feats, but I hardly ever saw anyone—certainly few, if any, adults and hardly any children—actually on the grass. Of course, most of that time was before we were facing such drought conditions and water restrictions that we are now experiencing—and, of course, the grass was much greener at that time.
Members will be well aware, I am sure, of the plethora of wonderful opportunities that people who live in Kingston in units have at their disposal—or anybody that lives in that area, for that matter. There is the lakeshore and the revitalised East Lake area which continues to be developed and will be a favourite place of recreation, I am sure; it certainly is now and will be into the future. Then, of course, on the way down to the lake, there is the nearby Telopea Park, which is a very popular recreational area with plenty of prime facilities and park furniture that make a visit to the park a very pleasant event. I might be so bold as to suggest that this park affords residents in Kingston very much more in the way of a backyard than a small shopping centre square.
There are, of course, other nearby opportunities for unit dwellers in Kingston, many of whom would choose to take advantage of these as well. I doubt very much that Green Square could cope if all the unit dwellers chose to suddenly descend on it and use it as their backyard on any given day. The government necessarily would have to call on the relevant agency to provide crowd control!
The next recommendation I cannot support is recommendation 11. It is not that I believe that multi-unit dwellers should not be considered when we are consulting with the community on landscaping, as the government did in regard to Green Square. Of course, any person is entitled to participate in these consultations, regardless. I have not noticed any edict that was issued to warn off multi-unit dwellers, to tell them that their participation was not welcome.
Should we, therefore, have separate consultation processes for each different grouping within our community? After all, single parents, older people and people with disabilities all have particular needs. It is up to the individual to choose to participate, as we know. It is up to the government to ensure that people are aware of the consultation and that it is accessible. Whether a person avails themselves of that opportunity is up to the individual or organisation as appropriate.
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