Page 5616 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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transport network plan identifies the need for a Weston Creek interchange and a rapid line travelling from Belconnen through Molonglo, Weston and to Woden. However, 2031 is a long time away and we need action before that. I would hope that everyone in this Assembly would agree about that. In particular, I know that one person would.
The ACT Greens, and in particular my colleague Ms Bresnan, have been consistently calling for the implementation of Redex-style services for the south of Canberra, in particular for Weston Creek and Molonglo, as soon as there are people there, as well as for Tuggeranong. The people of Weston Creek, as with other people, are vulnerable to oil price shocks as much as other Canberrans, and in an environment of volatile petrol prices and limited supply of fossil fuels, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that a frequent, rapid and reliable public transport alternative is in place as soon as possible. In doing this it needs to look at contingency plans in case the demand for public transport increases considerably due to quite likely rapidly increasing petrol costs.
As I said, I do agree with Mr Hanson there are many issues facing Weston Creek and the planned growth of Molonglo will stress Weston Creek, as well as other existing areas of Canberra. I do have a difficulty, though, with Mr Hanson’s motion. It calls on the government to commission a master plan of the Weston Group Centre. While I do understand why Mr Hanson is making this call, the motion would usurp a process of master planning which we all agreed on just three months ago. On 25 August, the Assembly passed a motion which called on the government to develop a process for consultation by:
(ii) developing a priority list of areas on the basis of need, reflected through community consultation, to be master planned and subject to further localised planning;
(iii) undertaking localised planning and consultation in suburban areas and town, group and local centres where significant changes are anticipated;
(iv) incorporating these master plans and precinct plans into the Territory Plan; and
(v) reporting back to the Assembly by end June 2011 with the results of the priority list.”.
This motion resulted from a motion introduced by Mr Smyth which called for a master plan for Kambah shops. It was amended by me to call for the master plan prioritisation process and this was then passed by the Assembly, the entire Assembly. The reason I introduced the amendment was to recognise that many people in our community are concerned about changes to their local environment and that they want a say. It was also to recognise that the current policy of piecemeal, one by one, DA by DA changes is not always giving the best results. Sometimes we need to be bold and look at the big picture. Master plans or precinct plans or neighbourhood plans—whatever you may call them—could be the vehicle for positive change in Canberra.
So for Mr Hanson to now call for a master plan for a specific area of Canberra disregards the clear intention of the Assembly of only three months ago. It does take
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