Page 4984 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
developments in the area if they do not know where the park and ride will be located. Like the residents of Calwell, I also support a bike-and-ride facility at Calwell. This should be incorporated with the park and ride as there are many bike riders in the Calwell area. It would be of great benefit to the community.
Parking is already very difficult at the Calwell shops and in the area generally as there are many community facilities, which Mr Smyth has outlined, such as the churches, in the area which also use the parking. The expansion of the supermarket there is also removing around 40 spaces. From what I understand, the parking plans were developed in 1991. The usage of the area has obviously increased drastically since then and trucks and interstate coaches also use the area.
As well as sorting out the parking issues and providing a park and ride, a number of other transport solutions should be integrated into the planning for the area, including the provision of a cohesive walking and cycle path network around the area, bike-and-ride facilities—as I have already mentioned—a taxi zone, traffic calming measures, pedestrian crossings and additional bus shelters on Johnson Drive and Webber Crescent, as well as the short-term solution of moving the bus shelter.
The Greens have also advocated improved bus services to Calwell and the surrounding area of Tuggeranong. This part of Canberra needs access to the Rapid bus network and integration of the Tuggeranong suburbs into the Rapid bus network. I note that the 2012 network expansions do not include any new services for this particular area of Tuggeranong, even though this is an area in great need. I think it is also worth noting that there are not any new services included for the Weston Creek area.
A key part of Mr Smyth’s motion is that it calls on the government to put the tender process for the aged-care facility on hold until issues around access roads and paths have been addressed. I understand completely the concerns of the community in this regard. However, I also understand the growing need for aged care in Canberra and the length of time it takes for such facilities to be designed, go through the planning and community consultation process and then be built. We have a rapidly ageing population and already increasing demand for residential aged-care places, which will only grow.
I am proposing in my amendment, which I am foreshadowing now, that the tender process be allowed to continue so as not to hold up the aged-care development. What I am also calling for is that the government prioritise ensuring that adequate roads and footpaths are provided or allowed for, perhaps through the design phase of the facility. There is substantial community concern that, especially given other developments at the group centre, the site will be developed without adequate consideration of road and path access to surrounding blocks. It is very important that the government address these issues sooner rather than later and that the community are satisfied with plans for the aged-care facility and the area surrounding it.
Further on the issue, I think it is worth noting that the process for developing residential aged care is an already very lengthy process. The states and territories provide the land sites but then the federal government provides the funded aged-care
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video