Page 5100 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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out. We need to look at where there is going to be enough space for that, whether it be Anthony Rolfe or Ernest Cavanagh Street. I know that Mr Corbell raised in his amendment the point that the government is nearing completion of the feasibility study on this, and this is a good thing.
I am glad to see that the government is going to be doing what this motion is calling upon it to do. But there is more to consider, not just bus stations. And light rail is a significant one. If light rail went down Hibberson Street, this would alleviate the problems which some people are seeing from having public transport in Hibberson Street, but it would still mean that we would need a position for an interchange. It would be an interchange where people swapped between light rail and suburban buses. I think that light rail can coexist very well with a shared zone in Hibberson Street, and I would like to commend light rail very much as the solution.
The suggestion to investigate a plan to provide park-and-ride users with car parking away from prime retail parking is certainly worth investigating. Clearly the park and ride will be happening soon. This is something also that the private owners of the prime retail parking need to look at. They can institute timed parking if they wish to; it is well within their bailiwick. They can very cheaply say that you can only park, say, for a maximum of three or four hours. That would not impact on shoppers, but it would impact on all-day parkers.
The next thing was to consider additional on-street car parking at Gungahlin Place. While I am happy for the government to consider this, I would like to put on the record that I have some issues with building more on-street parking in Gungahlin Place. Where are the car parks going to go? Is it going to make Gungahlin Place something attractive and useable, which is something the Gungahlin council has been looking for? It could be an extension of the shared zone, but we need to look at whether this is a good idea. I am not confident that it is. As I said with the additional car parking at Yerrabi, my understanding is that the government is already working on this.
In the few seconds I have left, I will talk about my last amendment:
… investigate opportunities to divert through-traffic from Hibberson Street and to convert the street into ‘shared space’, and report to the Assembly on this by 6 December 2012 …
The Gungahlin Community Council has been talking about this for years. What we need to do is not simply put up signs about 40 kilometres; we need to actually construct the roads so that traffic does not go through Hibberson Street but is diverted around. This will produce a great shared space. This is what is needed to really lift Gungahlin town centre. Hopefully, it will be addressed as part of the draft territory plan variation.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (8.41): I do thank Mr Coe for bringing this forward. I think it is an excellent example of the hard work that Mr Coe does in his electorate in understanding the needs of his electorate and it is part of the Canberra Liberals’ commitment to ensuring that the government focuses on the things
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