Page 1669 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 7 May 2013

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Now the ESA Station Upgrade and Relocation Team, ESDD, the Territory Plan Variation Team and the Gallagher/Corbell/Bourke/Porter/Rattenbury ACT Government have approved the relocation of ESA to Bardi Place, Aranda they must be answerable and be held totally responsible for any future consequences/mishaps on this extremely busy stretch of road. They alone have conceived, planned and approved the relocation of ESA to Bardi Place.

A potential “accident waiting to happen” (AWTH) Blackspot will be created on this already extremely busy part of Bindubi Street. Surely we and our elected ACT leaders and their senior advisers should be trying to eliminate AWTH Blackspots on our busy ACT roads and not creating them! The poorly planned WESTERLY facing entrance/exit to the station, onto the very busy Bindubi Street, will I believe unfortunately prove to be a huge misjudgement and mistake.

I hope that I am wrong. However I do feel it is necessary to reiterate my comments in my submission to ESDD about recommending you not to proceed with such a potentially dangerous and irresponsible relocation—especially as our younger, more vulnerable members of society could be at considerable risk.

With the proposed Geocon … Tower to be built on the corner of Eastern Valley Way and Aikman Drive, it is now evident why this ESA preferred and ideally, centrally positioned site for rapid response times—for … Belconnen—was “not available” as the Number 1 relocation choice …

It appears that money speaks louder than other considerations.

DV315 has been flawed from the onset and should not have been approved because ‘due process’ was never carried out.

That is the content of Mr Temple’s objections. His objections highlight how this government pays little more than lip service to the process of community consultation. The concerns of my constituents about the appropriateness of the site selection for the Belconnen emergency services facility are important. I think that Mr Temple’s comments raise central issues about public safety. Along with Mr Temple, I hope that he is wrong when he says that we are creating a traffic nightmare for ourselves in the future.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

The Assembly adjourned at 4.55 pm.


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