Page 3171 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 2013
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disabilities, and ensures Canberra remains on track to meet national disability compliance targets.
I am pleased to say that the budget includes several million dollars for the design of walking and cycling projects which will be implemented through coming budgets. There have, of course, recently been the announcements about the rollout of real-time passenger information. The budget continues to support that project, and there are a range of other matters relating to support for ACTION.
There is much I could say about TAMS. What I can say in summary, perhaps, is that this is an agency that is very passionate about providing the best possible services to the Canberra community. But they do it with a tight budget. There is always more that can be done. And certainly, there are some hard choices there around prioritisation. As members will see, through the many requests that they receive—and it seems to me—TAMS does its best to be responsive to the community. Certainly the customer satisfaction ratings with Canberra Connect about both the contact they receive and the timeliness of many of the responses certainly speaks to the dedication of the staff performing a wide variety of roles in Territory and Municipal Services, and I thank them for their ongoing efforts to maintain the look and feel of the city and provide the services that Canberrans expect.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (5.51): I rise to speak to the budget line item relating to Territory and Municipal Services. I will pay particular attention to the delivery by the directorate of municipal services and programs to the electorate of Brindabella. A number of issues warrant a mention here, and I am prompted to do so in light of numerous representations made to my office about these issues by residents in Tuggeranong and south Woden.
One of the most common issues raised with me is the general amenity of our suburbs, especially in relation to state of our parks, playgrounds, footpaths and roads. The footpaths in the vicinity of Bramston Street in Fadden is one such issue, and I note that progress on work has stalled after first commencing in March this year following my letters to the minister. The footpath has been lifted but not removed. There is now a fence around the area and pedestrians are forced onto the road to get around, and this makes it more dangerous than it was in its original state while the residents continue to wait for this issue to be rectified.
There has been for many years a loose commitment to address another issue in Fadden—to prevent illegal vehicle access to the easement between Free Place, Bugden Avenue and Appel Crescent. This has been a long-running issue and still needs to be addressed by this government.
Road safety at the intersections of Eggleston Crescent at both ends between Hindmarsh Drive and Melrose Drive, not to mention the lack of parking and signage in the suburb, are issues that have been raised with me by residents given their proximity to the Woden town centre. Residents of Chifley battle illegal parking in their suburban streets, and I have lobbied the minister on a number of occasions to ensure signage is adequate and reflects the needs of residents as well as acting as a deterrent for illegal parking.
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