Page 2004 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015

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and invests in the services that Canberrans want in our town centres and our suburbs. This continues in the latest ACT budget. As the Chief Minister has said, we are both a state and municipal jurisdiction. We should never lose sight of both these functions. Indeed they provide us with such a great opportunity to provide for Canberrans.

This ACT Labor government has shown its commitment to consistent urban renewal across the territory. It is doing so by investing in the accessibility of the town centres from their surrounding suburbs, making it easier for more Canberrans to utilise the services provided in these centres. The town centres will all benefit from significant investment in local walking and cyclepath connections. For example, $532,000 is committed to delivering improved walking and cycling connections between the Woden town centre and the Canberra Hospital. Further, a feasibility study into connections around the Belconnen, Tuggeranong, and west Belconnen to Belconnen town centres will look into improving the existing walking and cyclepaths for locals. This government is passionate about encouraging Canberrans to explore their own suburbs by walking and cycling around them. The positive impact for those who choose to be more active will be fantastic for our whole community.

While our town centres will specifically benefit from investment in renewal, the surrounding suburbs will also benefit. For example, $600,000 is dedicated to constructing a new shared pedestrian and cyclepath through Bowen park to make it easier for those in the inner north and inner south to access the Kingston foreshore precinct; $230,000 will go towards funding the first stage of the Oaks Estate heritage walk; and another $200,000 will contribute to designing stage 1 of the Molonglo cycle highway from the city to Acacia Inlet.

In terms of local shopping centres, $1.7 million will be dedicated to revamping the Erindale and Weston Creek group centres. The Kambah group centre will also benefit from $50,000 to develop designs for an upgrade. These initiatives will ensure our suburbs and town centres look and feel great.

I also note the continuing effort in this budget to invest in additional municipal services. In particular, I note the increase in funding by the ACT government in order to deliver additional services to the entire territory community to continue to make Canberra beautiful. This is a budget for all Canberrans. The ACT government has committed $8 million additional funding in the budget to deliver more mowing services, more weed removal and tree maintenance, waterway cleaning and graffiti removal in all of our suburbs. Additional mowing services will include all of Canberra receiving an additional mow, taking the number of mows of the entire city to six each year.

In my own town centre of Gungahlin, the Yerrabi Pond and Gungahlin Pond areas—areas I personally enjoy walking around with many other residents—will be cleaned more frequently. Similar cleaning of Lake Tuggeranong and Lake Ginninderra will also take place. Cleaning and maintenance such as this will ensure more Canberrans can enjoy the beauty of our territory at all times. This is a budget for all Canberrans.

The scenic landscape across the territory will also receive extra maintenance. Foliage around bus stops, road signs and other high visibility areas will be given more


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