Page 1115 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2016
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maintenance that the skating community undertakes to ensure that the site stays clean and safe for all users. They see it as more than just a government responsibility. They see it as their own responsibility to keep their place safe and clean for all users across the community. This culture of responsibility is reflected through the Territory and Municipal Services skate park users group where representatives of boarders, BMX bike riders and skater groups come together to provide a forum for ideas and feedback from all groups that make use of these facilities.
Another good example of tangible support of fun for children and young people is our program of legal graffiti art sites around Canberra, of which there are currently 23. The ACT government recently appointed a graffiti coordinator, who is working with graffiti artists and the community to improve communication with street artists and provide new spaces for legal graffiti practice walls and urban art sites.
It may be of interest to the community to know that Territory and Municipal Services is participating in the 2016 National Youth Week by holding a graffiti activity in Garema Place on Friday. This involves a pop-up legal graffiti cardboard box tower to provide youth and other members of our community with the opportunity to have a “spray” and to learn more about legal practice wall locations.
One of the biggest drivers of being part of our community and enjoying all that it has to offer is the ability to get around. The ACT government understands how important it is for young people in the ACT to have a high level of access to public transport. For many young people in the ACT, it is their only means of travel. Being able to plan and, more importantly, change your plans, is crucial to providing a greater level of access and freedom for young people relying on public transport. To ensure a high level of accessibility, the ACT government has introduced the NXTBUS real-time passenger information system to the ACTION bus network, along with the ability to plan journeys using Google, both of which can be accessed via smart phones.
Unlike my own experiences of public transport, young people trying to get around Canberra are not just stuck on the lines they know and connections at interchanges. Google Maps can give young people integrated transport options that create the fastest route from A to B, whether that is on foot, by bike, by bus or by some combination of the three. Young people are also no longer bound to change at interchanges. A young person coming from Belconnen to Woden may find the fastest route leaving right away sees them changing buses at the ANU or Calvary hospital. These innovations are giving young people more freedom and more options to participate across the city.
Perhaps one area where traditionally the views of young people have not been well listened to is planning. Young people by their very nature are among the biggest users of public spaces in the ACT, so they should be at the forefront of design and planning discussions. At the risk of stating the obvious, young people will be the ones in the future who will inhabit the communities that we design today. I know that my colleague the minister for planning views engagement with young people as an important element of the broader community input in informing key planning policies and projects. In recent times the ACT government has engaged, and will engage in the future, with youth on planning matters, including the statement of planning intent, “Have your say”, master plans, and the city and gateway urban renewal strategy.
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