Page 4022 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 20 September 2017
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outcomes and establish better communication between the government and the community. For residents settled in Canberra’s more established suburbs we have an opportunity to renew our approach. These residents may have been in the same property for decades or they may have moved streets to reflect the various stages of family life. These residents have watched their communities change as Canberra has become a major city rather than a regional town.
The services we provide to our communities should change and develop with them. Different communities have different needs and different values and their services should be better tailored to suit those needs and values. The new suburbs in my electorate are expected to grow at a rapid rate in the coming years. These locations will need investment in new infrastructure to establish these communities into the future.
The older suburbs of Yerrabi, on the other hand, will need infrastructure that enables the community to adapt to generational changes as empty nesters look to downsize and their children enter the housing market. Things like road maintenance, upkeep of footpaths, bike paths, parks and playgrounds, mowing and rubbish collection are essential in all suburbs, but the levels of need and how each community prioritises them may differ. Suburbs with lots of dogs might prefer more frequent mowing to stop grass seeds. Communities with kids might prefer newer parks. Footpaths may need closer maintenance in areas where residents have lower mobility.
It is important to appreciate that each of these services faces a budget constraint. It is therefore appropriate to engage our community in a conversation on how we value each of these services and how that is best reflected in the ACT budget. Ongoing consultation with community, businesses and research groups can help us to deliver a better standard of service specifically tailored to the needs of the local community.
Making our services flexible for residents can also enable our community to be more involved in local government. I recently became aware of calls from residents in Waramanga for a similar approach. They acknowledge that while their suburb has bountiful playgrounds, they would rather prefer one closer to their local shop. They are currently undergoing discussions about how playgrounds in their area can be better distributed. This approach is not just coming from the top down. It is coming from other Assembly members.
As many of us in the Assembly will realise, I talk a lot about Giralang. The shops and the park in particular have been areas I have been working on for a while now. After the ACT government’s commitment to design and deliver a new park for Giralang, I have been talking to the community to help ensure that work begins this year and that they are part of the process. In my efforts to deliver a community park for Giralang, I have been asking residents what they actually want to see in their park.
By going door to door and running a survey on my website, my team and I have been collecting Giralang’s views on what to put in their park, with suggestions and preferences from the whole community. It has been interesting to see the varied responses across Giralang. When told that we are asking for residents’ input to start
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