Page 459 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
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doubt notice the extensive development underway. There is the new hospital at UC, and recruitment for this hospital is happening as we speak. A host of new apartment blocks are under construction, and there are new roads and whole new suburbs out at Ginninderry.
This is all happening against a backdrop of significant residential development over recent years and substantial retail and industrial business areas that continue to prosper. There are over 77,000 people in Ginninderra and over 6,000 just in Belconnen, many of whom have moved to the town centre in the past few years thanks to the growth in dwellings. With so much residential development also in the works, Belconnen will continue to grow well into the future.
The ACT government is preparing for that growth. In addition to newer buses and smarter bus routes, we have invested in the Belconnen bikeway, which will link the town centre with its surrounds. I continue to strongly advocate for light rail stage 3 to come to Belconnen; it just makes sense. This type of investment provides construction jobs, reduces congestion, reduces health costs and makes people happier and more productive, all making more contributions to our economy.
The number of businesses in Belconnen has been growing solidly over recent years. In 2015 there were 529 businesses in the region, up from 474 in 2011. Of these 529 businesses, 25 employed 20 or more staff, 287 had between one and 19 employees and 217 were proprietorships or partnerships.
Against the backdrop of all this change, later this year I look forward to hosting the Belconnen showcase, or market day, which will bring together business with the community and government to identify the future of our town centre. I am confident the showcase will be another step on the way to realising the full potential of Belconnen, showing off how attractive it is and achieving even more growth and continuing our trend of industry diversification. As if that were not reason enough, the federal government’s announcement yesterday of more job cuts at the Belconnen institution of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the movement of ComSuper out of the town centre continue to underline the importance of hosting this showcase.
The ACT government has also put Canberra on the global map, as we have heard today. International flights on Qatar and Singapore Airlines now fly out of Canberra. Manuka Oval is hosting international cricket for both men and women. The just past Multicultural Festival draws visitors from far and wide to our cool little capital, and Enlighten, the night noodle markets and the Balloon Spectacular are all just around the corner.
And who can forget that Lonely Planet named us the third best city to visit in the world. Nearly 2.65 million people visited Canberra in the year to June 2017, a new record; records we just keep smashing. I recently spent some time in the US and I can assure you that our stature as a city to visit is growing, not just from my telling people how amazing it is. Our approach is working and it is being given a vote of confidence by business and the public.
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