Page 2039 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018
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That is not all this budget is offering for city services, though; far from it. We have been listening to the community when they have said they want more services in existing suburbs—more mowing, more lake and pond cleaning, more weed control and better graffiti management. We have heard our residents when they have requested more tree maintenance and bus shelter cleaning. We have heard, and we are delivering. That is why we are committing $10 million over four years to build better suburbs for Canberrans. This money will be used to step up existing maintenance services so we can keep our suburbs neat and tidy and so we are better positioned to respond to the maintenance reports from the community.
I know investing in a clean and beautiful Canberra will make a big difference to Canberrans. We take great pride in our city, and each and every one of us hates to see it ever looking unkempt. I have had a number of conversations with my constituents about serial graffiti taggers around Belconnen, including Surge and Pablo, for example, and additional funds for better graffiti management will be welcomed by many people.
Another issue my constituents often raise with me and other members in this place is playgrounds. They are a cornerstone of community building, and they play a vital role in the mental, physical and social development of the youngest members of our community. For the most part Canberrans enjoy fantastic playgrounds around town. They are safe, fun and plentiful. In fact, we have more than 500 playgrounds across our city, and I believe in a previous annual reports hearing I heard there is a playground within a 400-metre radius of every single person’s house in the ACT.
However, sometimes playgrounds fall victim to vandalism or they require a fix-up as they age. In these cases it is so important that we have the resources to ensure complaints are responded to quickly, and that playgrounds are kept safe for young Canberrans. This budget commits $300,000 to fix up high priority playgrounds. At least a further $1 million will also be allocated to playgrounds through the better suburbs citizens forum. This forum represents an innovative step in civic management. We are not just listening to Canberrans on how they would like money to be spent on playgrounds, but we are also letting them decide themselves how and where that money should be spent.
Sixty-five members of the community will be able to directly allocate $1.9 million to plan city services. At least $1 million of that money must be used on playgrounds, either to upgrade existing playgrounds or to build new ones. Participants in the citizens forum will represent individual community members as well as community organisations.
As we talk about Canberra’s growth it would be remiss not to mention the town centres, particularly my own. They are hotspots of growth and development, and the ACT government is investing in active, connected and safe town centres. In my electorate of Ginninderra we are building the Belco bikeway and upgrading pedestrian connections and road intersections in the town centre. These are projects dear to my heart and not just simply because I live there.
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