Page 2040 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018
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In late 2014 the government embarked on a major consultation on the Belconnen town centre master plan. The government went out and asked for the community’s ideas about what needed changing or updating in the Belconnen town centre. As chair of the Belconnen Community Council I took a lead role in promoting this consultation, together with other like-minded organisations like the Belconnen Arts Centre and the Belconnen Community Service. We letterboxed and we hosted our own public forums at the Belconnen Arts Centre and also, to some people’s surprise, at the Ginninderra Tavern in addition to the government-led forums. That meant that we got a really wide-ranging set of views.
This high level of participation, which I still believe stands as one of the best examples of community feedback feeding directly into a master plan process, meant really strong themes emerged in the consultation. As a result, they became a prominent feature of the master plan. One of these—and the consultation report strongly reflects this—was making use of the old Joynton Smith busway. Overwhelmingly, people supported making it into a pedestrian and cycleway, connecting back into the town centre. Those residents in Totterdell Street and Morell Close for so long have been kept away from the broader town centre by the fencing that has been put up in that old busway, and they wanted something to be done.
The master plan more broadly recommended that on top of this there be better cycling connections throughout the town centre and linking to other suburbs. The master plan recommended it; ACT Labor then committed to it at the election; and last fortnight the detailed design was released. I have been out talking with the local community, particularly with residents in Totterdell Street and Morell Close, which surround the old busway, and that strong support we saw with the master plan process has held true.
I am pleased with how many people have engaged with the online forum on the design and suggesting amenities for along the route. That was further underlined with a great turnout this past Sunday at a face-to-face consultation at the Belconnen Arts Centre. That goes to the heart of this motion as well—we are connecting better and providing better services, better amenities and more of everything. While the minister is here I will flag that I would like to see some more bins.
The 2018 budget also commits funds to construct a boardwalk around the lakeside of the Belconnen Arts Centre to complete the loop around Lake Ginninderra. It may not seem like much to those who do not live in Belconnen, but completing the loop around Emu Bank and the entire lake will make a big difference to locals who spend their leisure time by the lake and will positively affect how the community engages with the arts centre. It will change the orientation of the arts centre. Its front will no longer necessarily be the busy roadway of Emu Bank where Benjamin Way connects to it but, rather, it will be the lake. It will finally mean we have a connected path right around the lake adjacent to the foreshore. There has been overwhelming support for this for such a long time because it just makes sense, especially to those of us who live there and use it every day.
One of the Belconnen budget initiatives I am most excited about is the upgrading of two dangerous intersections. Tillyard Drive and Ginninderra Drive, and Owen Dixon
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