Page 3448 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 22 August 2018
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The resident also asks the government to:
… reduce the median strip in the front car park to better enable car traffic flow.
Another Campbell resident says:
The parking area behind the shops is good for overflow parking but needs a facelift and lighting at night. The residents of Campbell have been neglected for too long. Considering the development at C5, Campbell shops are going to get busier and busier.
The second issue is of maintenance of amenities and basic upkeep. It was more than ironic, and certainly an embarrassment for this government, that at the Light Up Lyneham festival some of the streetlights at the Lyneham shops were not working. The palpable irony that the Light Up Lyneham festival lacked lighting at the local shops would be almost laughable if it were not such a clear token of the lack of maintenance our local shops have seen under this government. Luckily we had hundreds of handmade lanterns to show us the way. The streetlight issue has now been logged on the fix my street portal. But the fact remains that this government has allowed too many local shops to degrade for too long.
Uneven paving, the lack of lighting or faulty lighting, and graffiti work that remains uncleaned for too long all reduce the utility for shoppers and make local shops look tired. If your shops look tired you are less likely to shop there. This impacts small business owners and it also impacts the pride we all take in our suburb.
Some of the local shops in my electorate have a high rate of shop vacancies. If this government is not making every effort to ensure that local shops are attractive to budding entrepreneurs and established small business owners, this tells us just how much this government thinks of hardworking small business people. I recall some years ago that there was a noticeable drop-off in lawn mowing around the city. Residents and visitors clearly noticed the neglect and were not happy about it. I see and hear that same response now.
Of course, the ultimate neglect is the Giralang shops, which have laid empty for years. But I am sure that each member in this chamber, from all electorates, can also tell a story about a local shopping centre that has started to see more and more vacancies. A Campbell resident says, “The Campbell shops are run-down,” and notes that one suggestion would be to see a “refurbishment of the Campbell shops children’s playground to improve safety for children”.
Madam Speaker, whilst I am on Campbell shops, I must give credit to my colleague Jeremy Hanson, who, in his capacity as a member for Molonglo as he was then, lobbied hard to get the public toilets established there. This is something that I know made a difference to many Campbell residents as it is raised with me on occasion by locals when I hold my mobile offices there.
Of course, former member for Kurrajong, and our colleague, the late Steve Doszpot was instrumental in assisting local shopkeepers to create the green space in Kingston
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