Page 3640 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
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efficiencies that can be drawn from this. This shared decision-making and collaborative approach is a crucial step in managing the future of Canberra’s city services for our community.
The final phase of the better suburbs program involved a citizens forum. This consisted of 54 members of the Canberra community coming together and being empowered to work through the challenges and opportunities in the city services realm and to present a vision for Canberra. I am thrilled to say that the citizens forum has achieved this goal and paved the way forward for a vibrant, beautiful and livable Canberra with a vision for our city in 2030.
Through the work of this committed, informed and passionate group has come the better suburbs statement 2030, a collection of priorities and values that will serve to inform the ACT government in delivering great city services now and in the future. As the statement from the citizens themselves says:
We were brought together in our commitment and love for our city.
This reflects what I already know so well from working with our community—the people of Canberra care about out city and its future.
Together the priorities and values set by the better suburbs process paint a picture of our city as an integrated network of natural and built elements, where our waterways, urban forest and green spaces contribute to better livability, environmental outcomes and community health.
The statement of the citizens presents a 2030 vision for Canberra of people, place and spirit in harmony, of Canberra as a bush city, green and vibrant and where we honour our Indigenous heritage and our history.
I am proud that our citizens want Canberra to be a place that is inclusive and fosters community pride. And, as the citizens themselves say in the statement:
Ours will be a healthy community.
As the new Minister for City Services, along with this government I am committed to this goal of a healthy community, just as our citizens forum were in delivering a vision for our city and its services.
A common theme of this 2030 vision is connectivity—better connected services to the community as well as a community that is better connected to government and decision-making. Before I share with you this 2030 vision and table the citizens statement, I take this opportunity to proudly announce the priority service statements agreed upon by the better suburbs forum members which are outlined in the better suburbs statement 2030 in their order of importance.
Being a community that is both environmentally conscious and proud of our city’s amenity, improving Canberra’s waterways and stormwater system ranked as the most urgent and significant priority for our city services. The quality, health and amenity of
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