News - Community & business

GUNGAHLIN COMMUNITY COUNCIL (GCC) VISION

·         GCC seeks adherence to the original concept of self-contained satellite centres serviced by all necessary amenities minimising the need for residents to travel to other centres for work, shopping, services & entertainment.

·         Gungahlin has matured but still lacks services & amenities necessary to cater effectively for the current, and growing, population.

·         Gungahlin needs representation from candidates who live in the area or in nearby suburbs within the electorate to have a better affinity in understanding the issues facing local residents & businesses.

DRAFT ISSUES LIST for the Gungahlin Community compiled the GCC

The GCC Executive has identified the following issues by the as being the key areas of concern for Gungahlin residents as at November 2011.  The list has been posted on the GGC website for community comment & ranking (if necessary).  The GCC Executive will represent the community in seeking the addressing of these issues & will report regularly on progress. 

The list will be forwarded to all ACT Legislative Assembly members & their contributions noted.

The list will be a living document, regularly updated as issues are progressed & as new issues arise.  It will form the basis of commitments to the Gungahlin area sought from candidates for the 2012 ACT Legislative Assembly elections.

GCC wants an information service (Developments in Your Community), complete with maps, from the ACT Government to advise residents of the type & status of ongoing developments in the area.  This will cover roadworks, new constructions (such as new construction around the Coles Supermarket site), the Wetlands project, inaction on site reserved for bulky goods outlet, the oval & any other projects of interest to community members.

ISSUES

o      Swimming Pool.

Update: The Gungahlin Leisure Centre Development will be located in the block between the new Gungahlin College & The Valley Avenue.  Key features include 50m main pool, 25m secondary pool, linked with a range of other smaller water bodies usable for exercise programs, learn to swim & water play, a Gymnasium, fitness rooms, changerooms, a café & child care facilities.

It will be owned by the ACT Government with management put out to tender.

It is at present moving from pre-Development approval stage to a preliminary design phase.  It is expected that a construction manager will be engaged by about June 2012 with work commencing by August 2012.  Construction is expected to take 18 months with the facility planned to open in early 2014.

Note that the enclosed Oval on an adjacent block (westward) is currently out to tender so that construction should start much earlier.

GCC will arrange an update session on the acquatic centre developments in March 2012.

o      Hospital (preferably full service) located in Gungahlin – (seek RDA ACT input regional focus as there are significant benefits for surrounding rural residents).  Need a positive decision, commencement date & completion date.  Status should not be dictated by other interests.  The needs of Gungahlin residents should be prime!

o      NBN Roll-out (regular updates on progress, communications plan & community involvement, updates from Telstra to resolve lack of broadband services, ramifications of sale of TransAct to iiNet).  Initial cabling will connect 4800 homes in Ngunnawal & Amaroo by December 2012.  Roll-out will continue to connect another 14,000 thereafter (2013 onwards).  What service improvements (if any) can existing residents expect (from Telstra & others) in the meantime?  Residents of Palmerston & Nicholls have been excluded from the initial roll-out program despite having sub-par services for many years.

o      EPIC Park n Ride.  Greater focus should be placed on establishing a user-friendly, functional Park n Ride facility at EPIC, supported by an upgraded public transport service, to encourage Gungahlin residents plus commuters using the Federal & Barton Highways to terminate their private vehicle journeys at EPIC thus reducing Northbourne Ave congestion & avoiding expensive parking fees in Civic.

Update: November 16, 2011 The Park and Ride facility in Mitchell is now open, joining 12 other facilities across Tuggeranong, Woden and Belconnen.

Work on the facility began in June 2011 & includes 100 parking spaces next to the Flemington Road bus stop. Buses will now run the route every five minutes during peak hours & every 15 minutes during off-peak hours.

Bike & Ride, & Park & Ride facilities were launched in Mawson on Athllon Drive in January 2010 providing 97 parking spaces & 18 secure bike lockers.  It has been in high demand from the day it opened, often reaching capacity before 8.30 am on weekdays. In response, the ACT Government has expanded the capacity of the car park providing an additional 90 parking spaces.

Investigations are currently underway to construct more park & ride facilities within Gungahlin.

For more information about park and ride facilities visit www.transport.act.gov.au

Comment: What provisions have been made for the overflow parking for major EPIC events that previously utilised that site?

o      Establish a full service Health Centre in Gungahlin.

o      Find a solution to utilise Gold Creek Homestead for productive purposes & reverse the decline of a valuation community facility.

o      Resolve the current Parking congestion problems at Burgmann College during peak school start & finish times.

o      Resolve current issues caused by the lack of duplication on Gundaroo Drive due to steadily increasing traffic flows:

·                Past Crace (between Barton Highway & Gungahlin drive).  An emerging issue that will develop with increased population build up in Crace is the too rapid contraction of the two lane roundabout from Crace into a single lane (Northbound) of Gundaroo Drive.

·                Gungahlin Drive to Mirrabei Drive (particularly when Valley Way extension is completed) – Bus stopping areas contribute to regular vehicle accidents due to single lane traffic.  Increased by-pass traffic will exacerbate existing problems.

·                Chicane at junction with Gungahlin Drive.  Increased usage of Gungahlin shopping precinct results in large vehicle build-ups with South-bound traffic.  Problems also arise with North-bound traffic (including vehicles turning from Gungahlin Drive) merging from two lanes to a single lane.

o      Stagger scheduling of road works (GDE, Clarrie Hermes Drive, Horse Park Drive, William Slim Drive) so that traffic disruptions are minimised.

o      Electoral boundaries need to be reconfigured to reflect needs of Gungahlin residents and rapid growth demanding separate representation.  Electorate combination with areas of the Inner South is in total discordance with the interests of Gungahlin residents.

o      Urgent need to create an Employment hub in Gungahlin – preferably by locating a Government Department in or close to the Town Centre.  This will provide opportunities for Gungahlin residents for local employment reduce outwards traffic flows & increase inwards traffic flows which in turn benefit workers & residents travelling out of Gungahlin as it balances out waiting times at roundabouts & traffic lights where the situation currently favours inwards traffic on the Barton & Federal Highways.  Local businesses will also benefit from an increased clientele & more small businesses are likely to be drawn to the area.

Update: 27/11/2011.  The ACT Government (via the Economic Development Directorate) is undertaking a Registration of Interest process to obtain industry input on a proposed 7,000 m2 office building.

This office building, to be located on either government or privately owned land in Gungahlin, will accommodate approximately 500 ACT Government staff, provide requisite parking spaces and be built to contemporary environmental sustainability standards. Once constructed, the new office building will deliver significant economic and workforce benefits to the ACT Government and the Gungahlin community.

Organisations wishing to obtain a copy of the Registration of Interest document are asked to register their request, including their company name and key contact person to: governmentoffice@act.gov.au .

An industry briefing session on the process will be held over the coming weeks & details will be provided to registered respondents. The closing date for submissions is 15 December 2011.

o      The Gungahlin Community wants vastly improved communication re upgrades (planning, progress & completion dates) & traffic impact measures in the area.  If residents are aware of the type & purpose of establishment & upgrade work being done, plus being advised of likely completion dates, they should be more accommodating of any disruptions to their movements throughout the district & actually look forward to the outcomes.

o      Provide definite dates commencement & completion of the Nurdur Drive extension to Gungahlin Drive.

o      Reconsider the efficacy of Exits from Crace (only 2 – insufficient for projected population).

o      Access to Lake shores (Yerrabi Pond, Gungahlin Pond etc) for recreational purposes.

o      Parking associated with lakeshore/waterbody access throughout district.

o      Paucity of parking at Phyllis Ashton Cct & Strayleaf Cres Gungahlin for patrons of commercial facilities.

o      Traffic calming measures for eastbound vehicles on Gungahlin Drive approaching Amagula Ave & Lexcen Ave roundabout – alignment draws line-of-sight away from vehicles travelling west & turning into Amagula Ave.  Also trees in centre of roundabout block views of approaching traffic.

o      Negation of benefits of rapid transit route for public transport along Flemington Road by significant high-density infill.

o      Drinking fountains in Library/College precinct.

o      Majura Parkway Update:  DETAILED DESIGN WORK BEGINS. November 16, 2011
The Australian & ACT Governments have announced that SMEC Australia has been selected to undertake & complete the detailed design work on the new Majura Parkway.

The Majura Parkway project was announced earlier this year and construction is expected to be underway towards the end of 2012.

The awarding of the $6.5 million contract is another significant milestone in the delivery of this long-awaited piece of infrastructure which will make it easier for Canberrans to get around their city as well as taking trucks off residential streets.

Governments at both the Federal & Territory level Are working together to put in place the modern, well-planned transport infrastructure befitting Canberra's status as the nation's capital.

The Majura Parkway will be an 11.5 kilometre long dual carriageway, with the Commonwealth & ACT governments each providing $144 million towards its construction.

The finalisation of the forward design consultancy will build on the preliminary work done as part of the initial Environment Impact Statement.

Once open to traffic in 2016, the Majura Parkway will be an important north-south transport link, providing a direct connection between the Federal & Monaro Highways.

By 2030, it is expected this new road will carry 40,000 vehicles a day, including up to 6,000 trucks, significantly improving the movement of freight both nationally & within the region.

Visit majuraparkway.act.gov.au for more information.

Ewan Brown President GCC.