Minister Barr: Budget: Investing in better city services

The ACT Government is listening to what Canberrans want and that’s why we are investing more money into better city services to enhance Canberra’s reputation as the world’s most liveable city.

The ACT Budget will fund a pilot program for the city wide rollout of green bins for garden waste. The opt-in pilot program will be available to residents in Weston Creek and Kambah from 2017.

The Budget includes more investment to ensure our city looks its best with more mowing, more weeding and more cleaning of our city’s suburbs.

This Budget also spends more on better facilities for Canberrans including significant investments in sporting facilities, playground upgrades and a new pool at Stromlo Forest Park.

Caring for our city

The ACT Government will invest $14.2 million in new funding over the next four years on more mowing, weeding and cleaning of our city.

This will be delivered through a variety of initiatives including:

• $1.7 million to fund a pilot program of the city-wide rollout of green bins for garden waste. The opt-in pilot program will be available to residents in Weston Creek and Kambah from 2017;
• $1 million towards improving the look of our city through more mowing, weed removal, tree maintenance, lake cleaning and graffiti prevention as well as the cleaning of shopping centres and roadsides;
• $8.1 million over four years for city services in our new suburbs, covering the maintenance of roads, paths, shopping precincts, parkland and playgrounds, as well as essential services such as waste and recycling collections;
• $400,000 to continue the popular bulky waste collection service for eligible concession card holders until 30 June 2017; 
• $310,000 to improve landscaping and signage along Pialligo Avenue to help create a positive first impression for visitors travelling on the new direct international flights to Canberra;
• $1.7 million for stage two of the National Arboretum Canberra water security project; and
• $1 million for essential waste management infrastructure at Mugga Lane landfill.

Better sporting facilities for Canberra

The 2016-17 ACT Budget includes more than $40 million in new funding over four years on new and existing recreational facilities across Canberra.

This includes:

• $33 million over four years to design and construct a pool at Stromlo Forest Park;
• $4.5 million over four years to fund upgrades to the Narrabundah ballpark, including the refurbishment of the existing grandstand, realignment of the playing field and improvements to public amenities and car parking facilities;
• $1.8 million over four years for additional irrigation and mowing of local sportsgrounds;
• $1.1 million towards grants for local sports groups to repair and maintain community sporting facilities and grants to support grassroots football, including the 2016 Kanga Cup; and
• $400,000 for the City to the Lake project to plan for a new public swimming pool in Civic. 

Better community facilities for Canberra

A $10 million investment will see a variety of vital upgrades made to community facilities around the city.

The Budget will deliver:

• $3.4 million in parks and playgrounds across the Territory;
• $1.5 million for improvements at shopping centres across Canberra which may include paving, landscaping and new street furniture. This will include upgrades at these four centres:
  • Tuggeranong Town Centre;
  • Charnwood shops;
  • Kambah shops (Marconi Street); and
  • Spence shops.
• $4.3 million for the relocation of the Dickson motor vehicle inspection station to Hume providing employment opportunities in Canberra’s south;
• $300,000 for improvements to the Woden bus station to provide a better bus station for the Woden town centre; and
• $558,000 for the first stage of the Woden cemetery upgrade to add 10 years to the life of the cemetery, which is due to reach capacity in 2018.

Improved management systems

Almost $4.9 million will go to supporting two major management system projects for roads and public libraries.

The projects are as follows:

• $2.6 million over four years to implement a cloud-based asset management system to improve the management of $10 billion worth of infrastructure such as roads and signage.
• $2.3 million over two years to design and implement a new library management system to improve customer service for the ACT’s more than 200,000 public library members.