Talking Tuggeranong - An issues paper

8/14/2019 Talking Tuggeranong - An issues paper

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TALKING

TUGGERANONG

A Submission to the ACT Chief Minister

From Tuggeranong Community CouncilMarch 2010


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Mr Jon Stanhope MLAChief MinisterACT Legislative AssemblyCANBERRA ACT 2600

Dear Chief Minister,

The Tuggeranong Community Council submits thefollowing document, Talking Tuggeranong, for yourconsideration and attention.

Talking Tuggeranong has been developed by theTuggeranong Community Council Executive inconsultation with Council members, otherTuggeranong residents, community groups andorganisations.

Individuals and groups were asked to contribute tothe document by detailing issues that concernthem, their neighbourhood and community andwhich they believe requires government action.Each issue has been categorised under the head-ings of Transport, Environment, Community Ser-vices and Planning and Development.

Issues range from vandalism and general law andorder issues to air pollution, neighbourhood busservices, traffic congestion and future developmentin Tuggeranong.

The Tuggeranong Community Council wishes tothank those people who contributed to TalkingTuggeranong. The Council hopes that it will assistand guide the ACT Government in the futuredevelopment and decision making concerningTuggeranong and its residents.

Kind regards

Darryl JohnstonPresidentTuggeranong Community CouncilMarch 2010


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TRANSPORT

Monaro Highway

The Tuggeranong Community Council believesthe Monaro Highway requires urgent upgrad-ing. As a major north/south traffic route andbypass for Canberra, the TCC is concerned theMonaro Highway can no longer cope with thevolume of traffic it now carries. It also believesthat, ideally, traffic should flow unimpededalong its entire route.

As the Hume Industrial Estate expands, moreand more heavy vehicles are using the MonaroHighway and their numbers are forecast to in-crease when Canberra Airport commences its24-hour freight operations.

The TCC believes a third lane needs to beadded to both the north and southbound car-riageways, the bridges over Canberra Avenueand the railway line need to be duplicated, im-provements need to be undertaken to reducenorth bound peak hour traffic delays and hold-ups at the Isabella Drive roundabout and theMugga Lane intersection. South bound trafficdelays and bottlenecks must be attended toincluding, the redesign of the Lanyon Driveintersection that leads to removal of trafficlights and the construction of a flyover for south-bound traffic and a combined entrance andexit for the ACT Gaol and South Care RescueHelicopter Base (preferably not on the MonaroHighway).

The TCC believes cyclists using the MonaroHighway to commute to and from work need tobe separated from cars and heavy vehiclestravelling at high speed with the construction ofa separated cycleway.

The TCC is also concerned that there are fivechanges to the speed limit on the Monaro

Highway between Morsehead Drive at Pialligoto south of the Johnson Drive roundabout atCalwell a distance of 20k. The TCC believesACT Roads should consider a more consistentspeed limit along this section of the MonaroHighway.

The TCC calls for the duplication of the bridges carrying the

Monaro Highway over Canberra Avenue and

the Canberra rail line.

The TCC calls for major improvements and upgrading of the

Monaro Highway to relieve peak hour traffic bottlenecks

and congestion.


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Canberra Airport

The Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports the development of Canberra Airport as

the major transport hub of the ACT and SouthEastern Region of NSW. The TCCs support isconditional that any increase of aircraft move-ments has no adverse impact on residents inthe Tuggeranong Valley and surrounds.

CyclewaysThe Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports the separation of cyclists and trafficthrough the extension of cycleways in Tugger-anong and the ongoing maintenance of ourexisting cycle network. It also supports the pro-motion of cycling as a health and leisureactivity.

Traffic Calming Measures

Some sections of the Tuggeranong communitysupport and have called for the introduction oftraffic calming measures near child care cen-tres to improve safety.

Roadside Random Drug TestingThe Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports the introduction of Random RoadsideDrug Testing in the ACT. The TCC is con-cerned over the high incidence of illicit druguse in the ACT. According to the AustralianInstitute of Health and Welfare the ACT has thehighest use of MDMA (Ecstasy) and the sec-ond highest use of cannabis and ampheta-mines in Australia. The TCC is aware that Ran-dom Roadside Drug Testing is undertaken inother jurisdictions in Australia and that the

technology already exists to test for five majorillegal drugs and provide results within 90seconds.

The TCC supports the introduction of Random Roadside Drug Test-

ing similar to schemes that already operate in many other

jurisdictions in Australia.

The TCC supports the separation of cyclists and traffic through the

expansion of the cycle network in Tuggeranong.

The TCC supports the development of Canberra Airport on condition

that it does not adversely impact on Tuggeranong residents.


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Pedestrians

Valley residents should be able to walk safelyand conveniently to everyday destinations suchas shops, schools and bus stops. The following

issues that make this unnecessarily difficulthave been identified:

Road Rules that discriminate against pedes-trians - e.g. Rule 236:A pedestrian must notcause a traffic hazard by moving into thepath of a driver. (There is no equivalent Rulefor drivers).

Lack of footpaths, especially where naturestrips are obstructed by landscaping, gar-dens or parked cars.

Footpaths/cycleways in need of maintenanceor cleaning (e.g. broken glass).

Drivers who can't be relied on to give way topedestrians when they are supposed to (e.g.when turning).

Cyclists who don't give way to pedestrianson footpaths, especially at shopping centres.

Street designs that make walking difficult,e.g. poor sight lines, or large radius kerbsthat increase car speeds and increase cross-

ing distances for pedestrians.

Long distances to shops and schools, result-ing from low population densities. Localshops can't survive if there aren't enoughcustomers or students living within walkingdistance.

Urban planning that increases journey dis-tance by deliberately placing schools orshops (e.g. Tuggeranong Town Centre) atthe periphery of where people live, ratherthan in the middle of their student or cus-

tomer base.

Multi-lane, 60-100 km/h arterial roads thatcreate barriers between the places peoplelive and the places where they need to shop,work or attend school.

Long distances between safe crossing pointsalong these roads.

Unnecessary pedestrian delays at trafficlights.

Valley residents should be able to walk safely and conveniently toeveryday destinations such as shops, schools and bus stops.

The TCC is concerned that many current road rules

discriminate against pedestrians.


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Suburban and Interurban Roads

The Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports the duplication of major arterial roads inTuggeranong. Many roads laid when Tugger-

anong was originally developed more than 30-years ago were designed to be dual carriage-way but have only been built to single lane.Since then there has been a substantial in-crease in population (approx 100,000) in theValley and many of these roads can no longercope with the volume of traffic today. Examplesinclude Isabella Drive between Benham Streetand Drakeford Drive, Ashley Drive from Erin-dale Drive to Johnson Drive, Erindale Drivefrom Sternberg Cres roundabout to DrakefordDrive, Johnson Drive from the Monaro Highwayto Tharwa Drive. Also, Tharwa Drive from

Drakeford Drive to Lawrence Wackett Cres andAthllon Drive from Drakeford Drive to SulwoodDrive. Roads such as Isabella Drive, ErindaleDrive and Athllon Drive are major thorough-fares to the Tuggeranong Town Centre andcarry large volumes of traffic, especially duringpeak hours. Isabella Drive adjoins the MonaroHighway and is also a major route for heavyvehicles travelling to and from the Tugger-anong Town Centre. Space exists to duplicatethese roads but little or no work has been un-dertaken in the last 30-years to complete themto their original design plans.

Future Public Transport Options

The Tuggeranong Community Council believesplanning must begin now on future mass publictransport options for Tuggeranong. The TCCbelieves Valley residents can not rely on a busnetwork alone and that consideration and plan-ning must begin into future mass public trans-port options such as an inter-urban rail systemor light rail network.

40k Speed Limits in ShoppingCentres

The Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports a trial of 40k speed limits in shopping ar-eas. The Council believes the slower speedlimits already operate in parts of Sydney andhave resulted in a reduction in accidents in-volving pedestrians. The Council also believesthat reduced speed limits will make our shop-ping centres more peaceful, attractive andsafer environments.

Many major arterial roads in Tuggeranong were originally designed

to be dual carriageway but were only built single lane. Now they

cannot cope with todays traffic volume.

The TCC believes planning must begin now on a future mass public

transport system to serve Valley residents.


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Bus Services

The Council believes more people would usepublic transport if it was clean, safe, reliable,regular, easily accessible and affordable. TheCouncil supports the introduction of a REDEXstyle bus service for Tuggeranong Valley resi-dents. It also believes that improvements areneeded to timetables and routes so that allsections of the community can easily accessexisting services during peak and off-peakhours.

Roundabouts

The Tuggeranong Community Council believesmajor works are required to improved peak-hour traffic flow and safety at the Drakeford andIsabella Drives roundabout at Bonython. The

roundabout generates traffic delays in themorning peak period. Cars travelling westwardalong Isabella Drive have no traffic comingsouth on Drakeford Drive to stop them and as aresult traffic heading north can be queued 1 to1.5 kilometres to Woodcock Drive. Converselyin the afternoon peak period cars travellingwest from the Tuggeranong commercial centreand the Centrelink building would not be able tobreak into the traffic flow travelling south onDrakeford Drive if it were not for the part-timetraffic lights. It is essential that major improve-ments are undertaken at this location including

the installation of part-time traffic lights in Isa-bella Drive to allow an even flow of traffic north-wards during the morning peak period.

The Council is concerned about drivers re-stricted visibility when negotiating some round-abouts in Tuggeranong. The roundabout atTharwa Drive and Knoke Avenue in Banks hasa mound of earth some 3 metres high with amobile phone tower on top. A similar moundexists at the roundabout at Box Hill Avenue andTharwa Drive, Banks. The visibility at theroundabout at Athllon Drive and Anketell Street

Bonython is restricted by grass that is usuallyabout 1 metre high. This obscures a turningcar's indicator giving a car stopped in AthllonDrive no time to react. At present the grasshas been cut short giving a safe view of turningcars. However this was done some 12 monthsago and lasted for 4 weeks. Cars approachingthese intersections have almost no warning of aturning car. We request that a survey be doneof all roundabouts in the Tuggeranong Valley toensure motorists have clear vision of all othertraffic. If obstructions are identified they are tobe removed.

The TCC supports a safe, reliable, accessible, clean and efficient bus

service for Tuggeranong residents.

Many Tuggeranong residents are concerned that obstructions pose a

safety hazard on Tuggeranong roundabouts.


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ENVIRONMENT

Winter Air Quality

The Tuggeranong Valley has long been identi-fied as one of the most polluted residential ar-

eas in Australia, alongside Launceston andArmidale. Heavy clouds of wood smoke, gener-ated by the burning of wood for domestic heat-ing, choke many neighbourhoods in the Tug-geranong Valley. Wood smoke is trapped inthe Valley due the natural topography and fre-quent weather inversions. Wood smoke isknown to contain many of the same dangerouschemicals found in cigarette smoke and its im-pact on public health is well documented.Those at most risk from wood smoke pollutioninclude the elderly, the young and those withexisting heart and lung conditions. The Tugger-

anong Community Council believes that due toits unique situation and the seriousness of thisenvironmental and health problem, the burningof wood for domestic heating should bebanned in all urban areas within the Tugger-anong Valley by 2016. In the meantime moreresources need to be directed into the WoodHeater Buyback Scheme to encourage resi-dents to transfer to cleaner, cheaper and moreefficient forms of heating.

Tuggeranong StormwaterSystem

Since 2007 the Murrumbidgee River has beenused for drinking water supply for the ACT andQueanbeyan region. There are numerous dis-charge points from the Tuggeranong Stormwa-ter system into the Murrumbidgee River andupstream of the extraction point. Generally,high levels of pathogens and nutrients aremeasured within the Murrumbidgee River, aftera high level of discharge from the stormwater

systems. These levels present an unaccept-able level of risk for drinking water supply andhence renders the Murrumbidgee River unsafefor the drinking water supply, for an extendedperiod after the discharge. More investment ineducation and stormwater treatment processeswould reduce the risk of impacting publichealth as well as increasing the quantity of wa-ter available for drinking water supply. Oneoption that would go a long way to improvingthe quality of water discharged into the Mur-rumbidgee from stormwater systems would bethe duplication of artificial wetlands (similar to

those on Conder Creek, next to Tom RobertsAvenue in Conder) along stormwater channelsin our region.

Winter wood smoke pollution poses a serious health risk to Tugger-

anong residents. The TCC has called for a ban on wood burning for

domestic heating in Tuggeranong by 2016.

Stormwater run-off can be used to establish wetlands thereby

improving the environment and the quality of discharge

into the Murrumbidgee River.


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Tuggeranong Stormwater System(Cont.)

Stormwater drains in OConnor and Belconnenhave benefited from being converted into wet-lands, providing habitats for water birds, frogs

and other wildlife, while at the same time im-proving the quality of the water through slow-ing flow and allowing natural processes to di-gest nutrients, salts and other pollutants beforeflowing on to our lake system and ulti-mately the Murrumbidgee River. TuggeranongCreek as the main in-flow for Lake Tugger-anong would benefit greatly from such a rede-velopment. One proposal may be the redirect-ing of flows back into the original creek lineadjacent to Tuggeranong Homestead. Thiswould act to slow down and filter flows fromTuggeranong Creek and in addition, provide a

water source for the land improvements beingextensively undertaken by volunteer groupssuch as the Minders of Tuggeranong Home-stead (MOTH).

Flora and Fauna

The Council will work to protect and enhanceour native flora and fauna. It has connectedwith local environmental groups and supportsefforts to regenerate our urban bushland, im-prove our natural watercourses, protect ourpublic spaces and protect our native flora andfauna.

The TCC will work to protect and enhance

our native flora and fauna.

Stormwater run-off can be used to establish wetlands therebyimproving the environment and the quality of discharge

into the Murrumbidgee River.


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PLANNING ANDDEVELOPMENT

The Council recognises that we cannot haveprosperity and progress in the Tuggeranong

Valley without development. It only seeks toensure that we have the right development inthe Valley; that each development is fully con-sidered, that the community is given ampleopportunity to scrutinise and comment and thatcommunity concerns are taken into account.

Tralee Residential Development

Aircraft approach and departure flightpaths serving Canberra Airport are designed toavoid populated areas to the maximum extentpossible in both Canberra and Quean-

beyan. The advent of the South Tralee devel-opment will potentially foreclose this option forapproaches from and departures to thesouth. Given the prevailing north westerly windconditions in Canberra, and the configurationof the main instrument runway, approachesfrom the south are the most common. The ap-proaches from the south run over the Traleearea. Notwithstanding ANEF noise standardsthat are applied in an attempt to limit noise to'an acceptable level', the fact remains that thearea will be overflown and ambient noise levelswill increase as a consequence. Although the

initial residents may agree to accept the aircraftnoise, subsequent purchasers of property aremore likely to agitate to have the noise sharedin a similar vein to Sydney. In this scenario,the Tuggeranong Valley is the only area to thesouth of, and in proximity to, the airport thatis relatively free of high terrain to facilitate suchsharing. The current residents of Tuggeranongmoved to the area for a number of reasons, butone common feature that they all share is therelative peace and quiet. To have this re-moved simply to satisfy the balance sheet ofone developer does not seem to be equitableeither to the current residents of Tuggeranongor the future residents of Tralee.

A Southern Cemetery

The Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports plans for a new Southern Cemetery.However, it believes further considerationshould be given to its proposed location andplans for it to include a crematorium. TheCouncil believes it should include more chap-els and that cremations can be undertaken at

Mitchell. Members of the public are concernedit will also lead to a loss of existing horse pad-docks and training areas and impact on thewildlife corridor.

Tuggeranong residents are concerned the development of Tralee will

lead to flightpaths being relocated over Tuggeranong.

The TCC supports a new Southern Cemetery, but wants to ensure

that it is in the best location.

Tuggeranong Community Council will work to ensure that residents

have a say in planning for the right development in the Valley.


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Hume Industrial Estate

Many Tuggeranong residents are concernedover the proposed expansion of the Hume In-dustrial Estate and the possible loss of thewildlife corridor at Mugga Lane and the ruralbuffer between Mugga Lane and the residen-

tial suburbs of Tuggeranong.ACTPLA state that the Eastern BroadacreStudy is due to be published for communityconsultation soon. (See ACTPLA's website:h t t p : / / w w w . a c t p l a . a c t . g o v . a u / t o p i c s /s ign i f icant_pro jects/p lanning_studies/eas te rn_b roadacre_p lann ing_s tudy) .Many southern Canberra residents not onlysaid no power station on the site (block 1671Tuggeranong) but one of their key objectiveswas nothing on that site and the protection ofthe rural/broadacre zone that is a wildlifecorridor. Member for Brindabella, Amanda

B r e s n a n M L A s a i d :"A development such as the data centre wouldseverely restrict the width and viability of thewildlife corridor which locally links the Wanni-assa Hills Nature Reserve, with its protectedwoodland ecosystem, to the Jerrabomberragrasslands which border the Monaro Highway.The edges of this specific site should be reha-bilitated to form an effective buffer, withoutwhich pressures on existing reserves are sig-nificantly exacerbated, and the contiguity ofCanberras southern reserve systemI s f u r t h e r t h r e a t e n e d . "

ACT Greens' statement on the data centre:h t tp : / /ac t .g reens.o rg .au /a rch ives/779

The Eastern Broadacre Study will supersedethe Hume Industrial Planning Study, neverpublished but obtained by some residents un-der Freedom of Information. Page 75 showsan expansion of the Hume industrial areathrough the existing horse paddocks andagency comments on the environmental im-pacts. This whole area is significant and de-tailed in Canberrans for Powerstation Reloca-tion (CPR) Inc's submission to the HIASG(Health Impact Assessment Steering Group)especially the equestrian industry in the ACTand the horse exercise and agistment pad-docks. Areas of the broadacre corridor containprotected Yellow Box Red Gum Grassy Wood-lands. These fragile ecosystems need protec-tion and a group is dedicated to this cause.See Friends of Grassy Woodlands: http://www.fog.org.au/.

Tuggeranong Master Plan

The Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports the concept and aims of master plans forthe future development of the TuggeranongTown Centre, Erindale and Calwell.

The TCC supports proposals to enhance the town centres of

Tuggeranong, Erindale and Calwell.

The TCC is concerned that expansion on the Hume Industrial Estate

will encroach on existing residential areas and lead to a loss of the

existing horse paddocks and wild life corridor.
http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_studyhttp://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_studyhttp://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_studyhttp://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_studyhttp://act.greens.org.au/archives/779http://act.greens.org.au/archives/779http://www.fog.org.au/http://www.fog.org.au/http://www.fog.org.au/http://www.fog.org.au/http://www.fog.org.au/http://act.greens.org.au/archives/779http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_studyhttp://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_studyhttp://www.actpla.act.gov.au/topics/significant_projects/planning_studies/eastern_broadacre_planning_study


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Community and Services

Law and Order

The Council believes that many members ofthe general public have lost confidence inthe ACT judiciary to protect them from crimi-nal and dangerous elements of our society.This is a result of the handing down of sen-tences by ACT Courts that the communityviews as lenient compared to the level ofcriminal behaviour and the number of repeatoffences. The community believes our courtsmust send a clear message to offenders thatthe community will not tolerate criminal be-haviour. The community also believes thatwhere guilt is proven the punishment must fitthe crime. The community is concerned thatlenient sentences for criminal behaviour onlyserves to destroy public confidence in ourgovernment and legal structures, adds to theburden of the victims of crime and under-mines the morale of our hardworking anddevoted ACT Police Force.

Auditor General

Many members of the community are con-cerned over the perceived hostile relationshipbetween the ACT Government and the Officeof the Auditor General. The Auditor General

is viewed as only instrument to keep checkon government as there is no LegislativeCouncil orHouse of Reviewin the ACT. Resi-dents believe the Auditor General should beautonomous, not politicized, not ignored andnot attacked by the government of the day.

Senior Citizens

The Tuggeranong Community Council willcontinue to support community groups, or-ganisations and projects aimed at improvingthe health and well being of our senior citi-zens. It has supported the development ofaged accommodation projects in the Valleyand recently added its weight to the Over 55Club and its plans to establish a centre on theshores of Lake Tuggeranong.

Youth

The Tuggeranong Community Council is con-cerned over the dangerous and self harmingactivities of our youth. The Council is workingwith youth groups and police to support our

young people. The Council has a dedicatedyouth worker who liaises with these organisa-tions and keeps Council members abreast ofissues affecting young people.

Tuggeranong Community Council believes members of the general

public have lost confidence in the ACT judiciary system to protect

them from crime.

Tuggeranong Community Council works with police and organisa-

tions on behalf of the Valleys youth.


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GP and Specialist Services

The Tuggeranong Community Council sup-ports public and private initiatives aimed atimproved access to and the level of healthservices in the Valley. The Council recog-nises that there is a shortage of general

practitioner and specialist doctors in the Val-ley and has lent its weight to boost doctornumbers. The Council has also given its sup-port to initial proposals for the establishmentof a community owned medical centre atRichardson as proposed by the Doctors 4Tuggeranong group and the RichardsonSupport House. The proposed medical cen-tre would run along similar lines as to onewhich recently opened in West Belconnen.

Graffiti

Tuggeranong residents are concerned overthe extent of graffiti adorning public and pri-vate property. Residents want to see theirstreets cleaned up, and a tough approach

taken against those responsible for defacingproperty. It has been suggested that an an-nual graffiti clean-up day be held to rid ourneighbourhoods of graffiti. It has also beensuggested that 'free graffiti removal kits' beissued to residents and businessmen to ridthe Valley of this scourge, similar to ascheme run by NSW local governments andfunded by the NSW State Government. Un-der the scheme local Councils can removegraffiti from a property by agreement with theproperty owner or occupier.

Bill of Responsibility

The Council requested that the ACT Legisla-tive Assembly revisit the proposal for a Bill ofResponsibilities as presented previously byBill Stefaniak. Some Council members havestudied the Bill. They consider that a Bill ofRights without a Bill of Responsibilities givesundue protection to the criminal and the anti-

social elements of our society and sends thewrong message to the Courts.

Tuggeranong residents call for a tougher stand on

suburban graffiti.

The TCC supports proposals to improve access to and the level of GP

and specialist services in Tuggeranong.

Talking Tuggeranong - An issues paper

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