Community Meeting- Tuesday 15 March, 7pm

Our March community meeting is Tuesday 15 March at 7pm. Can you join us?
Here’s the agenda:

Belconnen Community Council General Meeting

15 March 2022, 7pm via Zoom https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87862117953

AGENDA

7pm        Welcome

7.05pm    Chair’s Report

7.15pm    MLA’s update

7.30pm    TCCS – Dockless shared e-scooters linking Belconnen and Central Canberra through the Bruce precinct 

8pm    Icon Water/Diona re Belconnen Trunk Sewer 

8.30pm    General business

  • Umbagong Bridges update
  • New Lawson roundabout – Letter to residents

9pm        Close

Belconnen Community Council Chair’s Report February 2022

2022 has certainly started with a bang and on the back of our Special December meeting, the inclusion of an update on the Umbagong Park Bridges really pushed this issue back into everyone’s conscience. Lots of radio and a front page on the Canberra Times has ensured we aren’t being re-prioritised down and thanks to our Ginninderra MLAs for re-engaging with our community on this critical issue. There’s a further update tonight from the TCCS team and we will keep this issue on the agenda as a standing item until we have an agreed solution.

We have made great strides in harmonising our consultation and communication channels on the major infrastructure projects (William Hovell & Drake-Brockman Drives, Umbagong Park and the proposed replacement green waste site) and in providing submissions on a number of issues. This has been because of your input as community members who want and expect better levels of information on the issues that affect you directly; we thank you for helping us stay on top of things over the last year.

On the back of that, your BCC Committee has formed four important sub committees to target, track and report on issues in more transparent way. The four sub committees are:

  • Roads and Infrastructure
  • Shops
  • Active Works and Future Planning
  • Environment

Initially, the committee will put some structure around these groups but we do intend to call on interested community members to join us to progress matters and use the subject matter experts within our district.

We note that the great work by community members at Melba with the SMILES initiative has failed to secure funding from the ACT Government. While this is disappointing, it’s not the end of the road. We will work with Tim and Hector, our Ginninderra MLAs and the directorates to keep this initiative alive. Huge thanks to everyone who has contributed to this very important project to date and stay tuned.

We made a submission on Policing Arrangements in January, consistent with previous views expressed to us over the last two years, but now with an important focus on getting a permanent presence at Kippax to reduce wait times for response. There is an increasing reliance on information and data services in a community policing space (this has impacted on some services now being reported online), but also on preventative measures. The ACT Government are partnering with Deloittes to capture the feedback of every community council and I participated in the first workshop last week; I’m confident our concerns were heard and captured appropriately. And on the subject of policing, my family were the recipients of a great act of community policing last Sunday when my granddaughter had an accident on her bike. I’ve been in contact with the local Belconnen Command, Neighbourhood Watch and the Minister’s Office to convey our thanks. We often complain that “police are never around when you need the,” (the last few weeks in chief because of the protest activities), but in our case they were not just there but present in every way. Our thanks to the two constables involved who stayed with us until the ambulance arrived and provided us with safety and comfort throughout; you are certainly our heroes!

Glen Hyde

Chair

Belconnen Community Council

15 February 2022

Belconnen Community Council General Meeting February 2022

15 February 2022, 7pm

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87862117953

AGENDA

7pm                Welcome

7.05pm          Chair’s Report

7.15pm          MLA’s update

7.30pm          Lawson development update from Suburban Land Agency 

8pm                Umbagong Bridges upgrade update from Transport Canberra & City Services (TCCS) 

8.30pm          CSG Green Waste Update

8.45pm          General business

9pm                Close

Next meeting:  7pm Tuesday 15 March 2022, online via Zoom 

Belconnen Community Council Community Consultation Survey – Development 34 Alexandria Street Hawker DA202139464

We need your opinions to feed into the consultation process with ACT Government on this important change in the Hawker community. You can find our survey here and we will keep it open until Friday 4 February 2022. There are links in the survey to all the information on the proposed DA and if you have any questions please use the link in the survey to contact us.

Proposed new green waste facility for Belconnen

 
The ACT Government has been exploring options for the relocation of the green waste drop off which is currently located on Parkwood Road. Several sites were investigated to determine the most appropriate location for this service to continue in West Belconnen. At the conclusion of this work, a suitable site was identified on Stockdill Drive (location indicated below and attached).   This site offers the ability to establish a long-term solution for processing green waste and could also accommodate the co-location of a landscaping supply business. The proposed site is just over 3km from the existing facility and will offer great access to the residents of Belconnen and North Canberra. An important consideration of any site is the requirement that it be located at least 1km from residential premises and have the appropriate environmental controls in place, which this proposed site would provide. The final location of the facility is subject to further consideration by Government including the outcome of a proposed development application process. Prior to the development application process, we are seeking to engage with the community now to ensure the site can meet the needs of all users. 
 
If you have any feedback please email communityengagement@act.gov.au by Friday 4 February 2022. Please note that any feedback you may wish to provide now does not prevent you making any submissions during the development application process as well. It is expected the development application process will commence in late-February/early March 2022. 
In the meantime, the green waste drop off will continue at the current Parkwood Road location until the new facility is operational.

BCC Special General Meeting – William Hovell Drive Duplication Update – Tuesday 14 December at 7pm

Belconnen Community Council Inc.

Special General Meeting

via Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81386396514

14 December 2021

7pm

AGENDA

7pm                 Welcome and COVID-19 Update from ACT

7.05pm            Chair’s Report

7.15pm            MLAs update

7.25pm            William Hovell Drive Duplication Update – TCCS

8.30pm            Close

Next meeting:  7pm Tuesday 15 February 2022

In person: Holy Cross Church Emu Bank Belconnen

Online: via Zoom

No in face meeting tonight – please join us via Zoom

We’ve had some technical issues over the last few days and based on the advice from the vendors, we will only be running a Zoom meeting tonight:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83109118569

Our apologies for those who were looking to join us in the flesh tonight, but we will have us back in face for our first meeting of 2022, February 15 at 7pm.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Glen Hyde

Chair

Belconnen Community Council.

Belconnen Community Council Inc.

General Meeting

In person: Holy Cross Church Emu Bank Belconnen

Online: via Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83109118569

16 November 2021

7pm

AGENDA

7pm                 Welcome and COVID-19 Update from ACT

7.05pm            Chair’s Report

7.15pm            MLAs update

7.25pm            Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) trial

8pm                 Ginninderry update

8.30pm            General business

9pm                 Close

Next meeting:  7pm Tuesday 15 February 2022

In person: Holy Cross Church Emu Bank Belconnen

Online: via Zoom

Belconnen Community Council General Meeting October 2021 – Agenda

Belconnen Community Council Inc.

General Meeting

via Zoom

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83109118569

19 October 2021

7pm

AGENDA

7pm                 Welcome and COVID-19 Update from ACT

7.05pm            Chair’s Report

7.15pm            MLAs update

7.25pm            William Hovell Drive Duplication community discussion

8.15pm            General Business

8.30pm            Close

Next meeting:  7pm Tuesday 16 November 2021

In person: Holy Cross Church Emu Bank Belconnen

Online: via Zoom

BCC AGM – Chair’s Report and sign in requirement

As this year’s Annual General Meeting is being held online, we can’t actually capture signatures to meet the sign in requirements. However, we will use the sign in function on Zoom to record attendees; that means we can’t admit people to the meeting who use group identifiers rather than use their own names. If this proves problematic for members and visitors, then you will be able to view the recording of the meeting on Wednesday morning via this website. We appreciate your understanding.

Belconnen Community Council Chair’s Report AGM September 2021

We have had quite a year in the Belconnen District and across the territory. COVID-19 is by far the biggest drain on our people; the continuing health and economic crisis impacts us all in ways many of us have never experienced before. We are an incredibly resilient community but unlike every other natural disaster that’s befallen us, we cannot come together in the usual ways to offer support and assistance to those doing it tough. To that end it’s been tough on all of us and is likely to be so in the weeks and months ahead, but I know we are a well informed and sensible community who have always played by the rules and will continue to do so until this pandemic breaks. So please, get vaccinated if you can and do it as soon as you can.

There have been a few silver linings on the pandemic cloud this year; although somewhat rare they have been a statement by this community that we are passionate and intend to participate at every level possible.

Our ongoing battle over the Kippax Centre redevelopment has seen some movement but the overall loss of the green space has been a difficult pill to swallow. On balance, we have an opportunity to continue to influence the conversation on design, construction and amelioration lost open spaces in the future, with the pre-DA consultation process still some months away. As always, we will continue to bring all the parties together whenever we can to ensure the community’s voice is heard and our expectations recorded for decision makers to genuinely consider.

We were able to bring many voices together at Melba to amplify the conversation on the SMILES initiative to deliver an inclusive playground for the families of Belconnen. It was a wonderful day and saw many voluntary organisations come together to support this neighbourhood in their push to repurpose a neglected area to be converted into a source of community pride. Congratulations to Tim Korsopp and Hector Contreras for the wonderful work they did to bring our Ginninderra MLAs together to provide political support for the project and for daring to dream of a worthy initiative that SMILES is.

This was certainly the case with the other major win for our community; Parkwood’s Green Waste centre. While a decision as difficult as this one was to make by the Minister, it was an even more bitter pill for the community to swallow. We have always actively participated in any waste management solution given to us; recycling is a way of life in this district and one we’ve always taken very seriously. As a community we came together from all sides to save this important resource and so it was no surprise that with the help of our local MLAs, an 11th hour solution was secured. This is what we do best in the Belconnen district and it was great to see that respected and rewarded by Minister Steel.

The next 12 months will be just as challenging and can I thank my wonderful committee for another solid year in very trying circumstances. Thanks to our Ginninderra & Yerrabi MLAs who have supported our work so enthusiastically and of course to the wonderful people who live, work and play in our district.

Glen Hyde

Chair

Belconnen Community Council

21 September 2021