Woden Town Centre is a hub for Weston Creek and Molonglo.
The districts of Woden, Weston Creek and the developing Molonglo Valley should be kept together in the one electorate due to their common interests and their reliance on the Woden Town Centre as their main service hub, the Woden Valley Community Council has argued.
In a submission to the ACT Electoral Commission on its redistribution of electoral boundaries this year, the WVCC argues that the three areas’ strong community links meant they needed to be considered by government as a single geographical unit.
They are at present contained in the electorate of Molonglo Valley.
WVCC president Fiona Carrick told Region Media any possible peeling off of suburbs to other electorates would dilute the combined bargaining and lobbying power of the three districts.
She said Woden had been split before and the recent Federal redistribution had divided the district between the new electorates of Canberra and Bean.
“Having the catchment of Woden, Weston, and Molonglo is very important to be able to say that we have this population base and that warrants providing facilities to these people,” Ms Carrick.
The Government had already tended to look at Woden’s population in isolation, instead of looking at the entire catchment, which benefitted the northern parts of the ACT when it came to services and facilities.
Ms Carrick said the Woden Valley and Weston Creek community councils already worked together and the area needed strong advocates to champion its needs.
The submission highlights the dearth of community facilities in Woden Town Centre, and the concerns in Weston Creek about parking at Cooleman Court, and in Molonglo about the provision of shops and the development of a Group Centre.
“The level of densification (particularly in Woden and Molonglo) requires advocacy to ensure great outcomes and the recent rejection of some Development Applications demonstrates the risk of overdevelopment is real,” it says.
“It is therefore vital to our community that we have strong and active representation to advocate for jobs, housing and facilities in our community, to be a champion for our community.”
The next ACT election will be held in 2020.
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