Molonglo police station decision a letdown as proposed emergency services site splits community

A greater police presence has been promised in Canberra’s “wild west” but the Weston Creek/Molonglo community will have to wait for a new police station in the growing areas.

Weston Creek Community Council chair Bill Gemmell, who has criticised police response times and particularly a failure to stamp out hooning in the area’s streets, said the lack of funding in the ACT Budget for a new station was very disappointing.

“We’d be quite happy for a station in Molonglo,” he said. “Wherever you put it, it’s going to improve response times around Weston Creek.

“We’re very disappointed they won’t make a commitment.”

Mr Gemmell cautiously welcomed Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan’s commitment to deploy 126 extra police over five years to Canberra growth areas such as the Molonglo Valley as part of the upcoming budget, but remained sceptical.

“They promised that last time we got some new police resourcing and my understanding is all they’ve been doing is treading water,” he said.

Mr Gemmell said ACT Policing would be challenged to recruit that many and retain all the officers they had.

“There are only so many people in the right demographic that they can get their hands on,” he said.

While he acknowledged CPO Gaughan’s comment that Canberra overall was a safe city, terrible things still happened.

Mr Gemmell knew people who had lost faith in calling the police and were not reporting crime.

“They’ve rung police and been told ‘The only car we’ve got is at Hume and not available’,” he said.

Hooning and dangerous driving also persisted in the area, he said.

Molonglo Valley Community Forum chair Ryan Hemsley said community members often complained about the lack of police presence in Molonglo.

Mr Hensley hoped the feasibility study into police accommodation across the Territory funded in the budget would examine what permanent presence in the Molonglo Valley might be considered as part of the district’s future growth.

He said the planned Molonglo Valley Group Centre was the most likely location, saying ACT Policing would probably not want to be co-located with the proposed joint emergency services in Duffy given its bad experience in Gungahlin.

Mr Hemsley said the Forum backed the selection of the Duffy site on the corner of Cotter Road and John Gorton Drive for the fire and ambulance station, saying he understood why the government had chosen that location.

The vacant, open urban space land is zoned NUZ3 Hills, Ridges and Buffer and will require a change to the Territory Plan, drawing a mixed response from the community.

Submissions to the consultation on DV386 comment on the loss of a green and bushfire buffer, the impact on walking and cycling paths, proximity to housing, noise, and impact on a creek, as well as saying it should be in Molonglo not Weston Creek.

Planning and Land Management Minister Mick Gentleman said the advice from emergency services had been that the Duffy site would provide easy access to both Weston Creek and Molonglo from a major arterial road.

“So you’ll note when we locate these opportunities for these stations, Acton is s a very good example, it’s not in the centre of the city because it’s much easier to access the centre of the city from just on the edge,” he said.

Mr Gemmell said the council had campaigned for a long time to get all the emergency services out to Weston Creek.

He said it was probably not the council’s preferred location but it was keeping an open mind.

“We’ve expressed some concern about the site they’ve picked but we’ll see what the community says,” he said.