New recycling facility

The ACT and Australian Governments will jointly fund the construction of a new Recycling Facility for Canberra, costing $26 million.

The original facility, in Hume, was destroyed on Boxing Day 2022 by a fire caused by lithium batteries. Since then, the ACT’s recycling material has been transported to Sydney or Victoria.

The facility will be built on the same site and on an adjoining block. New technology will sort and process more glass, plastic, paper and cardboard.

The government says the new facility will create higher quality recycled products, increase resource recovery, and reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfill. A contract will be awarded soon.

“We are very pleased that work will soon start on the New Recycling Facility, following an extended period of time without this critical infrastructure being able to be provided in our city,” Tara Cheyne, ACT Minister for City Services, said.

Community infrastructure and maintenance

The 2024-25 ACT Budget will support new and upgraded community facilities and infrastructure across our city.

The government will spend $2.5 million to install new toilets at Evatt Shops, Ruth Park in Coombs, and near Bizant Street in Amaroo (as part of the Yerrabi Pond Upgrade), and to upgrade a toilet at Mawson Shops.

Playgrounds and skateparks will be renewed at a cost of more than $2 million. This includes safety improvement works, mulch and rubber soft fall top-ups, and a program of regular audits and inspections.

Libraries will have new portable phone chargers, more power boards and charging stations, and better building security.

The budget also includes $950,000 to plan upgrades to the Mugga Lane and Hume Resource Management Centres; $750,000 to upgrade dams; and $300,000 to upgrade security at Transport Canberra and City Services sites.

Food Organics and Garden Organics Pilot

The Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection pilot, which collects food scraps and garden waste, will be expanded. The pilot services 5,300 households in Belconnen, Bruce, Cook, and Macquarie; 1,150 units will be added.

“With the FOGO pilot proving very popular, and the numbers and types of multi-unit developments growing since its inception, it is timely for us to expand the pilot by more than 20 per cent to learn more insights from these household types,” Ms Cheyne said.

Mowing and horticultural maintenance services

$5.8 million will be spent on mowing, in-house traffic management, and tree management.

“The impacts of climate change, including more, and more common [sic], severe storm events, unprecedented weather patterns, and a growing city have created new demands on our mowing and horticultural maintenance services which require ongoing additional investment,” a government spokesperson said.

Ten full-time positions and eight additional mowers have been added to mowing teams. In the low season, mowing crews will assist with horticultural work, including weeding, road edging, and maintenance.

The Budget will also fund the continuation of a 10-person in-house traffic management crew to maximise the safety of roadside workers and to minimise the inconvenience for both workers and road and path users during maintenance activities.

The ACT Government states it has exceeded its target of planting 54,000 trees from 2021 to 2024: forecasts predict that more than 60,000 new trees will have been added to the tree canopy. Staff will be funded to care for trees and plant more trees.

Volunteer park care groups will receive $800,000 investment over four years to nurture and restore local parks and nature reserves; the first year’s focus is on weed management.

“Canberra’s extremely high quality of life ranking reflects the high standards of the liveability and attractiveness of our city,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said. “We are investing in the staff and equipment needed to maintain a high standard of service delivery in mowing, tree management and other city services.

“This investment will respond to the demands of our growing population and changing climate to ensure Canberra remains resilient and flexible to shifting horticulture maintenance needs.”

“We’ve learned that the only certainty about our weather now is uncertainty,” Ms Cheyne said. “Investing in an improved baseline of capability across our crews is the most critical way for us to better respond to these challenges.”