Having announced their plan for Tuggeranong on Monday, ACT Labor today revealed its Woden and Weston Creek Regional Plan, promising to “continue delivering major infrastructure projects that will transform the Woden Town Centre, and invest in suburban improvements in Woden and Weston Creek”.

Candidates from other parties have rubbished Labor’s proposals, saying they offer nothing new, and lack any vision for Woden.

Health: The government opened a bigger emergency department, intensive care unit, and more operating theatres at Canberra Hospital last weekend. It will open a Canberra Cancer research centre (announced in January last year), new pharmacy services, a new palliative care ward, and build more parking. The Weston Creek Walk-in Centre will have more services and more nurses (funding announced last October).

Community facilities: Building a new Woden Community Centre; upgrading a playground at Lyons Oval. The government upgraded Woden Library (between May and August). Improve recreational facilities in Eddison Park.

Roads: Duplicating Athllon Drive to ease congestion, improve travel times between Woden and Tuggeranong, and provide better public transport access to the new Woden Bus Depot. Upgrading traffic lights along Streeton Drive (announced in 2022) to make intersections safer.

Transport: Extend light rail from the City to Woden, and build a new Woden bus interchange and bus depot (work began in 2021).

“A vote for Labor at the October election is a vote for light rail to Woden, and only Labor has a proven plan to progressively build Canberra’s light rail network,” a spokesperson said.

The Canberra Liberals have promised not to continue with the ‘white elephant’, which they estimate will cost more than $4 billion.

School: Building a new CIT in Woden (work began last year, and the campus will open next year). Improving and upgrading public schools, including a new gymnasium for Garran Primary School.

Local shops: Upgrading Cooleman Court and Mawson shops (including land for a supermarket). Build-to-rent housing at Woden Plaza.

Sports: Upgrading Phillip District Oval’s pavilion and grandstand; restoring Garran Oval; upgrading lighting at Waramanga Oval; new lights at Stirling playing fields; toilet facilities at Mawson playing fields; women-friendly change rooms at Hughes and Phillip playing fields. Feasibility underway on indoor sporting facilities in Woden Town Centre.

Footpaths: $5 million for better footpaths.

“It’s a plan that comes from the Woden and Weston Creek community,” a Labor spokesperson said. “And it’s a plan that’ll bring more investment and renewal.”

Fiona Carrick: ‘Lame attempt … business as usual’

Fiona Carrick, independent candidate and president of the Woden Valley Community Council until this year, slammed Labor’s plan.

“The community does not buy this lame attempt to claim that the expansion of the Canberra Hospital and business as usual upgrades to shops and schools is building our future,” Ms Carrick said.

“There is very little for Weston Creek; however, the $5 million for better footpaths includes the Streeton Drive cycleway, which like most of Labor’s plan, has already been announced.”

Ed Cocks: ‘A list of recycled promises and problems’

Likewise, local Canberra Liberals MLA Ed Cocks said: “After 23 years of neglect, Labor’s so-called ‘plan’ for Woden and Weston Creek is nothing but a list of recycled promises and problems they’ve caused. It’s time for a Government that views our region as more than just a place to sleep and a source of rates and taxes.

“Over the past two decades, Labor has failed to deliver a vision, or cohesive plan to make Woden the thriving centre of economic and community life it should be, and they have consistently neglected to care for our established suburbs like those in Woden and Weston Creek. We’ve been missing out in the south for too long, making do with band-aids, and piecemeal projects while Labor focussed on Andrew Barr’s personal priorities north of the lake.

“People across the South know and remember that over their time in government:

• Labor has closed sporting facilities across our region, and traded a comprehensive 5.5-hectare Woden CIT site for one around 10 per cent of the size.
• Labor has allowed our local shops to decay, and has been promising the same improvements at Mawson since 2015.
• Andrew Barr was personally responsible for closing down schools across Woden and Weston Creek, meaning schools now turn away families and children if they don’t live in the right postcode.
• Labor has created parking problems across the electorate, from local shops to the Hospital, where they removed parking with no plan to replace it, and they have created more congestion on our roads with no end in sight.

“Woden and Weston Creek need something better than Labor’s narrow plan for a tram – a vanity project that would be slower, less convenient, and create more road congestion than what we have now.

“We should be able to take pride in our regions but, after 23 years of Labor, things have been getting progressively worse. Labor has left Weston Creek and Woden neglected and ignored, and it’s time for a change for the better.”

Independents for Canberra

Independents for Canberra thought Labor’s policy was promising, but criticised its vagueness and wondered whether the party could deliver infrastructure improvements in a timely manner.

“The ACT Labor Party’s plan for Woden and Weston is not a bad one,” Murrumbidgee candidate Anne-Louise Dawes said. “In fact, given the lack of detail it is hard to fault. Residents may have further questions around how the infrastructure improvements fit into the broader plan to accommodate the growing number of residents in the Molonglo Valley. 

“The absence of clear time frames, funding strategies and what we have come to expect as the slow pace of change may erode confidence in tangible results. 

“We look forward to pushing for a clearer long-term vision that considers the evolving needs of our communities and draws together what otherwise looks like a piecemeal approach.”