OVERGROWN verges, cracks in footpaths, clogged drains, banged up street signs, residents of Belconnen have had enough.

Alison Chapple remembers a time when her local suburb was well maintained but the long-time Macquarie resident says the area she had grown to love now resembles the “wild west”.

“There is graffiti everywhere, unmown verges and public spaces, roads left far too long before repair, broken footpaths, clogged storm water drains,  weeds everywhere and street sweepers a rarity,” Chapple said.

Chapple’s long list of unkept and unsightly areas includes overgrown verges along Kingsford Smith Drive, clogged drains in Bennelong and Liverpool Streets, Macquarie, and unsightly graffiti along Luxton Street, Belconnen.

But the ACT government maintains it “regularly” conducts a variety of maintenance activity across Canberra.

Chapple says she’s lodged countless “Fix My Street” requests via the ACT government’s Access Canberra website for mowing and weeding, street sweeping, fixing footpaths and clearing clogged drains. Basic requests for upkeep, she believes the ACT government should already be on top of.

“I’d like to see the government do away with the obvious reliance on ‘Fix My Street’ requests before fixing drains, weeding median strips, fixing bent signs and graffiti,” said Chapple.

“The onus is on the government to maintain public land, not a few caring residents who in exasperation, have to fill out an online form for what should be general maintenance.

“This is general maintenance and should be undertaken by the government on a regular basis.”

The Barr government’s focus on trams, sports stadiums, population growth, and “break-neck development”, Chapple says, has come at the expense of suburban maintenance.

But Minister for City Services Chris Steel says the ACT government “regularly” conducts a variety of maintenance activities across Canberra according to the use and profile of an area.

“Typically, public open spaces are mown every four weeks and arterial roads every five weeks during peak growing periods,” Minister Steel said.

“Due to the winter conditions, suburban mowing is being undertaken on an as-needs basis, with teams targeting areas that require mowing.”

Minister Steel said the ACT government has accelerated a number of infrastructure and maintenance projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and employed six new staff to increase weeding.

“As part of the stimulus package the ACT government provided additional money for more weeding, an enhanced cleaning program for our gross pollutant traps, and asphalt patching.” 

Minister Steel said service level standards are applied consistently across the city in accordance with regional plans of management, whereby “higher use” and “high-profile areas” are managed and maintained to a “higher standard” than “lower-use” areas.

Belco Party convenor and candidate Bill Stefaniak says it shouldn’t matter where you live for suburb maintenance to be a priority.

“You don’t see such neglect in the trendy inner-city areas where Messrs Barr and [Shane] Rattenbury live,” said Stefaniak.

“It’s the fundamental duty of a local government to keep the suburbs clean, free of long grass, broken footpaths, blocked storm water drains, potholes  and excess rubbish buildup in front yards.”

Stefaniak feels many areas of Belconnen are left in a neglected state, he says that poorly maintained housing properties are also increasingly becoming a big issue in Belconnen.

“Residents do not want Belconnen to look like a pigsty and it’s unfair to residents to have to put up with excessive junk in vacant lots and nearby houses.

“These scenes are unfortunately typical of how the current Labor/Greens government has allowed a lot of areas of Belconnen to become very run down.”

Belconnen residents aren’t the only ones concerned about the state of their suburb. 

“We conducted a survey of 550 respondents whose top concern was the maintenance of street trees, verges and parks, municipal stuff that councils usually do,” Inner South Community Council chair Marea Fatseas said.

“A lot of people feel those municipal functions have not been looked after very well.”

Shadow Minister for Urban Services Nicole Lawder says the Labor/Greens government has neglected Canberra suburbs.

“Despite receiving record revenue from slugging Canberra families and households with record rates and taxes, this long-serving Labor/Greens government has neglected Canberra suburbs,” she said.

“This used to be a beautiful city in the CBD and the suburbs, it is nothing like that anymore,” Chapple said.

“We implore this government to lift its game and maintain our suburban environment to the standard that the nation’s capital deserves.”