The Garran Scout Hall has been surrounded by construction sites nearly nonstop since 2020, and it’s taking its toll. Photos: Gwyn Rees.
Parents and volunteers at an ACT Scouts venue in Garran have warned they’ll have to halt their weekly programs if something isn’t done soon about the construction mess surrounding them.
“For months, we’ve raised the alarm about illegal construction parking, vandalism, and now even damage to the hall itself,” Gwyn Rees, a volunteer caretaker at the site, said.
“The government keeps kicking the can down the road while our kids’ safety is at risk.”
The Garran Scout Hall, off Kitchener Street near the Canberra Hospital, is used by about 200 people a week, mainly those involved in Scouts ACT’s youth programs.
Mr Rees told Region there had been continued disruptions at the site since 2020, when the COVID-19 Surge Facility was erected on the neighbouring oval.
This was followed by upgrades to the Canberra Hospital and the redevelopment of the Garran Primary School, both of which are ongoing.
The back of the Garran Scout Hall, as seen from Kitchener Street.
For four years, Mr Rees said, parents had struggled to find parking spaces in an area overwhelmed by construction traffic, and the scout programs had lost natural spaces “previously used for outdoor activities”.
“Parents are having to stop in the middle of the road to drop their kids off because they can’t access the car park.”
He also claimed a “prominent” crack in one of the building’s walls had worsened over the past few months due to the proximity of heavy construction vehicles and “ground vibrations”, to the point crumbled mortar had been dropping onto a table inside the hall.
Volunteers claim a crack in the hall’s wall has significantly worsened in recent months due to the nearby construction work.
“The cumulative impact of multiple construction projects has severely strained the hall’s functionality, safety and appeal as a community resource,” Mr Rees said.
“These issues directly affect the ability to attract new scouts, retain current members, and generate income through hall hire to other community groups. Funds that should support youth programs will need to be diverted to cover remediation costs if we can’t get support from the government.”
The hall’s users have called for the government to install safety fencing across the front of the site and landscape around the access points, both on public land, but have yet to receive any “consolidated response or formal offers”.
“The ACT Education directorate has provided repeated assurances without concrete actions, contributing to mounting frustration among the Scout Hall committee and our wider community,” Mr Rees said.
After an interview with ABC radio this week, Mr Rees said “double” the number of temporary No Parking signs had been installed along Kitchener and Robson streets, and Joss Construction had deployed workers to “make sure no-one parks” there.
In a statement to Region, the ACT branch of Scouts Australia said it had established a working group that included the ACT Government’s Education Directorate and “meet with them regularly to discuss issues” with the Garran Primary School development.
No Parking signs installed near the Garran Scout Hall.
“In our dealings with the Education Directorate and the minister’s office, they have been very sympathetic to Scouts and where they could, they have stepped in to address issues,” Chief Commissioner Brent Juratowitch said.
However, the combined effect of the works “has resulted in not only the Scout hall but many of the surrounding streets feeling the impact of people seeking affordable parking, grounds and other public spaces being churned up by construction vehicles and concerns over pedestrian access”.
“There will also shortly be the Capital Golf Club redevelopment, which will also start to have an impact.
“All in all, the scout group and the surrounding community have had something like five years of disruptions to their local area and it is not finished yet.”
An ACT Government spokesperson told Region a ”project structural engineer” planned to assess the crack in the Scout Hall’s wall next week, even though it was “believed to pre-date” the works.
“The project team is developing options to address the Garran Scouts’ concerns about pick-up and drop-off for scouting activities, including trailer access to their lock-up,” the spokesperson said.
“These will be discussed at the meeting later this month.”
