The South East Junction

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:25): I would like to talk about a couple of issues, the first being the Junction. The South East Junction is a mental health activity and resource centre in Mount Gambier. The Junction had previously received funding through Country Health SA mental health, but that funding expired in December 2011 and no further funding agreement has been extended.

This reduction in funding has had a serious impact on the Junction, and it is probably prudent to go into some of the services that the Junction provides. The Junction is a facility where people who have suffered, or are suffering, from mental health issues come together on a social, informal level. It is a network of people assisting each other through some pretty dark times that they are experiencing.

Previous to December 2011, the Junction was able to employ a coordinator to organise activities and services and facilitate that coming together. Since December 2011 and the loss of that funding, the coordinator has actually stayed on in a voluntary capacity. Unfortunately, we are getting to the time where the coordinator is moving on, I suppose, in terms of employment, and the hours that she can dedicate to the Junction are severely limited, which of course has an impact on the number of hours that the Junction can remain open.

The Junction at present has over 110 people on the books who receive a service from the Junction. It would be a tragedy for our community to lose that type of facility, where those who experience severe or mild mental health issues come together. So we are trying to progress in a range of areas to seek further funding for the Junction. They all have my full support and my full endeavours to assist them wherever I can because it is, quite frankly, too valuable a service in my region to have the doors shut once and for all. In fact, I would like to see a reversal in the number of times that it is open.

Currently it is only operational for two days (two mornings) a week, and that is down considering the service was previously open five days a week. It just so happens that those two mornings are the mornings that Nel Jans, who is the coordinator, does not work in paid work. So her commitment needs to be recognised and applauded. I will be doing everything I can to support the Junction and the 110 people in my region who are using that service to support or come to grips with mental health issues that they are experiencing.

The second point I would like to make is around bike lanes. I stand here certainly not as an opponent to bike lanes, because I fully value their benefit to our community, but I am concerned about the rate at which they are being implemented in the South-East. Businesses are having very little consultation. Businesses are coming to me saying that they are losing car-parking space because bike lanes have taken them over.

The point I am trying to get at is that, with better consultation and a longer time frame, I think we can get the best of both worlds, where bike lanes can slowly be implemented in the region and businesses can adjust to the loss of car-parking space. The other point I would like to make is that I know of no small business that is doing better now than they were a couple of years ago. Things are getting tougher and tighter and we need to work with our business community in finding ways forward for things like bike lanes.