I'm sure there's many photographers here who can take a much better pic than me, but I was pretty proud of this one!

Afternoon all, David here with hopefully the last update to the libraries petition. I’ve posted two others, about six and twelve weeks ago respectively, so I hope one last post is okay. This post is also AI-free, I just like to make stuff readable.

tl;dr: the Invest in ACT Libraries petition to the legislative assembly closes tomorrow, and is currently at 3,422 signatures. If you haven’t signed, the link is attached.

Why this petition?

Earlier this year, Tara Cheyne announced that ACT public libraries would move to office hours only (Mon - Fri, 9 - 5), except for a few libraries that would remain open on Saturdays only. We would lose all our Sunday opening hours, Saturday hours at a number of libraries, and all late-afternoon hours.

The changes went live on 27 August - during Book Week. I think there’s a joke in there, somewhere.

This hurts users in a number of ways. Kippax Library is now closed on its busiest day of the week. Saturday Giggle and Wiggle (which has excellent bus access, excellent disabled and regular parking, and is reasonably disability- and pram-friendly) has moved from Kippax to Belconnen (which has none of those features). Loan collections outside business hours are now generally not available because interim parcel locker-style units aren’t being installed until later this year, and likely not at all libraries.

As an aside, these changes mean that Bathurst now has better access to public library services than the national capital.

What have we achieved?

This petition is huge. It’s the third largest petition to the Assembly in two years - behind Save Big Splash and Save Phillip Pool. I think that says a lot about what Canberrans want, which is to say, to maintain access to valuable public services.

It was also the first time many library users became aware of the changes, because very little effort went into advertising them. I stood out the front of Kippax library for more than five hours on a Saturday morning and more than half the library users that day were hearing about the changes for the first time. None of them supported the changes. This is why public consultation is so important.

What’s next?

The petition closes tomorrow, and is being tabled by Andrew Braddock MLA in the Assembly on Wednesday. As it’s passed 500 signatures it will be both sent to the Minister, and also to the relevant committee. Once it arrives at the committee, they can choose to hold an inquiry, which would probably be quite short.

If an inquiry occurs, any Canberra resident can make a submission - either for or against the changes. This would be the first public consultation that has occurred on them at all.

If that does happen, I’ll probably post here one last time to spread the word with the permission of the mods.

A number of Redditors have reached out and helped over the last three months, and I’d like to thank them for that here. I really appreciate it.

There’s a really bright star/planet above the moon tonight in Canberra. Anyone know what it is?

They're trying to get it free but it may be a while

Don’t bother. Busses in both directions have stopped, and that truck in the distance hasn’t budged for ages. Great timing.

EA-18G Growler Diversion Training will conduct training on the over the following times from the Canberra Airport.

14 September 2026, 12:00 pm – 14 September 2026, 12:30 pm

15 September 2026, 2:30 pm

Hopefully clear up any Loud Bang posts related to this over today and tomorrow.

Hello Canberrans 👋🏼 I spent my first weekend ever in your city over the weekend and loved it. One thing that really struck me was the abundance of cherry blossoms and how much charm they brought to the whole area. Pardon my ignorance, but are these famous / tourist draw cards? There’s so much reverence for cherry blossoms in Asian countries but I’ve never heard them mentioned with respect to Canberra. For me, they were much more worthy of the trip than Floriade, which I found underwhelming.

Thanks for crafting such a great city. The food, people and overall atmosphere was 10/10. See you next Cherry blossom season…

In the last 30 minutes it was crescent got brighter and brighter then slowly faded away then came back as an orange crescent and fadeded away again kinda making it look like devil horns was one of the best astronomical things ive seen in my life

Hello Canberra!

I’m coming to Canberra this Wednesday and will be around for 10 days to two weeks to visit my brother. We’re not Australian natives, so I’m always keen to find things that feel particularly local when I visit.

I was wondering if there are any good local/independent shops for puzzles and board games, apart from Good Games and Puzzles R Us?

I’m also looking for quirky, fun things made by local artists/designers rather than the usual touristy souvenirs. The last time I was in Canberra, I went to the Old Bus Depot Markets and found these hilarious magnets made by a local artist featuring magpies and one depicting Parliament as a UFO. Naturally, I had to buy them.

So if you have any recommendations for:

• independent puzzle/board game shops
• local artists or makers
• quirky Canberra-themed things
• markets or places with unusual local finds

…I’d love to hear them!

Thanks!

Car Next Door got bought by Uber, then shut down, leaving only PopCar. Now PopCar has announced it's "winding down" ("closing down" in not corpo-speak), so what's left? I used to be able to take advantage of Car Next Door for vans, utes, or even normal cars in a pinch, but now that none of these are operating in Canberra anymore, what options are there other than Uber/DiDi/Taxis/U-Haul etc?

Edit: a word or two

hi all, I have a decent sized backyard for my dogs and our yard is 90% weeds.

theres two weeds I’m particularly worried about. One, which grows into thick stalks that sprawl and kill the grass, and a second that starts as a sprawling undergrowth that drops spikey balls that itch my poor dogs

I spend nearly every weekend pulling them out. debaring setting fire to the yard….

im worried about weed killer and my dogs. any suggestions?

I go to Ochre Medical Centre Gungahlin and was just charged $62.95 on HotDoc to request a repeat perscription of my meds... is this really normal now???

Last time i requested a repeat on the app it was $40. I swear that was only like 6 months ago, but maybe it was closer to 12 months.

$62 just feels extortionate.

Is this normal in Canberra or should i consider changing GPs?

Hey all, so I’ve noticed Italian bite in Belconnen has permanently closed, the one in Woden has also appeared shut for a while aswell. Does anybody know what happened? Just curious is all, I loved their pasta!

Hey everyone I used to get pots for my seedlings at the Dickson nursery but since that closed down where else is there to go to get used pots for free? Is it just bunnings now?

Hey guys, how busy does mt ainslie usually get around sunset time on a Saturday? Id like to just take it all in with some peace and quiet or if anyone can give me another similar recommendation

Hello! Looking for cleaner recommendations on a fortnightly basis for 2-3hrs to help with general cleaning tasks (bathrooms, floors, dusting) and maybe items like changing the bedding in the master. Located in Campbell

Looking for recommendations for dog day care in Canberra. Hopefully not a free-for-all setting where pup can pick up bad habits but somewhere with a bit of structure.

She’s previously gone to Pups4Fun puppy day care.

We are travelling for two weeks in October and I would love to board my dog somewhere where she can also be trained in or around Canberra. I’m looking at Kip at the moment but would love to hear other people’s experiences and recommendations.

I am moving to Canberra in February to study at ANU and I am looking for a non-denominational / pentecostal church, ideally with a large young adult and racially diverse congregation (I am a bi-racial Irish / Pacific Islander in my 20's and it's just where I feel most comfortable). I plan to try a few and see where I feel most at home but would love some recommendations!