Every week Garran Scouts trudge through littered rubbish and potholed ground to get into their dilapidated hall, now frustrated parents have had enough with an idle government. 

Father to two, 48-year-old Gwyn Rees has been volunteering to the Garran Scouts as a “handyman” for a year. 

His two boys attend weekly Scout meetings as Joey and Cub Scouts respectively. 

Not to be confused with the ACT Branch of the Scout Association of Australia hall that lies just up the road, the Garren Scout Hall is located beside the Canberra Hospital. 

Initially, the Scout hall welcomed close neighbours in 2020 when a pop-up covid vaccination clinic was set up on their grounds. 

“When [the centre] was established, the entrance was on our driveway,” says Gwyn. “We had a lot of ingress and egress, which had its impact on the hall.” 

Although the centre has gone, Gwyn says the hall didn’t catch a break as the site then moved on to support hospital upgrades.

“That’s really when we [found] we had an overflow parking situation happening for construction workers,” he says. 

“One of our trigger points was in October on a Wednesday,” says Gwyn. 

“We pulled in and [our] carpark was shut off. No correspondence, nothing.

“It was poor communication that triggered what ended up including the involvement of the Scouts ACT branch and since then it’s just become a game of kicking a can down the road.”

It’s now a daily occurrence of watching construction workers park around the hall and use it to store machinery that has left the formerly green grounds dry and full of potholes. 

“We are trying to sell the [idea of the]Scout hall to parents and Scouts who would like to join, as well as other community groups, and it’s not appealing when it’s looking run down,” says Gwyn. 

“[We’ve] got construction workers parking across our site and it isn’t just about the inconvenience, it’s about our kids’ safety.

“Kids shouldn’t have to navigate construction workers parking on our land, if this was at the school, they would have appropriate measures in place to manage it. 

“Why should the Scout hall be treated any differently?”

Gwyn says the hall services more than 80 families alongside several community groups, all of whom have been impacted by the construction. 

“The grounds aren’t in the condition they once were,” he says. 

“Usually we would do activities out on the green area, and it’s looking pretty bad as it currently sits but it’s not just the wear and tear of traffic.

“Workers are leaving behind coffee cups, cans and alcohol bottles, all things that have been left for us to clean up.”

“We’re volunteers, we’re not being paid and you would expect that the government and project team would be more open to listening to our issues,” says Gwyn. 

As it stands, the Garran Scout Group is not financially able to fix the ongoing damage to their property as all leaders and helpers – like Gwyn –  are volunteers. 

“We can’t do maintenance program projects and it’s not in our budget to remediate the landscaping or build a fence,” Gwyn says. 

His biggest concern is on the crack in their wall, which has affected the structural integrity and practicality of a sealed environment from the elements. 

Despite constant communication with the government and construction crew, the Scouts have been left in limbo until the hospital project’s expected completion in December. 

“At the end of the day, it’s about child safety.

“There’s a small amount of money that could go a long way to provide safety, security and safeguarding.”