AUTUMN 2011 10 YEARS OF LIVING IN SIN — STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 11

NEWS

RCC wants ToondahHarbour investmentRedland City Council is calling on the

state government to commit to fu-ture investment in Toondah Har-

bour, the embarkation point for water taxisand ferries from the mainland to Straddie.

Speaking at a media conference in theferry terminal Mayor Melva Hobson said thatensuring jobs and a vibrant future economyfor North Stradbroke Island in a post-miningeconomy would require strong partnershipand funding support for the infrastructureof Toondah Harbour.

“Toondah Harbour is critical for futurepublic access to the foreshore, Moreton Bay

and North Stradbroke Island,” she said.“Council itself has already made a substantialinvestment in the Toondah Harbour facility,following the purchase of 7,120 square me-tres of foreshore land from CSIRO late lastyear for $3.495m.

“Now that Council is a stakeholder in thefuture of the Harbour we can help ensure itmeets the needs of future users, but withoutthe support of the state in particular, that willbe much harder to achieve.”

Divisional councillor for the area CraigOgilvie said: “Inaction on Toondah Harbouris a luxury that we cannot afford.”

Sin BRIEFUNIMIN CHARGES

Charges against sand miner UNIMIN ofillegally removing sand from NorthStradbroke Island have been adjourneduntil 14 June 2011.

MASONS KITCHEN CLOSEDThe Point Lookout Masonic Club committeeis looking for new operators for its bar andrestaurant. The Masonic Club hall is stillavailable as a venue for hire, for meetingsand cultural events. At the time of going toprint plans for Easter opening times werenot confirmed.

RCC’S WOMAN IN CHINARedland City Council will extend thecontract of its trade and investment officerin China for another two years. Julia Zhangprovides free expert advice to Redlandbusiness people on business conditionsand practices in China. She can help tosource potential customers and providewritten and oral translations. She recentlyhelped one Redland business secure exportdeals worth around $4 million.

COUNCILLORS REJECT PAY RISERedland City Councillors voted to reject a2.5 per cent pay rise recommended by theLocal Government Remuneration andDiscipline Tribunal. Each year the tribunaldetermines maximum and minimum paylevels for councillors across Queensland,giving councils 90 days to vote on what tobe paid, within that range. Mayor MelvaHobson said councillors did not feel it wasappropriate to accept a rise. “We realiseratepayers don’t want to see their electedrepresentatives accepting pay rises whileothers in the community are struggling.”Salaries for 2011: mayor $145,544, deputymayor $98,080, councillor $88,590.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCELINES in the SAND is an ephemeral artevent first held at Point Lookout in 2009.Macleay Island residents Colin Offord andYeh Yilan are 2011’s Artists in Residenceand will perform Transience, an ongoingseries of site specific, immersiveperformance events and workshops,scheduled for Saturday July 2. Offord andYeh create music and video works to suitthe scale, aesthetics and ambience of thechosen environment, in this case the PointLookout headland. Colin Offord will alsoperform a new score he has composed forthe 1927 Australian silent film masterpieceFor the Term of his Natural Life, toaccompany an outdoor screening of the filmon the exterior of the Moreton Bay ResearchStation, corner of Petrie and Fraser Streets,Dunwich, on Friday, July 1. For moreinformation visit www.linesinthesand.com.au

SHARKS AT AMITYAn increase in bait fish and sharks aroundAmity Point has been reported by theDepartment of Environment and ResourceManaged after summer’s wild weather. “Thewater is now much clearer and largenumbers of bait fish and sharks have beengathering around Amity point,” DERM’sDirector of Freshwater and Marine Sciences,Julia Playford told SIN. “This is possiblybecause of high nutrient levels from runoff.”

Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) iscalling for more Straddie volun-teers to join their Dunwichsquadron. There are currently 18 ac-tive VMR members on the Island, re-

sponsible for search and rescue operations,medical evacuations and providing assistanceto the Moreton Bay boating community. TheVMR squadron works in conjunction withambulance services and the water police toprovide assistance in emergency situations.

“We look after the Island community andthe boating community in Moreton Bay,”VMR volunteer Doug Fraser told SIN. “We’reshort of people especially over at Stradbrokebecause of the diminishing population and,like all voluntary organisations, we need a bitof funding,” Mr Fraser said. “We could dowith more people who can help in any waypossible. We’ve got two girls from PointLookout who aren’t interested in having any-thing to do with the boats, but help withfundraising and that’s just fabulous,” Mr.Fraser said. “There are people like myself

and others who join because they want to at-tain their coxswains rating.”

A coxswain is a person in charge of a boat,particularly its navigation and steering. Fulltraining and support is provided to all VMRvolunteers in a number of areas includingfirst aid, marine radio operation, local knowl-edge, shipboard safety, crew and coxswain, aswell as training and assessment and work-place health and safety. Mr. Fraser said he wasoriginally inspired to volunteer for VMRafter reading an article in SIN three yearsago, calling for volunteers.

“When I moved over to the Island threeyears ago I was looking to do some kind ofvolunteer work, and when I saw that articlein SIN I thought, ‘Well that covers all thebases. I can do my volunteer bit for the com-munity and I can also get out on the waterand learn something as well’ – and now I’vegot my Coxswains ticket,” Mr Fraser said. For more information about volunteeringplease visit www.vmraq.org.au or call 3409 9938.

Volunteers to the rescueB Y M A R I A T A N