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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

The 4417 meeting of the Brisbane City Council,held at City Hall, Brisbaneon Tuesday 15 October 2013at 2pm

Prepared by: Council and Committees SupportChief Executive’s OfficeOffice of the Lord Mayor and the Chief Executive Officer

Dedicated to a better Brisbane


THE 4417 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,ON TUESDAY 15 OCTOBER 2013

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS______________________________________________________________1

PRESENT:________________________________________________________________________2

OPENING OF MEETING:____________________________________________________________2

MINUTES:_______________________________________________________________________2

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:____________________________________________________________2

QUESTION TIME:__________________________________________________________________5

CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS:___________________________________________17ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE__________________________________________17

A REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING ON 5 SEPTEMBER 2013______________________20INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE___________________________________________________________21

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ROBINSON ROAD OPEN LEVEL CROSSING REPLACEMENT PROJECT_23B PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL NOT PROCEED WITH THE PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN REFUGE

ON RIDGE STREET, GREENSLOPES, TO THE EAST OF BUNYA STREET_________________________24C PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INSTALL A YELLOW NO STOPPING LINE ALONG THE

SOUTHERN SIDE OF JACKSON STREET, AND A TRAFFIC MIRROR AT THE INTERSECTION OF JACKSON STREET AND BENNETTS ROAD, COORPAROO___________________________________________26

D PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INSTALL ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES ON NORMAN STREET AND REINSTATE THE GARDEN BEDS AND STREET TREES ON NORMAN STREET, EAST BRISBANE, WHICH WERE REMOVED BY QUEENSLAND URBAN UTILITIES_________________28

PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE_______________________________________________29A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – COMPLETED BIKEWAY PROJECT 2012/13_____________________32

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE____________________33A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – BRISBANE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA GROWTH______________36

ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE____________________________________37A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – FAR OUT FOREST FESTIVAL, BRISBANE BOTANIC GARDENS, MT

COOT-THA, 3 AND 4 JULY 2013______________________________________________________45B PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL PURCHASE THE FORMER SKATE RINK AT 54 SERVICETON

AVENUE, INALA FOR PARKLAND AND COMMUNITY SPACE________________________________46C E-PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF TOILET FACILITIES IN BULIMBA RIVERSIDE PARK,

IN LOVE STREET, BULIMBA_________________________________________________________47D E-PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF NEW PLAY EQUIPMENT IN LAVARACK PARK,

CAMP HILL______________________________________________________________________48E E-PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF BARBEQUE FACILITIES IN WILSON PARK,

NORMAN PARK__________________________________________________________________49F PETITIONS – REQUESTING COUNCIL CONSIDER THE NAMING OF THE GREEN IN FREW PARK,

MILTON, AS ‘WENDY TURNBULL GREEN’______________________________________________50G PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL TO RE-DRAW THE FLOOD MAPS IN THE VICINITY OF BARCLAY

AND SCOTT STREETS, DEAGON______________________________________________________51FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE_____________________________________________________________52

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – BUSHFIRE HAZARD REDUCTION SUMMARY 2013______________55BRISBANE LIFESTYLE COMMITTEE_________________________________________________________56

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – CENTENARY POOL REFURBISHMENT________________________60

[4417 (Ordinary) Meeting – 15 October 2013]




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B PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL SUPPORT QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR THE SANDGATE AND BRACKEN RIDGE ACTION GROUP (SANDBAG) COMMUNITY ORGANISATION_61

FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE_______________________62A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION AND REPORT – NET BORROWINGS, CASH INVESTMENTS AND

FUNDING (SEPTEMBER 2013 QUARTER)_______________________________________________67B BANK AND INVESTMENT REPORT – JULY 2013__________________________________________67

PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS:_____________________________________________________68

GENERAL BUSINESS:______________________________________________________________69

QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:__________________________________78

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:________________________82





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PRESENT:The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK) – LNPThe Chairman of Council, Councillor Margaret de WIT (Pullenvale Ward)– LNP

LNP Councillors (and Wards) ALP Councillors (and Wards)Krista ADAMS (Wishart)Matthew BOURKE (Jamboree)Amanda COOPER (Bracken Ridge)Vicki HOWARD (Central)Steven HUANG (Macgregor) Fiona KING (Marchant) Geraldine KNAPP (The Gap) Kim MARX (Karawatha)Peter MATIC (Toowong)Ian McKENZIE (Holland Park)David McLACHLAN (Hamilton)Ryan MURPHY (Doboy)Angela OWEN-TAYLOR (Parkinson) (Deputy Chairman of Council)Adrian SCHRINNER (Chandler) (Deputy Mayor)Julian SIMMONDS (Walter Taylor) Norm WYNDHAM (McDowall)Andrew WINES (Enoggera)

Milton DICK (Richlands) (The Leader of the Opposition)Helen ABRAHAMS (The Gabba) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition)Peter CUMMING (Wynnum Manly)Kim FLESSER (Northgate)Steve GRIFFITHS (Moorooka)Victoria NEWTON (Deagon) Shayne SUTTON (Morningside)Independent Councillor (and Ward)Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON (Tennyson)

OPENING OF MEETING:The Chairman, Councillor Margaret de WIT, opened the meeting with prayer, and then proceeded with the business set out in the Agenda.

MINUTES:192/2013-14

The Minutes of the 4416 meeting of Council held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, copies of which had been forwarded to each councillor, were presented, taken as read and confirmed on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY, seconded by Councillor Kim MARX.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:Ms Marie SardieFile number: 137/220/701/162

Chairman: Councillors, I would like to call on Ms Marie Sardie who will address the Chamber on neighbourhood objections to a development application that has been submitted by the residents of 74 Dornoch Terrace, West End. Orderly, please show Ms Sardie in.

Ms Sardie, you have five minutes; please proceed.


Ms Marie Sardie: Thank you, Madam Chairman, LORD MAYOR and Councillors for this opportunity to present on the 74 Dornoch Terrace, West End development proposal in a demolition-controlled area. Let me give you a quick overview of the breaching of the building codes, for the houses that are pre-1911, which this proposal has delivered.

First, there's an accepted increased in the building height over three storeys that have exceeded 11 metres—plus it is only one metre from the side boundaries, excessive front boundary setback to the adjoining neighbours; from four metres to over 11 metres, with the car skillion roof garage being a prominent feature. This is a main cause of distraction for the streetscape—excessive impact on existing streetscape—the high wall of over 11 metres down the western side of the boundary with no eaves, excessive climatic and overshadowing concerns—no morning suns and city views blocked, excessive privacy impact on neighbours' properties—the pool area and outdoor living spaces and direct vision of new development, excessive size of the car accommodation—the oversize skillion roof will reflect enormous heat on the western neighbour, and excessive impact on existing clay stormwater and sewerage infrastructure by tripling the number of fixtures to be catered for.

In our street, with many character and heritage houses which must comply with regulations and codes, how can this massive structure which will destroy the character of the house as well as the streetscape be allowed? We have a powerful streetscape of five houses with a strong community of friendly neighbours living many decades with open dialogue on renovations, et cetera, and then comes this new neighbour to 74 Dornoch Terrace with his blatant disregard of other neighbours' amenities and Brisbane City Council codes and regulations. He even wants to remove one of the neighbour's trees to get a better view of the city, as quoted by his architect, but he couldn’t care less about destroying his neighbour's total use forever with his Tsunami wall down the western boundary.

There has been no consultations with his neighbours, and since the submission of this proposal, the occupant of 74 Dornoch Terrace has been totally invisible and unavailable. We could have an illegal legacy to deal with for all time while he can come and go and sell, and leave this blight of a monstrosity without a thought. This will be a catalyst for further rogue incompetent development to occur. There are great personal costs for the neighbours to address this illegal proposal with time and resources, as well as the emotional cost of concern of siblings with leukaemia and dementia, with a severe lack of sunlight and open spaces.

The language of this proposal has been deliberately ambiguous to deceive the reader and each re-submission of the proposal has not addressed the building codes, but has even used more confusing language and distorted scales of the diagrams.

The original proposal submission had a pool, but this has been deleted. But once this proposal is removed, then there is nothing to stop them from inserting it back; with an enormous impact on existing stormwater infrastructure, privacy and surrounding ecology. We are deeply disappointed with the lack of professionalism shown by the architect and the town planner involved with this proposal, as they have deliberately broken all the building codes plus approval of this proposal will open the floodgates of developers with their high rises and destroy our streetscape forever.

We are a community of neighbours who want to maintain our streetscape and its history, and we reject this proposal. Any future proposal from 74 Dornoch Terrace must comply with the building codes and regulations, and not destroy the existing streetscape. Otherwise it should go into the waste paper basket—end of story. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, LORD MAYOR and Councillors for your time and consideration, and we await your decision.

Chairman: Please take a seat, Ms Sardie. Councillor COOPER, would you like to respond?


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Response by Councillor Amanda COOPER, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment Committee

Councillor COOPER: Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and I thank Ms Sardie for coming in to the Council Chamber this afternoon to address us on this particular matter. This is a site—I think you referred to it as 74 Dornoch Terrace—it is 74 to 76 Dornoch Terrace, I think the application is made over, in West End.

There was an application lodged with Council on 25 June this year for a preliminary approval to carry out building work, and for a material change of use application. I believe there is an existing house on the site, which I think you mentioned, which was constructed, Council believes, before 1911, and indeed, I think there are some investigations to see whether it was potentially constructed before 1900. So that is yet to be fully determined, I believe.

That house would come under Council's pre-1911 Temporary Local Planning Instrument, which the LORD MAYOR introduced in May of this year, to provide additional protection for such homes which were constructed before 1911 in our city. I understand the proposal is currently sitting with Council. They want to add a two-car carport on to that, as well as make some changes to their existing house, including raising the height of that home. This site is actually in a demolition control precinct, so it comes under the control of the West End – Woolloongabba District Local Plan.

This application is a code notifiable application. It went out with public notification between 16 July and 31 July this year, and I believe the adjoining landowners were notified in writing on 15 July. We have received 14 submissions, of which you are one, so I thank you very much for putting pen to paper and making sure that we have in writing your concerns. That is very much appreciated.

The Council officers are currently reviewing the submissions and understanding exactly what the community's view is about this particular application. I think from what we have seen at this point in time, you have a number of concerns, and most of those concerns have also been captured in the other submissions, talking about the proposed height, where the pool was proposed, the impact upon a tree, setbacks, the proposed size of the carport and generally overall amenity was flagged in those comments.

Council also has concerns about these applications which are, as you would note, on the public record. We did send the applicant an information request asking them to respond to those concerns, and requesting them to seriously consider the submissions that have been made also.

I understand, in response to Council's request, there have been some changes to the proposed setback. So Council has flagged concerns with the setback to Dornoch Terrace. They have made amendments to their plans relating to the setback, to reduce it from, I think, 11.35 to 8.35 metres, and then there has been a further change to 7.4 metres. So there has been quite a bit of discussion about that particular issue. As you pointed out, I believe the pool, which was part of the original application, has now been removed, which means that the tree is no longer being proposed for removal.

Council has also requested further information about the proposed demolition, and noted that we did not agree it constituted a minor demolition. So there's a specific definition that we don't believe they have accurately reflected. We have also asked them how Council's character code will be met—so they have to respond to that—and how our house code as well as the State Government's Queensland Development Code would be complied with. So there is a lot of work for them to do to respond to those things that you put on the table. Your concerns are shared very much by Council, and I appreciate you coming in here to talk to us today.

We are currently in decision stage, so we have not as yet made up our mind about this application. I think that your concern are very well expressed and


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very much in line with what Council’s view is in relation to this application. I can't really make any further comments at this time other than to say that this is being very, very carefully considered, and I appreciate you coming in. Thank you very much.

Chairman: Thank you.

QUESTION TIME:Chairman: Councillors, are there any questions of the LORD MAYOR or a Chairman of

any of the Standing Committees? Councillor MURPHY.

Question 1Councillor MURPHY: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman; my question is to the LORD MAYOR. I

understand that the 2013 Lord Mayor's Business Awards finalists include exemplary innovators and entrepreneurs in law, health services, transport, IT, digital, food, education, manufacturing, construction and tourism. You recently announced the winners for these awards. Can you please provide further information?

LORD MAYOR: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman, and I thank Councillor MURPHY for the question. Last Friday night this city, for the eighth time now, celebrated the innovation and the determination of our city's businesses in what I described as a period of years where goings had been very tough through the global financial crisis. It was very much a case that those who really dug deep were the ones that survived.

So, Madam Chairman, it was great to be able to go into Friday night's awards. What I am detecting around this city is a growing air of buoyance; I suppose you would describe it as, and also confidence in relation to the future.

Councillor interjecting.

LORD MAYOR: What we are seeing, and I made the comment on Friday night—I don't know what that interjection was opposite—but what I said Friday night was I think that markets internationally are stabilised. We are seeing some upward lift, and that is also going to be a good sign.

Now we have got Federal elections and everything out of the way, that uncertainty has gone. People can get on and make decisions and start to invest in the way we want them to for job growth and prosperity within our city. Prosperity is an important part of it, because under our economic development plan, we are hoping to see our city economy grow from $135 billion currently to $217 billion as a gross domestic product by 2031. That, of course, will only occur if businesses are bold and innovative, and Friday night was very much a celebration of those things.

Last year, 2012, we saw 36 finalists from a diverse range of organisations, and this year we introduced three new categories which were a reflection of the economic development plan and some of the components of it. So, we had a category of digital champion; a category of high growth business start-up, looking at companies that had made a real impact in the global field; and excellence in international education.

Some of those award winners—and I won't have time to go through all of them but I would like to just reflect on a few of them. Blue Sky Alternative Investments Limited—this is a company that was established in 2006. They won the Australia TradeCoast Business Growth award. They are a private equity investment manager, and they are Australian based, diversified, alternative asset managers specialising in four asset classes—private equity, private real estate, hedge funds and real assets. That company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2012, and it is headquartered in Brisbane, but now has offices in Adelaide, Sydney and New York, and the staff collectively, and a large part of that business, invest heavily in its funds. They have built a very strong investment track record in developing investment themes and finding innovative ways to express those themes. So they were rewarded. They are in a number of


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sectors—food, water, housing, energy, resources, infrastructure and health—so a very diverse company.

One of the other award winners was that of the award for Business Innovation, and that was won by Tritium. This is a company that deals in the electric vehicle industry and market. They have recently come up with a new technology, which provides for the capacity to provide a 50-kilometre distance time in a 10-minute recharge. That is starting to get towards the sort of pragmatic outcomes that are needed if we are going to see a growth in the electric vehicle market. So it was fitting that Tritium be awarded that Business Innovation award.

One of the other award winners during the evening was that of Anthony Yap. Anthony Yap received the Young Business Person of the Year award. This was a company that Anthony and his wife started some 10 years ago at the age of 23. He set up Good Price Pharmacy, with its first store in 2003, and he has gone on to now create 40 stores with 700 employees. He is now working across six states. It is a real Brisbane success story, and Anthony is a worthy recipient of the Young Business Person of the Year award.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises won the Digital Champion award. Domino’s Pizza is a company that sells 60 million pizzas a year, with 60 per cent of those online. There are many more success stories.

Chairperson: Thank you, LORD MAYOR. Councillor DICK.

Question 2Councillor DICK: Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to the LORD MAYOR. When you

brought your new contract in for animal management to this Council just over two years ago, the Opposition warned you that your selected contractor—the so-called Lost Dogs Home—had a very poor record with respect to handling lost and abandoned cats and dogs. In light of the recent media exposure of this company's appalling practices, and the cancelling of their contracts with other councils, will you act on these serious complaints that you were warned about and cancel this contract immediately?

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, a little knowledge is dangerous, and that is what the Opposition Leader has, in this case, in relation to Lost Dogs Home. The reality is that the company is achieving an almost 100 per cent success rate in terms of re-housing those pet animals that are able to be re-housed.

Councillors interjecting.

Chairman: Order! Order!

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, is the Opposition by their moaning’s—

Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: —suggesting—

Chairman: Just a moment, LORD MAYOR. You've asked a question; remain quiet while the LORD MAYOR gives the answer. Thank you, LORD MAYOR.

LORD MAYOR: Is the Opposition suggesting that they ought to be somehow preserving feral cats? Is that what they're suggesting? They are dealing with that issue as well. They went quiet because I know they don't want to be associated with that, and that's of course one of the issues that they have to deal with.

The reality is there are dogs that are brought to these facilities that are not capable of being re-housed appropriately as companion animals within our suburbs. They would be the first one to howl when it comes to inappropriate behaviour—what if this company gave out a dog that then attacked somebody or was the cause of a social problem or issue out there? They would be the first one howling. The reality is that they have to undertake proper checks and re-house appropriately.

Look, one newspaper article down south and away they go. I would just say again that they have been achieving a high level of performance outcome—



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LORD MAYOR: I don't find this very funny. I am a pet lover, too, Madam Chairman. I am a pet lover as well, but this Council also has a duty of care, to make sure that the appropriate animals are re-housed animals with the right behavioural habits, animals that are going to be appropriately placed within homes.

The fact of the matter is that the Opposition has made claims here today. They haven't got any evidence to provide to me as to which animals that haven't been saved ought to have been saved.

Councillor interjecting. They're dead.

LORD MAYOR: Yes, they are, and maybe that's because they were inappropriate for re-housing because they had behavioural issues. What if some child is attacked, Opposition Leader; what would you do then? You would be the first one on your feet claiming that I had not taken appropriate action and I hadn't taken appropriate duty of care. It's easy from the cheap seats, Madam Chairman.


Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: It's always easy from the cheap seats to be able to make these claims without any backing of any evidence, without any foundation, all on the back because some journalist in some other state decides to write an article about this company. Well, if that is the depth of your research, you've got to do a bit better than that, quite frankly.


Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: If you want to one day again be sitting over here, you need to take a bit more duty of care yourself in terms of the information you get, in terms of the background that you provide.

Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: So, it is easy to give a cheap shot, but we know who would be the first people on their feet if a young child was savaged by an animal because it had been released inappropriately from one of these facilities. Madam Chairman, I have a pet dog, too. I love pet animals. I love pet animals. But we have, and as LORD MAYOR, I have a responsibility to ensure that only those animals that are appropriate for re-housing are re-housed. Good try, Opposition, but it doesn't wash with me.

Chairman: Further questions; Councillor WYNDHAM.


Chairman: Order! Just a moment, Councillor WYNDHAM. Thank you.

Question 3Councillor WYNDHAM: Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to Councillor McLACHLAN, Chair

of Field Services Committee. I understand that Asset Services Branch within the Field Services Group, under your administration, works closely with local councillors to organise the construction of new footpaths. Can you please explain what we have achieved in footpath construction?

Councillor McLACHLAN: Thank you, Madam Chairman, and thank you to Councillor WYNDHAM for the question. Construction of new footpaths across the city is one of the priorities under LORD MAYOR, Graham QUIRK. The LORD MAYOR has introduced a number of innovations in footpaths; one of those is the materials from which they are constructed. The standard material now used is what is referred to as green concrete, which is not literally green, of course. The green rating comes from the materials used in making the concrete when compared to standard concrete.

Council chooses concrete suppliers that reduce the cement content. Cement manufacture is a primary source of greenhouse gas emissions, and if the finished producy, concrete, uses less cement, there are significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions achieved. During the initial trials of the construction of eight


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footpaths, it was calculated that the carbon dioxide reduction amounted to two and a half tonnes. This is now the standard material used in our footpaths.

Footpath construction is good for the environment in a variety of ways, of course. Footpaths provide more and better pedestrian and cyclist friendly travel options. Leaving the car at home is good for the environment and helps us to get active and healthy. A concrete footpath, of course, is crucial for anyone with mobility issues, as the Chamber was reminded recently when we were addressed by Carmel from Annerley.

There are different ways by which footpaths are built. One of those is the Ward Parks and Footpath Trust Fund. This innovation, introduced by the LORD MAYOR for concrete footpath construction, has empowered councillors to be directly involved in the process of prioritising the order in which footpaths are constructed, particularly where footpaths are not being delivered by other means.

I am sure we are all grateful for this innovation, as our ward offices are usually the first point of contact for residents' requests. Close to $400,000 in this year's budget for each ward under the Ward Parks and Footpath Trust Fund for new footpaths and park improvements has, as I said, empowered councillors to be directly involved in selecting the priority for new footpath construction. But with the power comes responsibility in decision making.

There are no hard and fast rules laid down for how councillors make their decisions. How I go about drawing up my list is to first rule out the streets where a footpath is going to be built anyway. Streets that have been zoned for multi-unit dwellings, for example, will be getting a footpath built in conjunction with the construction. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in my view to use the limited resource of the Ward Parks and Footpath Trust Fund to pay for a footpath if one is going to be done anyway as a contributed asset—a contributed asset paid for by the developer, not by ratepayers.

It also doesn't make a whole lot of sense in this circumstance to prioritise a footpath for construction in a street subject to transition from single-storey dwellings to other types of buildings. There is nothing worse for all of us, I think, than seeing a brand new asset, like a footpath, ripped up weeks or months later during the construction of new buildings. That is my view, and I would be surprised if most of us don't follow the same path.

But while there are no rules as such for the expenditure of the discretionary funds available by the Ward Parks and Footpath Trust, there is an established process for determining that priority order. It does involve, as was implicit in Councillor WYNDHAM's question, close liaison between councillors and their regional Asset Services staff.

A flow chart goes along these lines: a resident makes a request that is sent to the appropriate Asset Services region; officers undertake a desktop review; a site inspection will determine feasibility; the councillor then initiates a survey of residents, as we know not all will be supportive. If the survey results give the project a thumbs up, Asset Services prepare a job brief outlining the scope of works and an estimate of costs.

We, as councillors, will then be asked to agree to the allocation of funds from the Ward Parks and Footpath Trust. The work order will then be issued to the Construction Branch of the Field Services Group, and the Construction Branch will determine the allocation of resources for its construction, either in-house or contractor.

With these steps involved, and the decision to go or not go ahead resting on consultation, obviously the sooner the process starts the better. At the end of the day, it is up to each individual councillor to determine the priority order for meeting competing demands. The Trust Fund is not a bottomless pit. Streets with residents with mobility issues would, in my opinion, always be at the top of the list. At the bottom of the list, if they are on the list at all, would be streets where a footpath is going to be constructed as a matter of course as a contributed asset or where there are funds available from elsewhere other than the Ward


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Parks and Footpath Trust. That Ward Parks and Footpath Trust Fund should be reserved for the streets where there is no alternative funding. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Further questions; Councillor DICK.

Question 4Councillor DICK: Thank you, Madam Chair; I don't think he got to the punch in that question. My

question is to the LORD MAYOR. This Council has the highest kill rates in the country for unclaimed dogs and cats—63 per cent of dogs and 83 per cent of cats were put down in 2011-12. LORD MAYOR, will you today release the kill figures for the 2012-13 financial year?

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, I don't have those rates with me. Again, I just want to make the point that this Administration has a responsibility to ensure—

Councillor JOHNSTON: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Yes; point of order, LORD MAYOR. Yes, Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, I refer you to the Rules of Procedure which require the person answering the question not to debate the question but to answer the question. The LORD MAYOR did so in his first sentence which was, he did not know the answer. I would ask you to return him to his seat as he has answered the question, and we move on, in accordance with the rules.

Chairman: I do not uphold your point of order, and we can do without the sniggering that continually comes from Councillor GRIFFITHS, thank you. Yes, LORD MAYOR.

Councillor DICK: Just a point of order following on that, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Councillor DICK.

Councillor DICK: Will the LORD MAYOR take that question on notice? He is yet to clarify that.

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, the reality is that the number of dogs and cats that are being re-housed, that are seen to be safe, are at the highest levels that we have seen. It is one thing to say how many are put down; are we talking here including feral cats—

Councillor SUTTON: Point of order, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Point of order against you, LORD MAYOR. Yes, Councillor SUTTON.

Councillor SUTTON: I listened very closely to the Leader of the Opposition's question. He very explicitly asked for the kill figures for this financial year. The LORD MAYOR has acknowledged that he does not have that information with him, and I ask in accordance with the rules that the LORD MAYOR take that question on notice and provide the Chamber with the answer when he has the information in front of him.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor SUTTON. Yes, LORD MAYOR.

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, I am very happy to proceed with the question. This financial year, 13 per cent of total dogs have been euthanized; zero per cent of suitable dogs have been euthanized. So, Madam Chairman, again I come back to the point that I made at the very beginning. If we have been housing dogs that were unsuitable, with the wrong set of social skills in terms of appropriate rehousing, the first people to criticise me would be the Opposition, because I had been the cause of some young child perhaps being mauled on the face because of an inappropriate placement.

It is a good attempt at being divisive.

Councillor DICK: Point of order, Madam Chair.

LORD MAYOR: It is a good attempt at being divisive.

Chairman: Point of order against you, LORD MAYOR. Yes, Councillor DICK.


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Councillor DICK: Madam Chair, the LORD MAYOR is not answering the question. He is in defensive mode. I understand that. I simply want the number, the figure; not the percentage, the figure for the last financial year.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor DICK. LORD MAYOR.

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, I have answered the question for the Opposition Leader. If he is not satisfied with those details, that is a matter for him.

Chairman: Further questions; Councillor KING.

Question 5Councillor KING: Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to the Chairman of Environment,

Parks and Sustainability Committee, Councillor BOURKE. Could you please detail for the Chamber how you are delivering enhanced parkland for local communities?

Councillor BOURKE: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman, and I thank Councillor KING for the question, because it is an important question that we as an Administration, as we go about our management of this city, continue to deliver enhanced and improved parkland across the entire city, and improved facilities indeed across the entire city. We do that in a planned and thought-through way. We use our neighbourhood planning process to identify sites, to identify opportunities to improve all of the community facilities across this city.

It was with great interest last week that I listened to the comments from the Opposition about the improvement of facilities in the Wishart Ward for the acquisition of a property to provide extra car parking for the library down there at Mt Gravatt. I thought to myself: maybe in my portfolio there may have been some land that we resumed somewhere to improve facilities across the city to provide extra parkland, and it's been identified in a neighbourhood plan where we may have had to do it as a resumption. Surely there must have been a property that we might have had to resume, unfortunately to consolidate a block, to provide the facilities, to make sure that the residents had the facilities that they needed to deliver the park and the space for the growth that our city is experiencing.

So I looked for a property, and I found one. It was a forced resumption with a relative living in the building, and it was acquired for community purposes: 71 Pine Road, Richlands. I then went and looked; I pulled out the transcript from the Council meeting where we as a Council on 7 February 2012 approved through the E and C Item E, the resumption of land at 71 Pine Road, Richlands, for park and recreation ground purposes. I turned to the speeches, and I looked through the pages. I waited to read the words decrying this resumption. I waited to read the words saying that we were wrong. But lo and behold, Councillor DICK was silent—silent.

So the bluster we saw last week, the puffed up chest, the tirade unleashed of personal attacks against Councillor ADAMS in this place, from Councillor DICK, was all show. When this Council goes and resumes property in his ward, for parks and community purposes, he sits there quietly, quite happy. But when we go and deliver other things across this city, he stands up and he plays political games—politics for the sake of politics.

We know Councillor DICK is prepared to use the residents in this city as pawns in his political games—we saw it last week. Because, not only did he not speak in that E&C; he voted for it in that E&C. Then, Madam Chairman—


Councillor BOURKE: Well, Councillor DICK, I will table the page for you: motion for B, C and E. The Chairman restated the motion and noting clauses B, C and E of the report upon being submitted to the Chamber, it was declared carried. But, Madam Chairman, it gets better.


Chairman: Order!


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Councillor BOURKE: It gets better. The hypocrisy of those opposite—

Chairman: Order!

Councillor BOURKE: —gets better because not only did he vote for it, he had the hide in November last year to stand in this Chamber and crow the benefits of it and to do a story in his local paper in the South West News saying, ‘Look at us; aren't I wonderful. We're resuming land for a park.’ It must be a different Councillor DICK to the one we saw last week.


Councillor BOURKE: Surely it must be a different Councillor—

Chairman: Councillor DICK!

Councillor BOURKE: No one listens to him. He says no one listens to him.

Chairman: Order! Order!

Councillor BOURKE: But surely, Madam Chair—


Chairman: It better be a point of order, Councillor DICK.

Councillor DICK: I am correcting the record. I didn't say that statement. Madam Chair, that is fine; I will let it stand. I was going to help Councillor BOURKE out.

Chairman: Sorry, what did you say?


Chairman: Okay. Councillor BOURKE.

Councillor BOURKE: Thanks very much, Madam Chair. As I was saying, we know that Councillor DICK is happy to use the people of this city as pawns in his political games. All you have to do is ask the former Councillor for Richlands, Les Bryant—all you have to do is ask the residents who were in this place last week. Councillor DICK has been exposed for his hypocrisy on this issue, standing up, criticising this Administration for delivering the needed community facilities, the needed infrastructure across this city. Last week we saw a tirade of personal attacks from Councillor DICK against Councillor ADAMS for standing up for the infrastructure that is needed in her ward. But he sits there quietly and is happy for this Council to go and do the work in his ward and try and take the credit for it.

Those opposite are hypocritical to the extreme. They are the epitome of hypocrisy when it comes to issues in this Council of doing one thing in here, discrediting or trying to disclaim what we are doing—

Chairman: Councillor BOURKE, your time has expired. Thank you. Councillor DICK.

Question 6Councillor DICK: Thank you. I would have a listen to 4BC last week, Councillor BOURKE.

Madam Chair, my question is to the LORD MAYOR. In the March 2011 Net Borrowings quarterly report, this Council owed $247 million in general purpose borrowings. That figure has jumped by $450 million to a massive $692 million in just two years. These additional borrowings are separate from the $640 million you have racked up for your Legacy Way toll tunnel over the same period. Isn't this proof that you're increasing debt just to pay for core Council businesses?

LORD MAYOR: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. The reality is that debt has reached a peak during the course of this financial year, I have indicated that. It will be coming down in the following financial years. But that said, can I just say that even now, even with all of the infrastructure that this Council has built for future generations, the debt level, if you look at it in relation to the revenue ratio, is still lower than what it was under a Labor Administration, when they were last in power.



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Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: That's the facts of the matter.

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON!

LORD MAYOR: That's from a zero base. We know Councillor JOHNSTON loves defending the Labor Party. But that is the facts—


Chairman: Order! Councillor BOURKE! Just a moment, LORD MAYOR.

Councillor JOHNSTON, if you continue to interject in that way, you will be warned, and that goes for everybody else in this Chamber as well. Thank you, LORD MAYOR.

Councillor FLESSER: Point of order, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Just a moment, LORD MAYOR. Yes, Councillor FLESSER.

Councillor FLESSER: I would ask that the LORD MAYOR table that document. It is a general procedure here.

Chairman: LORD MAYOR; do you wish to table the document?

LORD MAYOR: I don't know about a general procedure, but, of course, I'm happy to table it. It's a matter of fact. It demonstrates that, as a net debt to revenue ratio that is the position. If you want to go to other indicators like per capita, the same applies. It is nowhere near now what it was when it was under the Labor Administration. I am happy for that to be tabled.

I am glad that Councillor FLESSER got up, because you would think with all of this criticism about the debt, where we built this massive infrastructure for not only today but for future generations, you would think on principle that they wouldn’t use it. But I would like to perhaps have a show of hands from those who haven't used the infrastructure—those who haven't used it. So it looks like they've all used it. It would appear that they're all happy recipients of the infrastructure that has been built or is being built. So there it is.


Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: We know that these facilities are not just about keeping the lights on. It's about building infrastructure for the future. We know, from the figures recently, that we are making some gains. There have been improved travel times in the morning and an even greater improvement of travel times in the p.m. peak as well. So, Madam Chairman, we are seeing the positive effects of this infrastructure build at a time when there is also naturally growth of motor vehicle movements, as there will continue to be in the future.

As I have always said, the debt will come down from next year on. That is the reality. We have our contractual arrangements with the Federal Government. We are going to see a $400 million return to this Council, once Legacy Way is complete. But, as Councillor Hinchliffe once said, public debt for public infrastructure is good. He said that as Leader of the Opposition during those days when there was a joint Cabinet in this city.

Councillor FLESSER signed off as a member of Cabinet. Others over there signed off. I think Councillor ABRAHAMS, you might have been in the Cabinet at the time.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: No.

LORD MAYOR: No, no, I think you were there.


Chairman: Order!

LORD MAYOR: So, Madam Chairman, the reality is that Labor signed off for these pieces of infrastructure, CLEM7, et cetera, but it is about the future of this city. We are


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seeing the gains, and Labor Councillors are very happy to use that infrastructure too.

Chairman: Further questions; Councillor HUANG.

Question 7Councillor HUANG: Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to the Chairman of the Public and

Active Transport Committee, Councillor MATIC. Could you please provide an update to the Chamber on patronage figures for buses in the Inala and Forest Lake areas since the bus review changes were implemented on 22 July this year?

Councillor MATIC: Oh, Madam Chairman, I would love to answer that question by Councillor HUANG.


Chairman: Order!

Councillor MATIC: To talk about those improvements in the bus services within the Inala and Forest Lake areas, which take in wards such as that of Richlands, which is Councillor DICK’s ward. It is important to note that when these changes were implemented on 22 July 2013, they were done in a way that wanted to make the system better. It was done in a way that wanted to make a more efficient system.

What we did as part of those changes within that 22 July period was look at a number of services within that precinct, such as the 101, the 103, the 118 and the 460, and what we looked at was changing some of the existing services such as the P461, the 462, the 465 and the 466. Why was that? Because as part of our review of that bus service, we saw an extreme number of vacant buses. What we saw were services that were running from one rail line to the other with average figures that were incredibly low, not only in the peak period, but importantly also in the off-peak period.

We saw figures that average patronage in the off-peak period of around two passengers per bus. In the peak periods, we saw some average figures of around 15 to 20. But what we did not see was growth of patronage throughout that area. What we saw was price hikes by the previous State Government, incrementally, over every year, of 15 per cent. But did we see any improvement in services? No, we did not. What we see is, through our review of this particular service, we have actually improved the service. We have actually provided extra service in areas such as Richlands Ward, to suburbs within Councillor DICK's ward that previously had no bus services at all.

Through that process, by being able to look at those services, by removing the duplication, by expanding the service, we have actually seen a three per cent increase in public service patronage of our buses within areas such as Richlands. Can you believe that we have seen that increase?

But Councillor DICK, for the purposes of his own political ambitions—because we do know that it is anywhere but Council. The ABC principle by Councillor DICK—but Councillor DICK does not choose to believe that. What we saw from Councillor DICK was, instead, a scare campaign, generated by his office to scare the residents of his ward into thinking that they would be left without a service; that they would not be able to do their daily business, to get to work, to see those improved services at all. So he brought petitions here. He misled—he told stories; he went out there and told the media and told his residents that it was doom and gloom.

But the reality of the situation is that the services have actually improved, that the services have actually increased. So even though Councillor DICK comes to this Chamber and tells these fairy tales, these Grimm's fairy tales, that he so loves to tell, even though he goes out there in his ward and loves to spruik these stories of doom and gloom by this Administration, the fact of the matter is that his own residents aren't listening. They're actually catching the services. It's business as usual; in fact, it's better than it was before.

Thankfully, the residents of his ward—



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Councillor MATIC: —are too smart for his own rhetoric.

Chairman: Point of order against you, Councillor MATIC. Yes, Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, you've admonished me today for interjecting across the Chamber, and all the way through Councillor MATIC's speech, Councillor BOURKE has been singing out, ooh, ahh, yes—and Madam Chairman, he is also interrupting the debate, and I would ask that you apply the ruling equally to him for interjecting.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor JOHNSTON. I have asked before that everyone remain quiet while the answers are given.

Councillor DICK: Keep going; keep going.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor MATIC.

Councillor MATIC: Councillor DICK has asked me to keep going, Madam Chairman, and I shall. Councillor DICK, the previous State Director of the ALP, the State Director who was fundamentally at the heart of the policy of increasing 15 per cent the fares across this State by TransLink, and the previous State Government. He was part of that government. He supported their policies. He was there, shoulder-to-shoulder with previous ALP Administrations in the State Government who decided that the answer to solving the costs in fare travel was to increase them. Did we get any extra benefits? No. Did we get an increase in services from TransLink? No.


Chairman: Councillor SUTTON!

Councillor MATIC: But what we did get was fare increases. What we see is a complete lack of policy and absolute hypocrisy by Councillor DICK—

Chairman: Councillor MATIC, your time has expired.

Councillor MATIC: —across the board.

Chairman: Councillor DICK.

Question 8Councillor DICK: Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to the LORD MAYOR. Your LNP

colleagues in George Street want property developers to pay 25 per cent less towards Council's infrastructure costs associated with—


Chairman: Order!

Councillor DICK: I didn't run for State Parliament; you did, Councillor MATIC. I will start my question again.


Chairman: Order!

Councillor DICK: My question is—

Chairman: Order! Be quiet!

Councillor DICK: My question—

Chairman: Councillor DICK, start again.

Councillor DICK: Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to the LORD MAYOR. Your LNP colleagues in George Street want property developers to pay 25 per cent less towards Council infrastructure costs associated with their new property developments. What do you estimate this will cost Brisbane City Council?

LORD MAYOR: Well, Madam Chairman, again this is a bit of a case of verballing, and a bit of a crystal ball gaze on the part of the Opposition Leader. There has been no announcements whatsoever in relation to the issue of infrastructure charges. What you have had is some speculation, and the way the Opposition Leader has framed this question, it is as if it is gospel. I think that that is a very premature


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question, the way he has framed that today, and it is almost not worthy of a response, quite frankly.

I have said, quite clearly, that we need to be—


Chairman: Yes; point of order against you, LORD MAYOR. Yes, Councillor DICK.

Councillor DICK: The LORD MAYOR is not answering the question. Clearly, other levels of government, including the Local Government Association, have done costings. If the LORD MAYOR hasn't done any costings, he just needs to say he hasn’t done any costings.

LORD MAYOR: Madam Chairman, what I am saying is that the Opposition Leader is speculating, in terms of what outcomes there might be in relation to the State Government's landing on infrastructure charges. There is a whole range of discussions being held at the moment between governments, between Council, and between the private sector, so it's simply again one of those throw a grenade over there and see what happens. I am not going to be drawn in to Councillor DICK's speculative questions.

What I would say is this, as I have said publicly before: infrastructure charges have been a point of discussion for as long as I have been here in Council. I can say truthfully that there have been periods of time when infrastructure charges have been too low. There have potentially been periods of time where they were maybe a little bit too high, where it went to the other extreme. It is always difficult to strike the happy balance. But what I have said also is that we need to make sure that the infrastructure charges are set at an appropriate level where councils across Queensland can continue to build the infrastructure that communities require.

There is no point, and it is not in anybody's interest, to get behind in infrastructure. Of course, I recall that we have been criticised severely here today for the amount of infrastructure we have built. That was the basic point of the question just before this question, around the indebtedness of this Council which, as I have said all along, is a manageable debt.

So infrastructure charges are important to the whole equation. We need to make sure from a development point of view that we are able to keep up with the infrastructure build. We need to make sure from a community expectation point of view that we keep up with the infrastructure build. As has been proven, with the most recent example of Airport Link, there is a valuation uplift when these pieces of infrastructure go in. It is something that I had predicted prior to the State Government taking that particular project over, when we were in the business case period. We expected that we would see a lift, and we have now seen that lift in valuations as a result of that infrastructure build.

So it is that development opportunities also come from making sure that appropriate infrastructure is put in place and that we are able to keep up with demand. So, Madam Chairman, there is a long way to go in this discussion yet. Any speculation about putting percentages and all the rest of it on is purely that; it is speculative crystal ball gazing which I will not be drawn into.

Chairman: Further questions; Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR.

Question 9Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Thank you, Madam Chairman; my question this afternoon is to Councillor

SIMMONDS as the Chair of the Finance, Economic Development and Administration Committee. Could you please outline how this Administration is saving ratepayers' money by keeping expenditure under control, and contrast this with previous attitudes and policies?

Councillor SIMMONDS: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and thank you very much to Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR for the question. It is a very relevant question. As we have heard from the last few questions, the Labor councillors on the other side of the Chamber have a record and a legacy of hypocrisy in this Chamber.


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But it doesn't just extend I'm afraid to land resumptions and public transport, but it extends as well to the sound financial management of this Council.

We have heard both today and in the last couple of days Councillor DICK's comment on debt. While the LORD MAYOR has made it very clear, as we have always done, that we are borrowing to provide vital community infrastructure, like the Legacy Way tunnel. We know that the previous Labor Administration had a debt higher than ours on a per capita basis, and it is worth considering, well, what were they spending their money on?

We know that Labor Councils never have been and never will be probably serious about controlling expenses in this Council. We know when we started this journey in 2004, with the election of the previous Lord Mayor Campbell Newman that I believe it was the then-Deputy Mayor, Councillor Hinchliffe who said the Council was running on the smell of an oily rag, that there were no savings to be found, that it was a tight ship. Of course, the AT Kearney report went on to find $159 million worth of savings between 2004 and 2008, an incredible achievement that has left an important legacy for the ratepayers of Brisbane.

But of course we have continued on. We have continued that journey and we continue still to keep a strong and tight rein on expenses in this organisation. Look at, for example, travel expenditure; measured in 2013-14 dollars. During their last term in office in 2000 to 2004, Labor spent some $4.7 million on travel. Of course, that included Councillor Soorley's lavish $50,000 farewell tour. Now, you look in comparison, and this Administration in the same four-year period has spent less than half that. In 2012-13, it spent a measly $294,000 on travel. So, compare it again: $4.7 million compared to our $294,000 in just a single financial year. Of course, when we travel, it is for important business missions and Sister City relationships as opposed to sight-seeing or bird watching.

But let's look at another measure of financial restraint. Catering, for example, in the period between 2000 and 2004, Labor regularly spent over $2 million every year on catering—$2 million per year on catering. In 2012-13, we spent less than a quarter of that. Less than a quarter of that by this LNP Administration.

What about marketing and communications? We know that previously Labor councillors have focused in on that as a measure of this Administration. It is worth noting that in the last two years of a Labor Administration, compared to our last two years, we have spent some 19 per cent less than the Labor councillors did on marketing and communications.

Savings like this make our organisation far more sustainable and, of course, lead to a better deal for Brisbane ratepayers. And it shows. It shows because the benefits of those savings can be delivered straight back to Brisbane residents. One of the best ways I can demonstrate that is to show you some recent benchmarking data in relation to south-east Queensland when it comes to rates. The benchmarking data showed that, for 2013-14, Brisbane had the lowest minimum general rate in South East Queensland and the second lowest dollar increase in 2013-14. It also shows that Council has the lowest minimum gross and net rates in 2013-14 within the south-east region.

So that is an example that, while all councils across the region are facing financial pressures because of the work, the tireless work that we do day-in, day-out, by this Administration to keep a tight rein on the expenses of this organisation, that we can continue to deliver excellent benefits for ratepayers.

In contrast, of course, it was the Labor Administration—it has only ever been a Labor Administration that has put rates up over six per cent in a single year, and of course they did it four times in their 10-year period in Administration. So, they are putting up rates higher than us; they had a higher debt level per capita; but what were they spending it on, you rightfully ask. Well, I can tell you, they were spending 267 per cent less than us on community halls. They were spending 63 per cent less than we are spending now on roads. They spent


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244 per cent less than us on signs and lines around this city. They spend 286 per cent less than us when it came to graffiti removal.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor SIMMONDS. That ends Question Time.

LORD MAYOR, Establishment and Coordination Committee.

CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS:

ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE

The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK), Chairman of the Establishment and Coordination Committee, moved, seconded by the DEPUTY MAYOR (Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER), that the report of the meeting of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.

Chairman: Is there any debate?

LORD MAYOR: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Just before coming to the item in the report, on Thursday last week I had the pleasure of switching on the lights for the gasometer at the Gasworks, down there at Newstead. A former councillor of this place, whose name was mentioned by Councillor SIMMONDS in his address, I actually acknowledged down there as having fought the good fight at the particular time when this side of the chamber was not in Administration. It was the days of a Labor Administration, but that gasometer was preserved, and this current Council now, building on that victory by Councillor Hinchliffe, we have invested some $500,000 on that space with the LED lights, with the public space underneath that facility. From what I can see, there are people going down there in droves.

It is a place-making project, and I invite all councillors to get down there and to take a look. I know Councillor HOWARD has been down and seen it. But to all of those concerned, to Councillor COOPER and others who have been involved with that, I say a job well done.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to start the Brismazing Race. This is a fairly new event in the city, run by the Hear and Say Foundation, a foundation headed by Dr Dimity Dorman. That event is a colourful one—small in numbers at this stage, but I am sure it will grow.

On Sunday we had the Green Heart Fair at Carindale Recreation Reserve. This attracted, we believe, around 13,000 participants. It was very strongly supported. It is not quite up with 7th Brigade Park yet, which is getting crowds of around 17,000, but this is only the second time at Carindale, and we think that that event will grow with time as well. So, a very good attendance.

Sunday also we opened Eagle Farm Bus Depot, Madam Chairman, which started its operations on Monday of this week and I thank all concerned with that facility. It's started with 120 buses but it has the capacity for future growth to 200, well located, against the Gateway Arterial so they'll be able to get buses quickly to where they need to start their operations.

Monday night, last night, Madam Chairman, we had another LORD MAYOR's Business Forum at Hamilton. I think there's one next Monday at Sandgate and there are others that are coming up in the not too distant future as well. This morning, Madam Chairman, I had the opportunity to visit the skate park out at Ferny Grove. This has been an interesting exercise. Council has joined forces with Artforce and the skate park users to come up with a mural at that particular facility.

It's all about making sure that we reduce the amount of graffiti that we have in the city. This facility is one that's been designed by the users of that skate park. There are native animals as part of that mural but it also has a distinctively skate park feel and flavour to the design so, Madam Chairman, that facility is up and operating. It's also interesting to note however that in the last year, we have seen a halving of the complaints for graffiti in this city.


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Some 20,000 square metres less graffiti recorded in the last year than the year before. That is a clear signal that we are winning the war on graffiti. I have always said that we would take zero tolerance towards illegal graffiti, Madam Chairman, and we will continue to take that stance but they are good numbers. That is a real reflection of the fact that the work that we have done in this space is delivering a community dividend.

Madam Chairman, also this morning I had the pleasure with today being International White Cane Day to catch up with a number of vision-impaired people. We have through the Access and Inclusion Plan created a further stretch of Braille Trail, this time linking the Queen Street Mall down to Post Office Square. So that is part of the $6.8 million that we're investing directly in that Access and Inclusion Plan this financial year. The Braille Trail that we have now through the CBD is 1.6 kilometres in continuous length.

It is the longest continuous Braille Trail in Australia and, Madam Chairman, it will provide again that opportunity for inclusion of those people in our city with sight impairment. Madam Chairman, the Item on our agenda today is that of the Audit Committee report for the meeting of 5 September 2013.

Chairman: Sorry, Councillor DICK.

Councillor DICK: Well thank you, Madam Chair, and I rise to speak on this one item on the Establishment and Coordination Committee (E&C) report. Reading through the paper today you can either make two assumptions; (1) that this is the laziest Council in Brisbane City's history, or the most secretive, or as I like to call it a lazy secret Council. So, Madam Chair, we're dealing with just one Item that was so taxing for the E&C and the LORD MAYOR he spent a grand total of two sentences.

We heard him read out his diary for the last week and then he finally got to the extensive Item which was, meeting was held sit down. Well, Madam Chair, there are some issues in this audit report and thank goodness the City of Brisbane Act was changed because they're forced to bring these reports to the Brisbane City Council otherwise there'd be nothing, zero, nothing that the E&C would do. In round terms, zero decisions made or were decisions made? Well we don't know that, we don't know that, only the people sitting around the Civic Cabinet table will know that.

Madam Chair, I refer to the report on the Audit Committee meeting of 5 September and they're getting quicker and quicker. There used to be a bit of a delay and a lag and this but because the E&C doesn't do anything or hides everything, they've now got to look towards the Audit Committee reports to—hopefully there has been an Audit Committee report—so that they can discuss something at the Brisbane City Council meetings. In number eight, Assurance Services report. A Council officer provided an update regarding assurance service activities. The Finance and Operational Assurance Manager presented to the committee on a recent Assurance Services review of the priority infrastructure plan offsets against infrastructure charges.

Now I'd like the LORD MAYOR to explain exactly what that report was about because I suspect this is laying the groundwork for when the political masters of those opposite in George Street hack into infrastructure charges and leave us holding the bill. I think there's been some work done in preparation. The LORD MAYOR was pretty cagey in Question Time today about that but then I'm not surprised because we'll be the last to know when the State Government decides something, when they make the change and we'll go along with the situation as normal.

So I'd like to know a little information exactly what that and perhaps the LORD MAYOR in his summation today can actually go through the review of the Priority Infrastructure Plan. Because I suspect officers have been charged within the organisation, just as we saw the Local Government Association, other local councils across the State preparing for when the government bends at the knee of property developers, that they are preparing for the changes obviously that will have to happen for the Priority Infrastructure Plan.


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Because we know once those changes are in place, the report today and the offsets against infrastructure charges I believe is simply laying the groundwork in preparation for those changes. So the LORD MAYOR can provide I guess a lot of information, rather than just the sanitised version of the Audit Committee report which we get. We would like to know some further detail.

In number 10, the BaSE project update. The LORD MAYOR is now getting instruction from Councillor COOPER regarding this Item I assume, which is good because he obviously doesn't know what's in the report, and we know when the LORD MAYOR asks Councillor COOPER questions she doesn't necessarily always—

Chairman: Councillor DICK, please get back to the Item.

Councillor DICK: Okay, alright, getting there, getting there. Madam Chair, when you look at number 10 which is the BaSE project update. Now we know there are serious issues and serious financial concerns regarding this. You only need to look at other local governments across Australia, which have suffered as a result of this project, Gold Coast City Council and Western Sydney. They always say name them, name them, well it's in black and white. Everyone knows that there have been serious financial and operational issues surrounding that.

So rather than just a couple of sentences, and I note that the committee noted the BaSE Program update. Well I think all councillors but more importantly the ratepayers of this city deserve an explanation about how much that program is costing, about what the cost and more importantly as we know from other local governments across Australia, the risks involved. That is a critical issue. So rather than actually just a couple of bland sentences, which we know the meeting went for around over two hours and there would have been detailed presentations.

How about in the future, instead of just a sanitised report, the actual elected representatives of this city, considering this is the only Item, the only single Item that we're led to believe the E&C dealt with or that we know about, that's not kept locked up in secret. That you actually do the right thing and provide that information to the ratepayers who expect this Council to do a hell of a lot more than just one report.

Chairman: Further debate? Councillor JOHNSTON. Microphone.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, Madam Chairman, thank you, just briefly on the E&C report. I've just got one simple question for the LORD MAYOR, and I hope that he could address it when he sums up, Madam Chairman. That is, I note that the LORD MAYOR is extremely concerned about the catering costs of the former administration. Given there was only one Item on the E&C report, which wasn't a substantive Item of E&C requiring—

Councillor SIMMONDS: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Yes point of order against you Councillor JOHNSTON. Yes Councillor SIMMONDS.

Councillor SIMMONDS: Yes, just to relevance, there isn't any mention of catering in this particular—

Chairman: Yes I was just looking for that myself and there is no heading in here that indicates that in any way the Audit Committee was discussing catering. So I rule that out of order Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Thank you Councillor DICK. Perhaps you'd like to ask me a question. No? That's alright, I'll manage, Madam Chairman. That's alright I can do it. Madam Chairman and here's my simple point. Given that it's a very, very light on meeting, the LORD MAYOR has expressed his concerns about the expenditure of money in this place, Madam Chairman, I would like to make sure that the E&C Committee report is using its time; the E&C Committee is using its time effectively and they're not having their lunch catered if they can't be bothered to—


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Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON resume your seat. You were told that was not relevant. You know the rules. You speak to what this report is about. You did not and don't answer me back. Further debate? LORD MAYOR.

LORD MAYOR: Yes thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Well, Madam Chairman, this Council receives the Priority Infrastructure Plan and all councillors got a copy of that plan, Madam Chairman, as part of the City Plan debate last year. So, Madam Chairman, in terms of that, so they've all got it, it's a very detailed document as you know.

Madam Chairman, as part of the priority infrastructure and the infrastructure delivery and requirements for infrastructure as part of development applications, there are occasions when infrastructure, and quite regularly this happens, there's association with applications for development where a developer places infrastructure in as part of that development, there are of course offsets which can apply relative to that infrastructure provision.

So this committee, rightly so, was looking at the provisions around that. They were looking at the Assurance Services side of that particular activity that Council operates, Madam Chairman. That's fair and reasonable as part of their normal processes of examining what we do in Council. There have also been changes to infrastructure charges, which we introduced from 1 July this year relative to charitable organisations and sporting clubs in particular, not-for-profit groups, Madam Chairman, where we're making a provision for a smaller infrastructure charge requirement, to make it easier for those sorts of organisations.

Primarily, this relates to the offsets, Madam Chairman, against the provision of infrastructure where it relates to that Priority Infrastructure Plan.

Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Establishment and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Thereupon, Councillors Ryan MURPHY and Milton DICK immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared carried.

The voting was as follows:

AYES: 20 - The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK, DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, and Councillors Krista ADAMS, Matthew BOURKE, Amanda COOPER, Margaret de WIT, Vicki HOWARD, Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC, Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, Norm WYNDHAM and Nicole JOHNSTON.

NOES: 7 - The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS, Victoria NEWTON and Shayne SUTTON.

The report read as follows

ATTENDANCE:

The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor (Councillor Graham Quirk) (Chairman), Deputy Mayor (Councillor Adrian Schrinner) (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Krista Adams, Matthew Bourke, Amanda Cooper, Peter Matic, David McLachlan, and Julian Simmonds.

A REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING ON 5 SEPTEMBER 2013109/695/586/6


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193/2013-141. The Chief Executive Officer provided the following information.

2. The report of the Audit Committee meeting held on 5 September 2013 is submitted for noting by Council.

3. Section 201 of the City of Brisbane Regulation 2012, requires that as soon as practicable after a meeting of the Audit Committee, Council must be given a written report about the matters reviewed at the meeting and the Committee’s recommendations about the matters.

4. The Chief Executive Officer is to present the report mentioned in subsection (1) (c) of section 201 at the next meeting of the Council.

5. It is recommended that Council note the report of the Audit Committee Meeting on 5 September 2013, as set out in Attachment A, submitted on file.

Implications of proposal

6. The report on the Audit Committee meetings will provide Council with an update of the main issues covered by the Committee in accordance with section 201 of the City of Brisbane Regulation 2012.

7. The report of the Audit Committee meeting of 5 September 2013 is set out in Attachment A.

8. The Chief Executive Officer therefore submits the following recommendation, with which the Committee agreed.

9. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT COUNCIL NOTED THE REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING ON 5 SEPTEMBER 2013 AS SET OUT IN ATTACHMENT A, submitted on file.

ADOPTED

INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE

DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Ian McKENZIE, that the report of the meeting of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.


DEPUTY MAYOR: Just briefly, Madam Chairman, we had a presentation last week at committee on the Robinson Road Open Level Crossing Replacement Project; a great initiative that's been driven by this Administration and supported by the new State Government, the Newman Government. We're getting on with that project. It's well on track under difficult circumstances. Certainly I'm pleased that project is progressing for the benefits of so many residents, businesses and also key safety issues that that project will address as well. So I commend the report to the chamber, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Further debate? Councillor DICK? No. Further debate? Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I just very quickly want to comment on the two petitions being Item C and Item D. Item C was the petition seeking to have a mirror installed at the intersection of Jackson Street and Bennetts Road, Coorparoo. While I share the petitioners concerns—all 55 of them—about the safety at this intersection, I cannot support on a two-lane each way major road as Bennetts Road a traffic mirror, due to the fact that they do distort distances and often are very unclear for people who are not familiar with using them.


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But the issue is, Madam Chair that Jackson Street is where a large number of parents and players from the Metropolitan District Netball Association go to travel. So there are hundreds of cars parked using every available space and probably some spaces they shouldn't be using on weekends; making the movements in the intersection busy and confusing and there are many cars undertaking it.

So the petition says that they are looking at realigning road lines so that their vehicles can come to the intersection with more safety to see oncoming traffic. But as a councillor using that intersection often, it is one of those intersections where you know you have poor visibility. Now sometimes, the knowing makes it safe because the appropriate behaviour is taken. So while this measure will improve that, the report also says that part of the crossing of the bikeway link, which is the CBD to Carindale commuter bikeway, will seek to improve the performance at this intersection. I hope that I have not been misled by this report and that, in fact, will be the outcome.

Madam Chair, Item D is a petition from residents in residents in Norman Street, East Brisbane. Norman Street is a very inviting street as it links Stanley Street to Vulture Street. Then just with a little diversion it gives access to the many, many vehicles wishing to go to Churchie or wishing to turn around and travel back east in the area. It is a road that has a high volume and at the moment, that volume of traffic can no longer use the road because of the Queensland Urban Utilities (QUU) upgrade to the sewerage treatment plant.

In fact the road is closed. The residents are on cloud nine. It is absolutely something where there is no traffic apart from their own traffic. So having gone from a road that had a greater capacity than one would expect looking at the normal traffic to one that is blocked, they are seeking to have increased traffic calming when the job is finished, so that they can redress some of the change that they have suffered due to the convenience of their street.

I support this proposal. I think it is important that when QUU opens the road again, restores the work, that Council make sure that the work done on the traffic calming is refreshed, renewed and increased to make sure that this is truly a traffic calming street. I understand that is what the preferred option is and again I hope that I have not been misled by the administration, who has undertaken no traffic calming in my ward, nor do I believe many other Labor wards in the last four years.

So I welcome an upgrade and an improvement in the name of QUU in this street.

Chairman: Further debate? Councillor KING.

Councillor KING: Thank you, Madam Chair. I rise to speak on Item A, and to thank Councillor SCHRINNER for bringing a report in for the wonderful project of the Geebung Railway Overpass. Madam Chair, the span over the railway line is complete, is put in place. We had to work with the State Government to actually close down the railway while they were doing some work on the railway lines as well overnight.

It was interesting to see that because residents have been waiting for this project for over 40 years, Madam Chair, it was interesting to see that residents and businesses actually came out to have a look in the very early hours of the morning down in Railway Parade, to have a look at the span of the overpass going in. So, Madam Chair, this has been a political game being played for many, many years. It took this LORD MAYOR, Graham QUIRK, and the Premier Campbell Newman to actually put this project in.

So, Madam Chair, before, back in 2008 the Labor councillors couldn't even decide which option they wanted, Madam Chair. They kept on playing games with it. Even the State member said, well they didn't get their reports in on time, Madam Chair. The simple fact is that the Labor councillors on the other side and the Labor State Government did not want to invest in infrastructure on the northside of Brisbane. Madam Chair, this railway line is going to improve the congestion times for people travelling.


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That's saving money for businesses, that is getting mum and dad home quicker to see their children, and actually helping the congested little shops that are around that area, Madam Chair. Because around certain times of the day you just don't go anywhere near those shops because you know that you could be stuck, Madam Chair, for up to 20 minutes at that particular intersection. So Madam Chair, I thank the LORD MAYOR Graham QUIRK and the Premier Campbell Newman and of course the DEPUTY MAYOR for all their work to put this project together and to deliver for the people of Geebung. Thank you.

Chairman: Further debate? DEPUTY MAYOR. Sorry Councillor McKENZIE.

Councillor McKENZIE: Thank you, Madam Chair. I rise to say a couple of words about Item B which was a proposed pedestrian refuge which has now been agreed to by Council. It shows the foresight of the current administration in this area around the Greenslopes Private Hospital. Madam Chairman, the Greenslopes Private Hospital is a very vibrant, very important part of the ward and, in fact, part of the city and the state. The road leading around there, namely Ridge Street, is a very busy street. It's classified as a district street, a District Asset Road, which has 15,000 to 35,000 cars a day travelling down it.

The project was initiated through the consultation process of the Greenslopes Active Communities project and 82 participants, local residents, gave an opinion as to what improvements they would like to see in the area. Mainly, a lot of them spoke about crossing Ridge Street. The Ridge Street crossing has been approved. There have also been eight, what I call splitters, in the side streets put in there; slowing down the traffic as it turns. The whole area links with a $1.3 million bikeway asset that's been reduced at the end of Nicholson Street, down to the Greenslopes Busway Station.

So the Council has been very active in seeking to alleviate traffic and making it a lot safer around the area and we thank Councillor SCHRINNER for his action in this area. Thank you.

Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Infrastructure Committee was declared carried on the voices.


ATTENDANCE:

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Adrian Schrinner (Chairman), Councillor Ian McKenzie (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Margaret de Wit, Milton Dick, Victoria Newton and Norm Wyndham.

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ROBINSON ROAD OPEN LEVEL CROSSING REPLACEMENT PROJECT

194/2013-141. Lee Marshall, Principal Project Manager, City Projects Office, Brisbane Infrastructure

Division, attended the meeting to provide an update on the Robinson Road Open Level Crossing Replacement project. He provided the information below.

2. The Robinson Road Open Level Crossing Replacement project has been identified as a major east-west corridor. An intersection where there are extensive delays during peak hours and where three fatalities have occurred since 1992.

3. The design that was favoured by the community as it had better traffic efficiency and the least amount of land acquisitions was completed in 2007.

4. Some of the benefits of the project include:- improved safety- separation of road from rail


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- reduced traffic congestion- increase freight and passenger rail efficiency- improve pedestrian and cycle links.

5. A series of slides were shown illustrating the project plan, updated design and artists impressions from the east and west.

6. Some of the key milestones were also noted including:- alliance partners appointed – October 2012- land acquisition completed – February 2013- construction commenced – April 2013- Robinson Road east traffic switch – October/November 2013- pedestrian bridge girder lift – February 2014- construction completion – November 2014.

7. The project is running on time and within its projected budget of $199 million.

8. Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr Marshall for his informative presentation.

9. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.

ADOPTED

B PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL NOT PROCEED WITH THE PROPOSED PEDESTRIAN REFUGE ON RIDGE STREET, GREENSLOPES, TO THE EAST OF BUNYA STREETCA13/521336

195/2013-1410. A petition from residents of Brisbane, requesting that Council not proceed with the proposed

pedestrian refuge on Ridge Street, Greenslopes, to the east of Bunya Street, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 30 July 2013, by Councillor Ian McKenzie, and received.

11. The Manager, Transport Planning and Strategy Branch, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, supplied the following information.

12. The petition was received during the consultation period for a wider network modernisation project for Ridge Street. The project consists of upgrades at eight locations along the Ridge Street corridor, including another pedestrian refuge near Pear Street, though this petition relates only to the proposed pedestrian refuge on Ridge Street.

13. The petitioners consider the location of the proposed pedestrian refuge to be inappropriate. Pedestrians currently cross at other locations and the pedestrian refuge would cause serious detriment to residents from the loss of parking close to their properties. The petitioners add that an alternative would be the provision of traffic lights further west to allow pedestrians to cross Ridge Street closer to the shops at Peach Street and the Greenslopes Busway Station.

14. The petition contains 13 signatures representing 12 residences, including representatives from seven of the eight properties that have frontages which would be directly impacted by the loss of parking associated with the proposed pedestrian refuge.

15. Ridge Street is currently classed as a District Access Road within Council’s Road Hierarchy Plan and is proposed at the higher status Suburban Route classification within the draft 2012


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Road Hierarchy Plan. Ridge Street has been identified through community correspondence, and confirmed by Council Transport Network Operations officers as requiring corridor improvements to enhance cycle and pedestrian safety between Earl Street and Logan Road.

16. The subject pedestrian refuge is part of a proposed network modernisation project for Ridge Street. Its purpose is to enhance safety and amenity for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists and would improve Brisbane’s road network for residents living in or travelling through Greenslopes. Consultation on the proposed design for the project commenced in June 2013, Attachment A submitted on file, which resulted in seven responses with three in favour and four opposed to the overall concept. Many of the comments opposing the corridor upgrade were due to the loss of on-street parking.

17. Residents also voiced a desire for Council to provide safe crossings on Ridge Street as part of the Active Communities project for Greenslopes. The Greenslopes Active Community project is a Council initiative to support walking and cycling in Greenslopes. To encourage walking and cycling locally, Council proposes to provide accessible routes to key locations like schools, Greenslopes Mall, public transport and parks and recreational areas.

18. The Active Communities project consultation began in February 2013. Greenslopes residents were invited along to community information sessions. From the four sessions held, 82 residents participated and safe crossings of Ridge Street were identified as a priority. Information from the Active Communities consultation was used in the planning of the corridor upgrade and pedestrian facilities have been incorporated into the design.

19. The network modernisation design includes re-alignment of kerb ramps, pedestrian islands in side streets and two pedestrian refuges in Ridge Street. The proposed pedestrian refuges in Ridge Street are in keeping with the other 10 locations chosen for treatments and provided regular opportunities for people to cross Ridge Street. Ridge Street has a wide road pavement of 11 to 12 metres.

20. Pedestrian refuges in the centreline would enable pedestrians to cross Ridge Street in two stages and would provide enhanced safety. The designers have endeavoured to limit loss of on-street parking while still providing enhanced safety and amenities for the wider community.

21. The option of a pedestrian refuge located at shops near Peach Street was explored however, the terrain is not conducive to altering the layout as the northern side of the street falls away sharply from the road to the footpath. This would also involve the relocation of the bus stop adjacent to the shops which Council does not wish to undertake at this time.

22. The provision of traffic lights further west on Ridge Street would provide pedestrian priority at that location however the intent of the project is to provide regularly spaced and thereby more easily accessible facilities for the wider area, enhancing safety for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists along the road corridor. There is also limited traffic demand from the side streets to justify additional traffic lights on Ridge Street in addition to those at the Newdegate Street intersection.

Funding

23. Funding has been allocated for the preferred option under Schedule 204 – Network Modernisation.

Consultation

24. The Councillor for Holland Park, Councillor Ian McKenzie, has been consulted and supports the recommendation.


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Preferred option

25. It is the preferred option, option one, that the proposed pedestrian refuge on Ridge Street, Greenslopes, near Bunya Street be retained and constructed.

26. The Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees, with Councillors Milton Dick and Victoria Newton abstaining.

27. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT AND THAT COUNCIL ENDORSES THE PREFERRED OPTION ABOVE.

ADOPTED

C PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INSTALL A YELLOW NO STOPPING LINE ALONG THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF JACKSON STREET, AND A TRAFFIC MIRROR AT THE INTERSECTION OF JACKSON STREET AND BENNETTS ROAD, COORPAROOCA13/402843

196/2013-1428. A petition from residents of Brisbane, requesting that Council install a yellow No Stopping

line along the southern side of Jackson Street, and a traffic mirror at the intersection of Jackson Street and Bennetts Road, Coorparoo, was received during Council’s annual budget period in 2013.

29. The Manager, Transport Planning and Strategy (TPS) Branch, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, supplied the following information.

30. The petition is signed by 55 residents of Jackson and Woodrow Streets, Coorparoo, who have requested the installation of a yellow No Stopping line along the southern side of Jackson Street, and the installation of a traffic mirror at the intersection of Jackson Street and Bennetts Road, Coorparoo.

31. Jackson Street is classified as a Neighbourhood Access road which provides access to local streets, properties and community facilities from Bennetts Road. Wembley Park is located on the southern side of Jackson Street and is home for the Metropolitan Netball club. There are 26 netball courts within the park, and while they are primarily used by the club after hours and on weekends, local schools also use the facilities during school days.

32. There are approximately 110 parking spaces within Wembley Park for visitors to use. However, the demand for parking often exceeds this and motorists park on nearby residential streets such as Jackson Street when onsite parking is not available.

33. The petitioners’ primary concern is with visitors to the netball club unlawfully parking in the No Parking area on the southern side of Jackson Street. Parking in this area may restrict access along Jackson Street, and prevent access to adjacent residential properties.

34. No Parking signs are currently present along the southern side of Jackson Street. During a recent site visit it was confirmed that these signs are appropriately located in visible locations, and are in a good condition. It is expected that motorists can identify that parking is not permitted on this side of Jackson Street.

35. Council’s Compliance and Regulatory Services (CARS) Branch have received five complaints about unlawful parking on Jackson Street between 1 January 2013 and 15 August


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2013, and have issued five parking infringement notices. Due to the number of complaints CARS receive about unlawful parking in Jackson Street, and other streets near Wembley Park, parking enforcement officers patrol this area regularly.

36. An officer from Council’s TPS Branch spoke with the head petitioner on 28 August 2013. The head petitioner said that motorists often park in the No Parking zone on Jackson Street on Monday nights, and those weekends when netball events are on. The information provided, has been forwarded to CARS to assist with their parking enforcement activities.

37. A sign is present on the entry to the club advising visitors that Council regularly patrols Jackson Street and asks motorists to make sure that they have parked in a lawful location. The head petitioner has said that this sign has helped to reduce the number of unlawfully parked vehicles on Jackson Street. It is expected that targeted enforcement of unlawful parking coupled with this sign, will help to further improve parking compliance on Jackson Street.

38. In relation to the petitioners’ concerns with the intersection of Bennetts Road and Jackson Street, a search of Queensland Transport’s crash records did not identify a high rate of crashes involving motorists turning from Jackson Street into Bennetts Road during the ten year period between June 2000 and June 2010.

39. An assessment of this intersection was undertaken by Council’s Transport Network Operations in August 2013, which found that the visibility of southbound traffic on Bennetts Road is limited due to parked cars in front of the shopping strip at 86 and 82 Bennetts Road. Provided motorists position their vehicles as close as practical to the edge of the northbound traffic lane on Bennetts Road, the visibility to the north and south of the intersection is adequate for motorists to judge safe gaps in passing traffic to enter Bennetts Road.

40. The installation of an additional continuity line, or traffic lane edge line, at this intersection would help motorists identify the edge of the northbound traffic lane on Bennetts Road so they get a better view of north and southbound traffic on Bennetts Road. Council’s City Projects Office will consider this improvement as part of their proposed bicycle and corridor improvement project for Bennetts Road.

41. In relation to the petitioners’ request for a traffic mirror at this intersection, the distorted image shown in these types of mirrors cannot be relied upon to accurately and safely estimate the speed and distance of approaching vehicles at speeds higher than 25km/h. Drivers looking up at mirrors are also less capable of identifying pedestrians and cyclists at road level. They also do not perform well in low light and poor weather conditions. For these reasons the installation of a traffic mirror at the intersection of Bennetts Road and Jackson Street is not recommended.

Funding

42. Funding is available in the current 2013-14 budget for Bennetts Road bicycle and corridor improvement investigation work.

Consultation

43. The Ward Councillor, Councillor Helen Abrahams, has been consulted and supports the recommendation.

Preferred option

44. The preferred option is for: CARS branch to consider available information to improve the coordination and effectiveness of their parking enforcement patrols for Jackson Street. Encourage the petitioners to notify Council’s Contact Centre on 3403 8888 if they observe


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motorists unlawfully parked on Jackson Street, and City Projects Office to consider the installation of a continuity line, or traffic lane edge line, as part of the bicycle and corridor improvement project for Bennetts Road.

Customer Impact

45. Routine parking enforcement on Jackson Street would help to improve parking compliance and help to address the petitioners’ concerns. The installation of a continuity or traffic lane edge line would help drivers get a better view of passing traffic on Bennetts Road, and address the petitioners’ concerns.

46. The Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.

47. RECOMMENDATION:


ADOPTED

D PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INSTALL ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES ON NORMAN STREET AND REINSTATE THE GARDEN BEDS AND STREET TREES ON NORMAN STREET, EAST BRISBANE, WHICH WERE REMOVED BY QUEENSLAND URBAN UTILITIES CA13/334304

197/2013-1448. A petition from residents of Brisbane, requesting that Council install additional traffic

calming measures on Norman Street and reinstate the garden beds and street trees on Norman Street, East Brisbane, which were removed by Queensland Urban Utilities, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 21 May 2013, by Councillor Helen Abrahams, and received.

49. The Manager, Transport Planning and Strategy Branch, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, supplied the following information.

50. The petition is signed by 45 residents of Norman Street, East Brisbane.

51. Norman Street is classified as a District Access road in Brisbane’s City Plan and provides for the movement of people and goods between East Brisbane and Woolloongabba. These types of roads generally carry over 3000 vehicles per day.

52. Traffic calming measures were constructed on Norman Street in the late 1990’s to moderate vehicle speeds, but still maintain larger vehicle access to the industrial precinct on the southern section of Norman Street, near the intersection of Deshon Street.

53. Recent speed and traffic volume data is not available for Norman Street. This information is needed to assess the effectiveness of these devices in moderating vehicle speeds. It is recommended that a traffic survey is undertaken on Norman Street to monitor vehicle volumes and speeds. If this survey identifies a large number of motorists speeding on Norman Street, further investigations will be undertaken to assess suitable options to moderate vehicle speeds. If needed, the construction of additional traffic management measures will be listed and considered for funding in line with citywide priorities of this type.

54. Council’s Congestion Reduction Unit has issued Queensland Urban Utilities with a road closure permit for Norman Street, while they undertake their maintenance activities.


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55. It is expected that Queensland Urban Utilities will return Norman Street, and any trees and garden beds to an equivalent condition prior to the commencement of their maintenance activities.

Funding

56. Funding is available in Council’s current 2013-14 budget for a traffic survey on Norman Street, East Brisbane.

Preferred option

57. The preferred option is to undertake a traffic survey on Norman Street when Queensland Urban Utilities have finished their maintenance work and assess the need for additional traffic management measures. If the assessment finds that additional traffic management measures are needed, they will be listed and considered for funding in line with citywide priorities of this type. It is expected that Queensland Urban Utilities will return Norman Street to an equivalent condition prior to the commencement of their maintenance activities.

Consultation

58. Councillor Helen Abrahams, Councillor for The Gabba Ward has been consulted and supports the recommendation.

59. The Manager therefore recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.

60. RECOMMENDATION:


ADOPTED

PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE

Councillor Peter MATIC, Chairman of the Public and Active Transport Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Steven HUANG that the report of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.

Chairman: Is there any debate? Any debate? Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, Madam Chairman. I'm certain that Councillor MATIC—I'm rising to speak on Item A in the Public and Active Transport Committee report. Madam Chairman, last week, Councillor MATIC provided a presentation on bikeways that had been completed in 2012-13 to the committee. Madam Chairman, I know that he puts a lot of thought into the presentation topics for the committee, just so we get informed and insightful presentations that contain useful data. Yes, no, this one was.

I have in the past, Madam Chairman, expressed concerns over the history of bus steering wheels from 1862 to 1911, Madam Chairman, but I have to admit last week Councillor MATIC gave us a very interesting report. That report, I think, was quite astonishing when you looked at the information it contained. This is where I think Councillor MATIC might have perhaps not interrogated the topic quite as substantially as he should have, when he gave it because, Madam Chairman, in 2012-13 Council constructed nine new bikeways.

Madam Chairman, I'm very sorry to say that eight of those bikeways, so that's almost 90 per cent of all the bikeways built in this city last year were on the northside of Brisbane. Madam Chairman, only one of those bikeways and that's about 10 per cent of the bikeways, was actually on the southside of Brisbane.


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Now that I think, particularly councillors on the southside would find to be very disturbing. We know in answer to the supplementary questions I asked, that Councillor MATIC almost fully expended the $20 million-odd of budget.

I think there was about half a million dollars left unaccounted for in the past financial year. It is a concern to me that those funds are not being equitably allocated across the city so that all residents can share in the benefits of new infrastructure. We've heard the LORD MAYOR rave on and on today about how they like to use it, they like to use it. We can't use it if it's not being built on the southside of Brisbane.

It's not equitable, it's not reasonable and I would suggest that a presentation that should have been a simple straightforward positive thing, has been exposed because of the lack of equity in the way in which this Council is going out carrying out their projects. Now I could look at some of the southside councillors around me and I'd say Councillor GRIFFITHS, I presume you've that got some bikeways you'd like to have built on the southside. Yes he's nodding his head. Councillor ABRAHAMS, have you got some bikeways you'd like built on the southside? Yes she does.

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON this Item is about the completed bikeway projects. It's not about going around the world about bikeways.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Thank you, Madam Chairman, and I appreciate you want to draw me back to this because, Madam Chairman, if I continued asking those questions, you would get every southside councillor standing up saying why is it 90 per cent of all the $20 million of Council's bikeway funding—

Councillor MURPHY: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Point of order against you Councillor JOHNSTON. Yes Councillor MURPHY?

Councillor MURPHY: Madam Chairman, Councillor JOHNSTON is debating your ruling. I ask you to draw her back to the report.

Chairman: Yes thank you Councillor MURPHY. Yes, back to the—it's about the report. The report is about the presentation on the completed bikeway projects. If you don’t have any comments on those bikeway projects that were part of that report then you should resume your seat because it is not about advocating for bikeways across the city. You aren't speaking relative to the report.

Councillor JOHNSTON: I just, my last sentence, Madam Chairman, was 90 per cent of the $20 million allocated in 2012-13 went to the northside, Madam Chairman. That's directly from the report. That's directly from the materials here before us today and that's what was discussed in the committee last week, Madam Chairman. I certainly am speaking to the report. I'm not sure why the Councillor for Doboy, a southside councillor, is prepared to sit there and defend a record of his own administration that sees 90 per cent of the 20—

Councillor MURPHY: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Yes, point of order against you Councillor JOHNSTON. Yes Councillor MURPHY.

Councillor MURPHY: Claim to be misrepresented.

Chairman: Thank you. Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes thank you, Madam Chairman, no misrepresentation there. Madam Chairman, I don’t know why the councillor for Doboy is not jumping up and down about why 90 per cent of all of the bikeways built in this city last year were on the southside of Brisbane and only 10 per cent of that funding went to the bikeways on the southside. That is not equitable, Madam Chairman. That is not reasonable. All ratepayers in this city contribute and certainly, Madam Chairman, the ratepayers on the southside of Brisbane in my ward, contributes extraordinary levels of rates to fund these projects, Madam Chairman.

They expect that this Council act in the best interest of the city and ensure that new infrastructure such as bikeways are allocated fairly and equitably around the city to the benefit of all residents. The geographic bias of this administration is


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exposed starkly in this report before us today. It is an ongoing theme and it is becoming embarrassing that this Council is prepared to lavish riches of infrastructure on the northside of the city but is not prepared to—

Councillor ADAMS: Point of order, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Point of order against you Councillor JOHNSTON. Yes Councillor ADAMS.

Councillor ADAMS: I believe the councillor is demonstrating inappropriate behaviour by imputing motive on the Council officers in their duties.

Chairman: Yes thank you Councillor ADAMS. Councillor JOHNSTON I'll bring you back to the report on the completed bikeway projects for last year. If you wish to speak on anything else to do with bikeways please do it in general business.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, I do genuinely believe I'm speaking to this report.

Chairman: Well you have said the same thing over and over and none of it is relevant to the particular bikeways listed in this report. Now don't argue with me. I just said either you wish to speak on the completed bikeways here or you do it in General Business.

Councillor JOHNSTON: I've got it, Madam Chairman, I've got it. I was just going to speak for a minute. I've got it now. Madam Chairman, Item A of the committee presentation completed bikeway project 2012-13, a synopsis was presented detailing the scope and benefits of several bikeway projects including the Bicentennial Bikeway Stage 3. Madam Chairman, that's a northside bikeway. Madam Chairman, the next dot point, the Victoria Bridge Bikeway. Madam Chairman, I would say to you when you look at the detail of that as it was presented it's also a northside bikeway.

Point 3 Chapel Hill. That would be out near you, Madam Chairman, Cubberla Bikeway, Chapel Hill, northside bikeway. Here we go the Moggill Creek Bikeway stage 1, I wonder where that is, northside bikeway. Dot point 4 the Barry Parade Fortitude Valley Bikeway, let me get my atlas out, it's the northside bikeway. Next one, Zillman Waterholes Bikeway, I think that might be over near Councillor KING's area. Let me guess, let me get my crystal ball out, let me think about it, oh my goodness, it's a northside bikeway.

Here we go, the Lilly Pilly Bikeway, Fitzgibbon, actually is that the southside? Alright, here we go, Fitzgibbon, thank you so much for that geographic prompting. It is true I'm much better on southside geography than northside geography. I've been prompted and guess where that one is? It's a northside bikeway. Here we go, the Kedron Brook Bikeway, that one I know. Guess where that one is? That's also a northside bikeway. Here we go the Centenary Highway Link, that's in Councillor BOURKE's area and when you look at where that's actually going, it's largely a northside bikeway.

So, Madam Chairman, that's Item 2. Now I move onto point 3 in the report, Madam Chairman, which was some of the safety improvements on the projects undertaken as part of these bikeways. It says in the first dot point, Madam Chairman, improved on and off facilities along certain roads. Now, Madam Chairman, when we looked at where those improvements were, we found out that less than half of the funding was spent constructing new off road bikeways. Only 2200 and some metres of off-road bikeways, where in contrast, 3500 metres was on-road painted lines on the road, Madam Chairman.

So we're not even getting safe bang for our buck with these bikeways by constructing shared wide off road bike paths, Madam Chairman. So I'm sure I've still got a couple of minutes to go so I'll keep going because it's been such a joyous experience and I have to thank the LNP—

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON your time has expired. Further debate? Point of order Councillor MURPHY but you hadn't spoken so I doubt if it's a point of order.

Councillor MURPHY: Madam Chairman, I'm an eastside councillor.

Chairman: Further debate?



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Chairman: Yes Councillor JOHNSTON?

Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, repeatedly you say to councillors here that if it is not a misrepresentation that you will take action against them. You clearly had warned the councillor for Doboy about his actions and I would ask that you warn him for what is a spurious point of order.

Chairman: Don't verbal me Councillor JOHNSTON. Resume your seat and I don't uphold your point of order. Further debate? Councillor MATIC do you wish to respond to anything? No.

Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Public and Active Transport Committee was declared carried on the voices.


ATTENDANCE:

Councillor Peter Matic (Chairman), Councillor Steven Huang (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Steve Griffiths, Nicole Johnston, Kim Marx and Ryan Murphy.

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – COMPLETED BIKEWAY PROJECT 2012/13

198/2013-141. Carl Billingham, Senior Project Manager, City Projects Office, Brisbane Infrastructure

Division, attended the meeting to provide an update on Completed Bikeway Projects 2012/13. He provided the information below.

2. A synopsis was presented detailing the scope and benefits of several bikeway projects including:- Bicentennial Bikeway – Stage 3- Victoria Bridge Bikeway- Cubberla Creek, Chapel Hill- Moggill Creek Bikeway – Stage 1- Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley- Zillman Waterholes Bikeway- Lilly Pilly Bikeway, Fitzgibbon- Kedron Brook Bikeway- Centenary Highway Links.

3. Some of the key bikeway safety improvements on projects undertaken by Council included:- improved on and off-road facilities along Ekibin Road, Tarragindi- improved visibility of pedestrian crossing build-outs at Nudgee Road, Banyo- duplication of the underpass at Ridge Street, Greenslopes to provide two-way

separated flow- installation of entry and exit ramps at Wynnum Road and Bognor Road intersection- improved connections to signalised intersection at Wynnum Road and Network

Drive.

4. Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr Billingham for his informative presentation.

5. RECOMMENDATION:


ADOPTED


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NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE

Councillor Amanda COOPER, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Vicki HOWARD, that the report of the meeting of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.

Chairman: Any debate?

Councillor COOPER: Yes very briefly, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we had a report at committee last week. We had the very enthusiastic and very, I think hard-working and dedicated Cathy Ross who presented some information on population growth in Brisbane over the last 12 months. She provided some information around development activity and dwelling stock information. This was an update on similar data that she presented to the committee last year. The committee was also updated on latest population figures for Brisbane as well as the projected population figures from Queensland Treasury which are due to be updated later this year.

We also heard details on projected natural dwellings in Brisbane local government area compared with the 2011 Queensland Treasury projection and the BCC land use activity as at January 2012. It's pleasing to note that Council was pretty spot-on in what our projections were. We, for the first time had a look at the non-residential development activity, identifying that commercial development continues to produce the highest grossable area for non-residential development, followed by retail and warehouse.

Also for the time the committee was presented with data focusing on development approvals specifically for the City Centre and the City Frame. The stats showed that after the CBD, Fortitude Valley, Milton and South Brisbane had the highest number of development approvals for residential and non-residential development. This is very consistent with the work done as part of the draft new City Plan and the draft City Centre Master Plan to ensure that these precincts continue to be attractive places to live, work and relax while offering diversity and great public transport options.

Thank you very much to Cathy and the whole team for the work they did.

Chairman: Further debate? Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I would also like to thank Cathy Ross and the staff for the presentation on the Brisbane local government area growth. It is really where the only time as councillors we get to see trends, the results of those trends, the results of planning policies that have been in the place, and some ability to be able to interrogate what future planning policies might achieve for our city. They are excellent reports and I know that my colleague Councillor Shayne SUTTON looks forward to it every time.

It's very detailed, it's very complicated information. Some of that information is a matter of, as it was explained to us, even in areas of how the houses are counted, can be counted in two different ways giving conflicting number of dwelling houses. But, Madam Chairman, I'm very, very disappointed that Councillor COOPER did not take the opportunity in giving her report to advise the chamber of an error, an inadvertent error, an easy error, an error that I myself could easily have done and therefore no blame to anyone. But an error that Councillor COOPER knows was an error and did not correct it in this report.

I relate to paragraph 6, dot point 3 or dash 3 at that, where it refers to the residential development approvals in three years in the City Centre and City Frame. Madam Chair, it's not the point in errors made, the point is that it wasn't corrected. So the media that attended that presentation, the councillors that attended that presentation may have been misled. Because, Madam Chair, I see that you are uncertain. It showed in the report what was advised to be 100 detached houses in one year in Dutton Park.

Chairman: Councillor ABRAHAMS that's not in this document we have here—


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Councillor ABRAHAMS: Yes it is, Madam Chair, it is the detail under the dot point of paragraph 6.

Chairman: Yes it says residential dwelling development approvals for the three-year period ending December 2012.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: That's right in the city frame and the city frame was that suburb, Madam Chair, and it was to highlight and give it directly.

Councillor COOPER: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Point of order against you Councillor ABRAHAMS. Yes Councillor COOPER?

Councillor COOPER: Those numbers do not appear in the report, Madam Chair, you are quite correct.

Chairman: No it's simply not there. I don't understand what it is Councillor ABRAHAMS is referring to but anyway continue Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Madam Chair, I questioned the presentation. I questioned the presentation pointing out that every development application in my ward is on my website and that is also the suburb I live in, Madam Chair. When I went back and had a look at it, there are only two detached houses in that year. Now I know that Councillor COOPER has been advised of that error. I do believe it would be appropriate for her to admit that she was wrong, particularly when it was questioned, rather than the rudeness I am beset with, in that committee when I ask any question.

It would have been a very simple matter for her just to have corrected that point and there would have been nothing with it. But she didn't. So she was very clear that a presentation given in the committee was wrong and didn't take the opportunity to advise people. That is misleading.

Chairman: Further debate? Councillor COOPER.

Councillor COOPER: Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and Madam Chair, I note that Councillor ABRAHAMS said that I should admit that I was wrong. Well it's always disappointing to hear that Councillor ABRAHAMS seems to twist and contort everything that happens in committee. Now, Madam Chair, I think it would be really important to note and I made the point at committee last week. I'm happy for it to be an environment where information is shared. But when information is shared in that committee and then it is turned into something that bears pretty much no resemblance to how it first initially appeared, then it makes me very, very unwilling to put Council officers in front of that sort of I think political game playing.

I think it's inappropriate that in my committee people do not treat information with the care and concern that it should properly be attended to. This in particular, this information that was supplied on the slide not in the report, Madam Chair, so it's not contained in the report but there was a slide. There was a number that was incorrect. That was identified, Madam Chair. The Council officer responsible for that specifically rang Councillor ABRAHAMS and apologised for that oversight. But do I hear about that in the chamber this afternoon, Madam Chair?

Do I hear that a Council officer acknowledged they had supplied a number that was in fact an error? They very I think honourably, showing great personal integrity, rang the councillor and clarified to her that that number was in fact an error. This is the kind of reception they get in this chamber, Madam Chair, that's the kind of treatment they get from the Australian Labor Party. They try and turn it into a condemnation, Madam Chair, of officers who operate—

Chairman: Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor COOPER: Well I think what is disgusting in this chamber is the behaviour of the Australian Labor Party. Somebody who did what I think was the absolute thing to make that information—

Councillor SUTTON: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Point of order against you Councillor COOPER. Yes Councillor SUTTON?


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Councillor SUTTON: Madam Chair, I think the point has been made. I'm bordering—Councillor COOPER's comments—

Chairman: What's your point of order?

Councillor SUTTON: Councillor COOPER's comments are offensive. I'm asking you, my point is to ask you to ask her to withdraw and move on from the point that she is making. I think she's made her point and that's enough.

Chairman: Councillor SUTTON, if I applied that rule to everyone who speaks in this place we would get out of here so much earlier than we do every single week. I could relate it to certain people who have spoken on that side of the chamber this afternoon. Councillor COOPER has every right to explain the issue that Councillor ABRAHAMS was accusing her of. There is nothing for Councillor COOPER to withdraw. Councillor COOPER.

Look quite frankly I'm happy to apply that rule if that is want you want but you will pay, all of you on that side will pay a very big price if I start raising the boring repetition side of things. Councillor COOPER.

Councillor COOPER: Madam Chair, this is a place for public debate. There was a point that was raised by Councillor ABRAHAMS. I have provided the factual content in response to that and I've also noted that I believe her conduct was I think unconscionable. Now I'm happy to move on because unfortunately that is not an unusual experience.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Madam Chair, point of order.

Chairman: Just a minute. It had better be a point of order.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Madam Chair, I have—what is it when you give personal attack to you—I have been personally attacked, Madam Chair, by that comment, which is uncalled for.

Chairman: That is not a point of order and if you were asking, if you were intending to ask that Councillor COOPER withdraw it I would say no because I think Councillor COOPER has every right to say that she thinks your behaviour was unconscionable. Councillor Cooper.

Councillor COOPER: Thank you very much.

Chairman: Just a minute. Councillor JOHNSTON if you continue to interject and comment on my rulings you will be suspended from the services of this chamber. Let's get back to the rules. Let's have some respect for everyone in this place and the institution of Brisbane City Council, because that's what I'm not seeing in here today. Let's keep things honest because I'm not seeing a lot of that either in some cases. Councillor COOPER.

Councillor COOPER: Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair—

Chairman: Councillor ABRAHAMS. You interject again and you'll be warned. Councillor COOPER.

Councillor COOPER: Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, I would like to reiterate this is information that was I think very interesting to us as members of Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment. I would like to thank the officers for the information. I think that they have an absolute love of facts and figures and they certainly convey to us their enthusiasm and the information which is then used for us for planning for the future of our city.

So I would like to thank the officers for their hard work and their diligence. I note there was a single error that was made but that error was immediately admitted to and apologies sought for that. So I congratulate them for doing the absolute right thing and I thank them very much for their efforts on behalf of all residents of this city. Thank you.

Upon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment Committee was declared carried on the voices.

The report as follows


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ATTENDANCE:

Councillor Amanda Cooper (Chairman), Councillor Vicki Howard (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Helen Abrahams, Geraldine Knapp, Shayne Sutton and Andrew Wines.

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – BRISBANE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA GROWTH

199/2013-141. Ms Cathy Ross, Senior Research Officer, Infrastructure Coordination and Urban Design, City

Planning and Sustainability Division, attended the meeting to provide information on the growth in Brisbane’s local government area. Ms Ross provided the information below.

2. Graphs were shown of statistics relating to Brisbane’s population. These included:- the estimated resident population of the Brisbane local government area between

2001 to 2012- net interstate migration to Queensland from 2007-08 to 2011-12- the age group of residents in the Brisbane local government area, as at the 2011

Census of Population and Housing - Queensland Treasury’s projected population of the local government area from 2011

to 2031.

3. Graphs of Brisbane’s local government area housing stock and dwelling characteristics were shown. These included:- projected and actual dwellings – comparisons between Queensland Treasury 2011

projections and Council land use activity as at January 2012- housing characteristics – 2011 Census of Population and Housing type and tenure of

occupied private dwellings.

4. A graph of the local government area’s residential development activity was shown. This image indicated the number of new (net) residential dwelling development approvals during the calendar years of 2010, 2011 and 2012. Maps of the locations of these approvals during this period were also shown.

5. Statistics and maps of the local government area’s non-residential development approvals for all work by type of development and gross floor area (GFA), for the period 2010 to 2012 were shown. Information was also provided on the projected number of employees by industry for the period 2011 to 2031.

6. Information about the focus on development in the City Centre and City Frame was provided. This included:- spatial context (geography)- existing land use and GFA, as at 2011-12- residential dwelling development approvals for the three year period ending

December 2012- non-residential development approvals for all work by type of development and GFA,

as at 2010 to 2012.

7. The Chairman thanked Ms Ross for her informative presentation.

8. RECOMMENDATION:


ADOPTED


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ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE

Councillor Matthew BOURKE, Chairman of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Fiona KING, that the report of the meeting of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.


Councillor BOURKE: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Look just before I get to the report that we have before us, I should touch on the Green Heart Fair which was held at Carindale on the weekend, I know the LORD MAYOR mentioned it earlier. That's the second fair we've held in Carindale. Obviously the two major events we have the one up at 7th Brigade Park, in Councillor KING's ward, and then the one on the southside down there at Carindale. We get now about 30,000 people across those two events so we're continuing seeing a significant increase going forward with the attendance at these events, Madam Chairman.

Some 2640 plants were handed out to residents as part of our free tree program. There were displays by Council. There was a magnitude of displays from local community groups, as well as other organisations with sustainability messages and promoting ways that residents can reduce their cost of living at home. So it was a great outcome for all of the residents. I'd encourage all councillors when you have the smaller Green Heart stalls at some of your fairs and events, to make sure you show your support and encourage your residents to be a part of that.

Of course it's part of a bigger package of work that we're doing as a Council in the Green Heart and sustainability space and go from strength-to-strength. Unfortunately, Peppa Pig was unavailable for the Carindale show but I'm reliably informed that Dora the Explorer did just as good a job of entertaining some of the younger attendees at the fair. So it's great to see that it continues to go from strength to strength.

Turning to the report, Madam Chairman, Item A on the committee presentation is the presentation we had about Far Out Forest Festival at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha, on 3 and 4 July. Madam Chairman, quite a detailed presentation about how the officers were able to run that festival. We got some, over 2000 people through across the two days. A lot of promotion about Indigenous culture, as well as nature learning and outdoor play opportunities, encouraging kids to be more active in an outdoor setting, getting them away from TV screens and getting them away from computer games, Madam Chairman.

So a really great program that we continue to run. It does go biannually, Madam Chairman, so it's not every year but we do continue to promote this event and encourage this event. Of course, it replaced the Kids Big Day Out event that we used to run at the Botanic Gardens and a great use and a great opportunity to market what is one of the lesser-known hidden treasures of the city.

Madam Chairman, to the rest of the report, there's one, two, three, four, five, six petitions there. Madam Chairman, I'm happy to leave open the debate on those six petitions, Madam Chairman, and sum up at the end.

Chairman: Further debate? Councillor DICK.


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Seriatim - Clauses B, E, F and GCouncillor Milton DICK requested that Clause B, PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL PURCHASE THE FORMER SKATE RINK AT 54 SERVICETON AVENUE, INALA FOR PARKLAND AND COMMUNITY SPACE, Clause E, E-PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF BARBEQUE FACILITIES IN WILSON PARK, NORMAN PARK, Clause F, PETITIONS – REQUESTING COUNCIL CONSIDER THE NAMING OF THE GREEN IN FREW PARK, MILTON, AS ‘WENDY TURNBULL GREEN’, and Clause G, PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL TO RE-DRAW THE FLOOD MAPS IN THE VICINITY OF BARCLAY AND SCOTT STREETS, DEAGON, be taken seriatim for voting purposes.

Chairman: Okay.

Councillor DICK: Thank you, Madam Chair. Look I will be brief. I have spoken on this Item before which was a petition requesting Council purchase the former skate rink at 54 Serviceton Avenue, Inala, for parkland community space. This is the second petition regarding this issue. I thank the committee for dealing with this petition because when the petition last came to Council, it didn't adequately represent the community support. So I know that this petition had been misplaced or had gone elsewhere. I thank the clerks for assisting in actually getting this back on the agenda, because now the full extent of the community's views can be heard.

When I informed a number of residents when the petition last came, that it was missing a number, well hundreds of signatures, they were devastated. So I am glad that finally the Council is acknowledging the issue because this is a huge issue in my local community and will continue to be a major issue. That skating rink has had a long and proud history in the local community during the 1960s and 1970s. It was a premier indoor skating facility. It was then redeveloped into a sporting area with an indoor pool owned by a number of people.

That sadly, that business didn't continue and around seven to 10 years ago the site was used temporarily for a restaurant and some limited dining opportunities. But since about the last five or six years that site has lay abandoned. So the community is concerned and joined with me over 12 months ago for that site to go on the list for Council to invest and to look at the opportunities of how we could best use and utilise that site. Overwhelmingly the community supported my call for Council to look at buying that parcel of land and either redeveloping it into some community facility or continuing on through the Durack Common and also Kev Hooper Park.

We are experiencing high growth in the south west suburbs of Brisbane and any parkland that we can get to increase the great outdoors, to increase local and natural environment I certainly support that. The Council has not agreed with the local residents. Just to give some background regarding this matter, the current owners have done a great job in getting the site up to scratch, removing the graffiti, putting in safety barriers, looking at—and they have done a great job painting the facility. They are very keen to see the site redeveloped. Unfortunately it is not the right climate or the economic climate for that site to be redeveloped into sporting and recreation.

Separate to this petition I have met with the LORD MAYOR and also senior town planning officers to look through the City Plan process how we may be able to look at rezoning part of that land to make that site economically viable. Because at the end of the day, if the Council has chosen not to purchase that site and not address the local residents concerned, the next option for me as a representative and certainly supported by the community, is look at how we can best turn 54 Serviceton Avenue, Inala into a mixed-use site.

I'm obviously supported by some community use and sporting facilities, whether it be a local gym or whether it be some community space, we certainly want to, as a community, make that site work. So whilst I'm disappointed that the Council has ignored local residents' concerns, I won't be walking away from that site. It is my firm view as the local representative that I want to see that site used, if not by the Brisbane City Council's wisdom to purchase that site, even though similar parcels of land across the city have been bought for open space across the south west and north regions.


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I certainly do want to do everything I can to make that site work, to improve an asset for the local community, to make sure that that landmark is redeveloped in an appropriate community and sporting way, so that we can also see some mixed use there and even some residential component in that as well. The community has been waiting for these improvements for a long time. I certainly won't be giving up and I certainly thank the petitioners, the couple of hundreds or hundreds that have signed the petition, wanting Council to take action.

I'm disappointed that the Council hasn't listened to what the community want, but I won't be giving up and I'll be doing everything that I can to improve that site.

Chairman: Further debate? Yes? Councillor SUTTON.

Councillor SUTTON: Yes, Madam Chair, I rise to speak on Item C, D and E and F in this report and I ask that Item B, E, F and G be taken seriatim for voting purposes.

Chairman: Councillor DICK has already requested that.

Councillor SUTTON: Sorry I didn't hear you Councillor DICK. Just double checking his work, Madam Chair.

Councillor SUTTON: No stop it. I've got a lot to get through. So look just on Item C, D and E they are petitions that relate to projects in my ward and petitions that I, as local councillor, asked local residents to support. Madam Chair, as Meatloaf says, Two Out of Three Ain't Bad. Petition C is on the installation of toilet facilities for Bulimba Riverside Park. That funding has been allocated in this year's Council budget and I look forward to getting on and assisting Council officers in delivering that project.

Petition D is requesting the installation of new playground equipment in Lavarack Park, Camp Hill. I've also spoken on this park upgrade in the past and it is also funded in this year's budget. I'm currently working with officers to ensure the project is delivered on time and on budget in my local area. This of course was my highest park priority requested for this year's budget. I have previously indicated in this Council before that once this project was funded, I would then move to allocate funding from my Ward Footpath and Parks Trust Fund to upgrade another park this financial year, that being Keralgerie Park, Morningside.

Thanks to the funding for Lavarack Park in this year's budget, I am now moving forward with those plans for Keralgerie Park. So that's great news for Morningside Ward residents who will see two new park upgrades this financial year instead of just the one that is funded in the capital program in this year's budget.

Item E is the third project and I guess this is the recommendation that I cannot support in Council today. That is requesting the installation of barbeque facilities at Wilson Park, Norman Park. Madam Chair, this matter came to my attention by a local resident who complained about the existing wood fire barbeque in Wilson Park. This park already has a barbeque. It has had a barbeque for the past 20 years. Local residents raised concerns about the state of that barbeque. It is old. They see that it is dangerous and that it is a fire risk because of the condition that it is currently in.

I'm disappointed by the response to this request because it would have been a simple matter just to take out the wood fire barbeque that is in a state of disrepair and replace it because this is a facility that has been in this local park for the last 20 years. Instead you see in paragraph 53 of this report—instead what Council is going to do is take the barbeque facility away from that park. So paragraph 53, the existing wood fire barbeque would not be replaced if it was removed and no new barbeques would be installed in Wilson Park.

So what residents have to do is to choose either have an old, unsafe barbeque or no barbeque at all. I don't think that's appropriate. Well Councillor KNAPP I take the interjection. She thinks it is appropriate, Madam Chair. I'm sure that I'll get a lecture about what I should and should not know about residents in my local area but Councillor KNAPP, you know what, you don't know everything


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and you don't know my ward. It might be okay, you might not, and I’m sure people in your area—


Chairman: Just a moment. Councillor KNAPP. Councillor SUTTON a point of order against you. Yes Councillor KING.

Councillor KING: Madam Chair, I don't think Councillor SUTTON is actually addressing what's on the agenda. It's not about Councillor KNAPP.

Chairman: No Councillor KNAPP is doing a lot of interjecting Councillor KING. So I think if Councillor SUTTON can try to not be distracted by whatever's happening on the other side of the Chamber and just get back to the report.

Councillor SUTTON: Madam Chair, I know, I'm just used to the volcano that inevitably erupts every time I stand to make a speech in this place that comes from that side of the Chamber. It's a case of waking the sleeping dog, Madam Chair, it starts barking. Sorry, Madam Chair, that was not, that was a poor choice of words. That was not to say that—I withdraw that. If there is any misunderstanding of what exactly I was trying to say.

Chairman: I think it's a figure of speech.

Councillor SUTTON: It was a metaphor.

Chairman: Councillor KNAPP.

Councillor SUTTON: Madam Chair, I have confidence she has said far worse about me in this place I can guarantee it. Madam Chair, just turning to the last item that I was going to speak on today and that is item F. This is a request that Council consider naming the green in Frew Park Milton as Wendy Turnbull Green. Madam Chair, this park isn't in my ward but the head petitioner is a resident of Morningside Ward and I'm sure he's probably known to a number of people on the opposite side of the Chamber.

I would guess that he would probably be well known to other members of the Chamber. So it is with some disappointment that I rise today to say that I'm disappointed that his suggestion has not been taken up. Not only was this petition initiated by a resident of mine, but it was also supported by many local residents of mine, particularly those who use the Morningside Tennis Centre in Morningside. The reason why these local residents of mine wanted to honour Wendy Turnbull is that they feel that she is a female sports person who deserves to have a park place named after her.

She is Brisbane born and raised. She was affectionately known apparently as Rabbit because of her court speed and she enjoyed success at the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour as both a singles and doubles player. She reached the final of three Grand Slam singles championships and had a spot among the top 10 single players in the world from 1977 to 1985 peaking at number 3. At the 1977 US Open and the 1979 French Open, she was runner-up in the singles championship to Chris Evert and then went to Hana Mandlíková at the 1980 Australia Open Singles final.

Her success in doubles made her one of the best doubles players in the world. Wendy has won nine Grand Slam ladies doubles and mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon, the French and US Opens. At the 1979 French Open she reached the final of all three levels losing the final of the singles but capturing the ladies' doubles and mixed doubles championships. While on tour she won 13 singles and 55 doubles titles.

If that is not a career that is worthy of a park naming or the green naming in Frew Park, I don't know what is. It is disappointing with the process. Usually when petitions like this for park naming come to committee, generally we accept them straight out, particularly in a petition that had some 160 signatures from throughout Brisbane asking us to recognise Wendy Turnbull, to name a park after Wendy Turnbull or part of a park after Wendy Turnbull.


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So I'm just disappointed that the outcome of this isn't more I guess resounding and substantial rather than this wait and see approach. I think it's worthy of the decision. I'm disappointed Councillor BOURKE couldn't get a decision from the Council or from the committee. I think that we should have just straight out named this green and this park after this significant sports person, this proud Brisbane woman who deserves to be recognised.

Chairman: Councillor MURPHY.

ADJOURNMENT:200/2013-14

At that time, 4.03pm, it was resolved on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY, seconded by Councillor Kim MARX, that the meeting adjourn for a period of 15 minutes, to commence only when all councillors had vacated the chamber and the doors locked.

Council stood adjourned at 4.05pm.

UPON RESUMPTION:

At that time, 4.22pm, the Deputy Chairman, Councillor Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, assumed the Chair.

Deputy Chairman: Further debate; Councillor BOURKE, would you like to sum up?

Councillor BOURKE: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Just for the record, there is no one here from the Australian Labor Party after afternoon tea, so obviously they must be taking an extended afternoon tea this afternoon.

A number of the Councillors on the other side of the Chamber obviously could not be bothered to stand up and talk to petitions in their ward that were passed last week during our committee meeting. But to address some of the issues that were raised by the few speakers that did bother giving a contribution, Councillor DICK stood up and spoke about the Inala Skate Rink again. He seems to have a short memory about all of the investment that this Administration continues to make in his ward for parks and open space. The recently acquired Richlands State School site springs to mind. The site of debate earlier—


Deputy Chairman: Point of order against you, Councillor BOURKE. Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Madam Chairman, Items B, E, F and G were taken seriatim together is my understanding, and I just ask that they be taken seriatim individually for voting purposes please.

Deputy Chairman: Yes, we were taking them individually for voting purposes.

Deputy Chairman: Councillor BOURKE.

Councillor BOURKE: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. It is great to have some of the Opposition finally join us back in the Chamber.

As I was saying, Councillor DICK seems to forget the significant investment we do make. Obviously the Richlands State School site, the site that was the subject of my answer in Question Time, 71 Pine Road, in his ward again, providing that open space and that green space for the residents of Richlands Ward. We will continue to provide that infrastructure as we are able to. That is in line with the response that went back to the petitioners.

I always enjoy Councillor SUTTON's contributions to the debate in this place. I have to admit, I did miss her during her absence, but she's certainly made up for it in the last two weeks since she's been back. Always good with the story, short on the detail is Councillor SUTTON. She stood up and spoke at some length about item F on the agenda before us, the naming of Wendy Turnbull Green, and that something should be done to recognise the contribution of Wendy Turnbull; that something should be done about naming the park after her.

But she obviously didn’t read section 64 of the report before us, and for all Councillors I will just read that into the record. Ms Turnbull has already been recognised by Brisbane City Council with a park in Bracken Ridge named


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Wendy Turnbull Park. Well, Madam Chairman, there is already a park named after Ms Turnbull in Brisbane. So, the policy is that we already have space recognising her contribution.

We are building a new park down there in Milton to provide for the residents of Milton, more green space, more open space, and the response and the recommendation that we have before us today I think is an appropriate response to make sure that we aren’t over-naming that space down there at Milton. I know Councillor MATIC has been working quite hard with his residents with that space, with a lot of community consultation. We will, as we go through that project delivering that open space and park, continue to roll these out. It is timely that we deal with this petition in the manner that we have before us.

Turning then to Councillor SUTTON's other point that she was raising about one of the petitions before us, which is around the barbeque installation in one of her parks, nowhere in this report that I read does it say that we are actually going to rip out the existing barbeque. It does mention that if it was removed, it would not be replaced.

I do remember, though, the Opposition councillors tried with some glee to discredit or mock the answers I gave in the budget information sessions last year as being long-winded and lacking any sort of information. If they actually listened to the answers I gave in the budget information sessions last year, the detailed answers, they would understand about what sort of facilities you can install in a local, informal use park, because I went through them at some length, and listed out all of the different facilities and all of the different sorts of features that you can expect to find in all of the park categories across the city.

It is just sad that the Opposition councillors don’t want to put in the work, don’t want to learn, don’t want to read, and try and understand these issues so that they can keep their residents informed, and be honest with their residents about what the expectation is and what they can deliver in the frameworks and the guidelines that already exist in this place. In this case, in a local, informal use park, we don't put barbeque facilities in. Because when you put a barbeque facility in, the next request will be for something like a garbage bin and a toilet block.

Local use informal parks are normally very small parks with limited other features, limited space, in close proximity to houses, and can have a high impact on adjoining residents and adjoining properties when you start talking about all the other services and facilities that would be expected, when you start to put a barbeque in and encourage residents to be in that space for extended periods of time. So, it is sad, though, that Councillor SUTTON chose not to listen in those budget information sessions. Maybe that was the one when she was in New York, but anyway.

Turning to a couple of the other ones, it is unfortunate that Councillor NEWTON did not choose to rise to speak to the petition at item G about redrawing the flood maps in the vicinity of Barclay and Scott Streets in Deagon. I thought she would have been back to join us in the Council Chamber. It is a shame that she is not back yet from afternoon tea. But there is obviously a process in this place on how we deal with these sorts of requests. There is a long-standing process. We on this side of the Chamber take flooding very seriously across the city. It is not a simple case of just moving a flood line. There is a scientific back-of-house set of work that needs to be done.

We want to make sure the flood information that we provide to the residents is the most accurate and best information so they can make informed decisions about the potential flood risks or potential flood issues that they may have on their site. So the response that we put back to the residents in this case takes that into account. Obviously, as the recommendation says, we are doing a flood study.

Interesting to note, though, at point 78, Councillor Victoria NEWTON, Councillor for Deagon Ward, was consulted on 21 August, 23 August, and 23 September, and the Councillor did not indicate agreement or disagreement at the


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time of consultation. So three strikes, Madam Chairman, and Councillor NEWTON, who is not even in the Chamber now when this issue is being debated, could not even give her view on the recommendation to her residents. It is a sad, sad state of affairs when Councillor NEWTON can't stand up for her residents, can't debate the issue, can't even talk, can't provide a consultation when she was asked three times, or even stand up and talk in the Council Chamber and indicate whether or not she supports the recommendation going back to her residents. But I know—

Councillor JOHNSTON: Point of order, Madam Acting Chairman.

Deputy Chairman: Point of order; just a moment please. Point of order against you, Councillor BOURKE; Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: I know how concerned the LNP councillors are about other councillors bullying women in this Chamber, and I would ask you to ask Councillor BOURKE to refrain from that kind of behaviour towards Councillor NEWTON. Councillor KING makes this point regularly—

Deputy Chairman: Councillor—

Councillor JOHNSTON: —and stands up to complain, Madam Chairman.

Deputy Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON, Councillor NEWTON is not in this Chamber. Councillor BOURKE is summing up and referring to the absence of Councillor NEWTON speaking. I do not uphold your point of order. Councillor BOURKE, please continue summing up.

Councillor BOURKE: Thanks very much, Madam Chairman, and in line with your recommendation there, it is not just her absence and lack of speaking to this item but her absence in even bothering to be providing a response to the consultation that she had three opportunities to do. So, I know and I trust and I hope that Councillor NEWTON will go out there and accurately portray her views on this to her residents, which was that she could not be bothered to respond on this issue.

We on this side of the Chamber obviously take these issues very seriously. We continue to improve our flood modelling, continue to improve our flood mapping. We aren't the Administration who hid flood maps. We aren't the Administration who did not want to talk about flooding. We on this side of the Chamber have an open policy to provide the information. We work with residents. We help residents. There is a process in place, and I know that Councillor CUMMING and Councillor FLESSER last week in the Committee meeting asked a number of questions about this. I am just shocked, really, that Councillor NEWTON chose not to bother to stand up in this place and provide some comment around this particular issue, given her previous statements around issues down in Deagon with regards to flooding—not in this location, but in other locations.

Obviously in summing up all of the issues there, it is good to see that a lot of the Councillors provided their responses, but I really have to highlight the fact that, with three opportunities, Councillor NEWTON really was left wanting in this case, not providing a response, and then not even bothering to stand up in this place this afternoon and put on record her comments.

Deputy Chairman: Councillor BOURKE, your time has expired.

Clauses A, C and D putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clauses A, C and D of the report of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Clause B putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clause B of the report of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Thereupon, Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS and Peter CUMMING immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared carried.



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AYES: 16 - The DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, and Councillors Matthew BOURKE, Amanda COOPER, Vicki HOWARD, Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC, Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, and Norm WYNDHAM.

NOES: 6 - The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Steve GRIFFITHS, Shayne SUTTON, and Nicole JOHNSTON.

Clause E putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clause E of the report of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Thereupon, Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS and Milton DICK immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared carried.



NOES: 7 - The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS, Shayne SUTTON, and Nicole JOHNSTON.

Clause F putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clause F of the report of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Thereupon, Councillors Matthew BOURKE and Helen ABRAHAMS immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared carried.



NOES: 7 - The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS, Shayne SUTTON, and Nicole JOHNSTON.

Clause G putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clause G of the report of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Thereupon, Councillors Matthew BOURKE and Shayne SUTTON immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared carried.


AYES: 17 - The DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, and Councillors Matthew BOURKE, Amanda COOPER, Vicki HOWARD, Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC, Ian McKENZIE,


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David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, Norm WYNDHAM and Nicole JOHNSTON.

NOES: 6 - The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS, and Shayne SUTTON.

The report as follows

ATTENDANCE:

Councillor Matthew Bourke (Chairman), Councillor Fiona King (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Peter Cumming, Kim Flesser, Geraldine Knapp and Ryan Murphy.

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – FAR OUT FOREST FESTIVAL, BRISBANE BOTANIC GARDENS, MT COOT-THA, 3 AND 4 JULY 2013

201/2013-141. Ms Margot MacManus, Visitor Services Coordinator, Brisbane Botanic Gardens,

Mt Coot-tha, Field Services Group, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, attended the meeting to provide an update on the Far Out Forest Festival, that was held at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in Mt Coot-tha in July 2013. She provided the information below.

2. The festival is the largest annual event held at the Botanic Gardens. It was held during the school holidays on 3 and 4 July 2013. This year saw the third Far Out Forest Festival, replacing the previous one-day event known as the Kids Big Day Out.

3. A number of long-term volunteers attend the festival as part of the ‘welcome contingent’ that hand out programs and direct visitors to the program events. Images were shown of two volunteers that have been attending events at the Gardens for approximately 12 to 15 years, and of an example of a wearable art creation that was made at the festival.

4. As the gardens are quite extensive and full of pathways, before the festival, a number of temporary, laminated signs were erected to assist visitors with directions to programmed events. Festival-goers were welcomed at each entrance by the volunteer guides, who handed out programs and assisted them to easily find what activities they were looking for.

5. The Far Out Forest Festival is run by the Brisbane Botanic Gardens however, Ms MacManus and her team work with relevant areas across Council such as: Active Parks, Chill Out, GOLD n Kids, Mt Coot-tha Library, City Waste Services, Brisbane metropolitan bands and environment centres to promote their roles.

6. Images were shown of the activities that were conducted by these areas. These included:- Eco-Circus Extravaganza (Active Parks and Chill Out)- storytelling (Mt Coot-tha Library)- Sunnybank Brass II (Brisbane metropolitan band)- Science in the Gardens (environment centres).

7. The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) also provided children’s entertainment at the festival. The QPWS are keen to continue involvement with the festival because they provided a very popular display, with the ‘Rapt in Reptiles’ show and the Touch Table, which was full of wildlife specimens.

8. Other popular activities at the festival include; Bats and Batty Art – by the volunteer organisation Brisbane Bat Conservation and Rescue, bush string making and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander games, Fantastic Forest with the Artist-in-residence at


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the Gardens, Wearable Art, Knitted Nancy and Hildegard on Safari with native animal displays.

9. The 2013 Far Out Forest Festival received regular media coverage, both before and after the event, from the Westside News local newspaper. A few samples of the media coverage were displayed.

10. The Chairman thanked Ms MacManus for her informative presentation.

11. RECOMMENDATION:


ADOPTED

B PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL PURCHASE THE FORMER SKATE RINK AT 54 SERVICETON AVENUE, INALA FOR PARKLAND AND COMMUNITY SPACECA13/541727

202/2013-1412. A petition from residents of Inala and surrounding suburbs, requesting that Council purchase

the old skate rink in Serviceton Avenue, Inala, in order to provide parkland and community space was presented to the meeting of Council held on 6 August 2013, by Councillor Milton Dick, and received.

13. The Divisional Manager, City Planning and Sustainability Division, supplied the following information.

14. The petition contained a total of 391 signatories. 15. The old skate rink is located at 54 Serviceton Avenue, Inala. The site area is

6056 square metres in size and is classified as Sport and Recreation under the City Plan 2000.

16. The northern end of the property is part of a waterway corridor. The property adjoins Durella Street Park, an extensive corridor link running through the southern residential area of Durack. The property is also located directly across from the Kev Hooper Memorial Park in Serviceton Avenue, Inala.

17. The skate rink was once a popular community facility and was closed many years ago. The site has remained vacant since that time. Poor maintenance of the property has led to a number of compliance notices being issued by Council to the property owner in the past.

18. An initial estimate of the property’s value, carried out by Council’s City Projects Office, is $800,000. The property was purchased for approximately $1,000,000 in early 2007. It is likely that new development would be constrained by the waterway corridor.

19. There is currently no recommendation in the Brisbane Priority Infrastructure Plan to acquire land for park within this area. A park network analysis demonstrates that Inala is already well-serviced by parkland. Council meets its desired standards of service in this area with two local informal parks and a district informal use park located within 500 metres of the subject property. In addition, three district informal use and three district sports parks are located within two kilometres of the subject property.

20. Acquisition of this site would improve overall road frontage to the Durella Street Park from Serviceton Avenue and would potentially improve the link between Durella Street Park and


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Kev Hooper Memorial Park.

21. A current recommendation is included in the Brisbane Priority Infrastructure Plan to acquire land in Inala for the development of a new district community space and new indoor swimming pool. This site could be considered as part of broader planning investigations required for future community infrastructure in Inala. Comparisons with other potential sites may then be made based on site location, property value and development complexity.

22. It is therefore recommended that the petitioners be advised that at this point in time, Council does not support the acquisition of the former skate rink in Inala for park or community purposes. However, the site may be considered in future planning studies for the location of community facilities for Inala.

Consultation

23. Councillor Milton Dick, Councillor for Richlands Ward, was consulted on 21 August 2013 and does not support the recommendation.

24. Accordingly, the Divisional Manager therefore recommends as follows and the Committee agrees, with Councillors Kim Flesser and Peter Cumming dissenting.

25. RECOMMENDATION:

IT IS RECOMMENDED THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT AT THIS POINT IN TIME, COUNCIL DOES NOT SUPPORT THE ACQUISITION OF THE FORMER SKATE RINK IN INALA FOR PARK OR COMMUNITY PURPOSES. HOWEVER, THE SITE MAY BE CONSIDERED IN FUTURE PLANNING STUDIES FOR THE LOCATION OF COMMUNITY FACILITIES FOR INALA.

ADOPTED

C E- PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF TOILET FACILITIES IN BULIMBA RIVERSIDE PARK, IN LOVE STREET, BULIMBACA13/333714

203/2013-1426. An electronic petition from residents of Bulimba and surrounding suburbs, requesting the

installation of toilet facilities in the Bulimba Riverside Park, in Love Street, Bulimba, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 21 May 2013, by Councillor Shayne Sutton, and received.


28. The petition, containing 138 signatures, was received in support of Councillor Sutton’s request that Council fund the installation of toilet facilities in Bulimba Riverside Park in Love Street, Bulimba, as part of the 2013-14 Council budget.

29. Bulimba Riverside Park (D2672) is a district informal use park, located at 57 Addison Avenue, Bulimba. The park is 22,027 square metres, links to riverside walkways and includes facilities in the following activity areas:

- riverside picnic area- district playground space- a dog off-leash area.

30. The original concept for Bulimba Riverside Park did not include toilet facilities however,


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Council has reviewed its intent for this park in response to public feedback and increasing levels of use. The park’s classification as a district level park is consistent with Council’s desired standards of service, which necessitate the installation of toilet facilities.

31. Design plans for a two-cubicle, unisex, accessible toilet facility have been prepared. A copy of these plans is being held by the local ward councillor, Councillor Shayne Sutton.

32. Council has recognised the need for a toilet facility at Bulimba Riverside Park as a citywide priority that delivers on essential levels of service. As such, funds have been allocated in the 2013-14 budget under the Upgrade Key Neighbourhood Parks schedule.

Funding

33. Funding for this project is available within Program 1 – Clean, Green and WaterSmart City – Parks Maintenance Enhancement.

Consultation

34. Councillor Shayne Sutton, Councillor for Morningside Ward, was consulted on 27 August 2013 and does support the recommendation.

35. Accordingly, the Divisional Manager therefore recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.

36. RECOMMENDATION:

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT COUNCIL WILL BE INSTALLING TOILET FACILITIES AT BULIMBA RIVERSIDE PARK IN THE 2013-14 FINANCIAL YEAR.

ADOPTED

D E- PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF NEW PLAY EQUIPMENT IN LAVARACK PARK, CAMP HILL CA13/333786

204/2013-1437. An electronic petition from residents of Camp Hill and surrounding suburbs requesting new

playground equipment be installed in Lavarack Park, Camp Hill, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 21 May 2013, by Councillor Shayne Sutton, and received.


39. The petition, containing 30 signatures, was received in support of Councillor Sutton’s request that Council fund the installation of new play equipment in Lavarack Park, Camp Hill, as part of the 2013-14 Council budget.

40. Lavarack Park (D0054) is a local informal use park located at 29 Aubrey Street, Camp Hill. The park is 20,118 square metres and is a former landfill site, which includes the following facilities: - picnic and shelter areas- playground space- an informal cricket pitch and field.In addition, interpretative signage and the overall park design builds on the history of the park as a World War Two hospital site.


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41. Some of the playground equipment in Lavarack Park is nearing its end of life. Geo-technical assessments were undertaken in October 2012, in anticipation of an upgrade to the playground space or park facilities.

42. As part of Council’s commitment to asset lifecycle planning and focus on maintenance of existing assets, the renewal and replacement of play equipment in Lavarack Park was prioritised through the budget development process. Council has allocated funds in the 2013-14 budget under the Play Safe Upgrades schedule to replace and renew play equipment in Lavarack Park.

Funding

43. Funding for this project is available within Program 1 – Clean, Green and WaterSmart City – Parks Maintenance Enhancement.

Consultation

44. Councillor Sutton, Councillor for Morningside Ward, was consulted on 27 August 2013 and supports the recommendation.

45. Accordingly, the Divisional Manager therefore recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.

46. RECOMMENDATION:

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT COUNCIL WILL BE UPGRADING THE PLAY FACILITIES AT LAVARACK PARK IN THE 2013-14 FINANCIAL YEAR.

ADOPTED

E E- PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF BARBEQUE FACILITIES IN WILSON PARK, NORMAN PARK CA13/333627

205/2013-1447. An electronic petition from residents of Norman Park and Hawthorne, requesting the

installation of barbeque facilities in Wilson Park, Norman Park, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 21 May 2013, by Councillor Shayne Sutton, and received.


49. A petition containing three signatures was received supporting Councillor Sutton’s request that Council fund the installation of barbeque facilities in Wilson Park, Norman Park, in the 2013-14 Council Budget.

50. Wilson Park (D0046) is a local informal recreation park located at 70 Norman Avenue, Norman Park. The park is 14,337 square metres and includes the following facilities: - picnic and shelter facilities- a playground- a half basketball court. A single wood-fired barbeque is located in this park with an approximate build date of 1994. This barbeque has reached its end of life.

51. All parks are allocated a relevant park type and hierarchy classification in the citywide park management plan, based on their intended function and catchment. Wilson Park has been


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classified as a local informal use park.

52. The Parks Classification System provides guidance for the types of facilities and improvements which are acceptable in our city’s parks, and also how these assets are then maintained in accordance with good asset management practices.

53. Local informal use parks can include picnic facilities, playgrounds, taps or bubblers, seating, shade, landscaping and half basketball courts. However, they are not appropriate for infrastructure, such as barbeques, toilets and other visitor facilities. These types of facilities are intended for district and metropolitan parks. The existing wood-fired barbeque would not be replaced if it was to be removed and no new barbeques would be installed in Wilson Park.

Consultation

54. Councillor Shayne Sutton, Councillor for Morningside Ward, was consulted on 13 September 2013 and does not support the recommendation.

Customer impact

55. Wilson Park in Norman Park will remain as a local informal use park with no additional or upgraded barbeque facilities.


57. RECOMMENDATION:

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT COUNCIL HAS NOT FUNDED THE INSTALLATION OF BARBEQUE FACILITIES IN WILSON PARK, NORMAN PARK IN THE 2013-14 BUDGET. COUNCIL DOES NOT INTEND TO FUND SUCH FACILITIES IN FORWARD FINANCIAL YEARS, AS IT IS NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH COUNCIL’S PARK PLANNING FRAMEWORK.

ADOPTED

F PETITIONS – REQUESTING COUNCIL CONSIDER THE NAMING OF THE GREEN IN FREW PARK, MILTON, AS ‘WENDY TURNBULL GREEN’CA13/396378 and CA13/589942

206/2013-1458. Two petitions from residents of Brisbane, requesting the naming of the Green at Frew Park in

Milton, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 11 June 2013, by Councillor Matthew Bourke and received.

59. The Executive Manager, Field Services Group, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, supplied the following information.

60. The two petitions contained a total of 206 signatures, one being from 201 petitioners and another from five petitioners.

61. The signatories have requested that the Green be named as ‘Wendy Turnbull Green’ to honour the Brisbane sporting heroine. A brief history of Ms Wendy Turnbull was submitted as part of the petitions. Wendy Turnbull was a Hall of Fame recipient in 2009. She was born and raised in Brisbane and was affectionately named ‘Rabbit’ because of her court speed.

62. Wendy enjoyed success on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour as both a singles and


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doubles player. She reached the final of three Grand Slam Singles Championships and held a spot among the top 10 singles players in the world from 1977-1985, peaking at number three.

63. Ms Turnbull won nine Grand Slam Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles Titles. At the 1979 French Open, she reached the final of all three events, losing the final of the singles but winning the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles Championships. While on tour, Wendy won 13 singles and 55 doubles titles.

64. Ms Turnbull has already been recognised by Brisbane City Council, with a park in Bracken Ridge being named ‘Wendy Turnbull Park’ (D1174).

65. Over the coming months, Council will be interpreting the ideas received from the community. The Frew Park project team will consider how to incorporate permanent recognition measures into the park, including whether to name the Green as ‘Wendy Turnbull Green’, in accordance with Council’s current Park Naming Policy. An officer from the project team will contact the head petitioners to discuss further.

Consultation

66. Councillor Peter Matic, Councillor for Toowong Ward, has been consulted and supports the recommendation.


68. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT AS THE PARK IS STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT, THE NAMING OF PART OF THE PARK AS ‘WENDY TURNBULL GREEN’ WILL BE CONSIDERED IN THE LATTER STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT.

ADOPTED

G PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL TO RE-DRAW THE FLOOD MAPS IN THE VICINITY OF BARCLAY AND SCOTT STREETS, DEAGONCA13/442545

207/2013-1469. A petition from residents of Deagon requesting that Council redraw the flood maps in the

vicinity of Barclay and Scott streets, was received during the Winter Recess 2013.

70. The Divisional Manager, City Planning and Strategy Division, supplied the following information.

71. The Flood Flag Map is an awareness tool which provides an indication of the flood extents in an area. It does not provide information about flood depths or velocities. The map is produced on a suburb scale and is not intended to provide a property-based analysis of flood risk. Specific property information can be obtained through a FloodWise Property Report.

72. Brisbane City Council’s (Council’s) flood mapping in Barclay and Scott streets, Deagon, is derived from the Cabbage Tree Creek Flood Study that was completed in 2000. The Flood Flag Map for Deagon, including Barclay and Scott streets, shows the extent of flooding that has a one per cent chance of happening in any one year as set out in Attachment A, submitted on file.


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73. The north-eastern end of Barclay and Scott streets are areas of known low flood immunity.

Council records for flooding experienced during recent events, in the area of Barclay and Scott streets, also confirms the accuracy of flood extents shown in the map.

74. The flooding source for Barclay and Scott streets, Deagon, is from both storm tide and creek/waterway (Cabbage Tree Creek). The source of flooding for Flinders Parade in Sandgate is storm tide. Blue areas on Council’s current Flood Flag Map do not differentiate sources of flooding, therefore these areas may appear the same.

75. Recorded flood levels during the Australia Day 2013 event at the Council’s maximum height gauge (C100) located downstream from Barclay and Scott streets was 1.75 metres Australian Height Datum (AHD), which is an indication of minor flooding in these areas. This flood event is much smaller to the one per cent annual chance flood shown in Council’s Flood Flag Map.

76. Additionally, there are records from a post January 1974 flood debris mark survey at the crossing of Barclay Street and the waterway leading to Cabbage Tree Creek. This survey has recorded a flood level of 2.62 metres AHD at this location; indicating a higher flood level than what was experienced by the residents in recent times and confirm that bigger flood events can occur at this location.

77. As new data becomes available, Council undertakes a program of works, based on a citywide prioritisation, to update flood mapping. As part of this program, it is expected that the flood mapping of Cabbage Tree Creek will be reviewed through Council’s future flood study budget.

Consultation

78. Councillor Victoria Newton, Councillor for Deagon Ward, was consulted on 21 August 2013, 23 August 2013 and 23 September 2013. The Councillor did not indicate agreement or disagreement at the time of consultation.

79. Accordingly, the Divisional Manager therefore recommends as follows and the Committee agrees, with Councillors Kim Flesser and Peter Cumming abstaining.

80. RECOMMENDATION:

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL WILL NOT CONSIDER CHANGING THE BLUE FLOOD OUTLINES ON THE FLOOD FLAG MAP IN THE VICINITY OF BARCLAY AND SCOTT STREETS, DEAGON, UNTIL THE NEW CABBAGE TREE CREEK FLOOD STUDY IS COMPLETED AND ADOPTED BY BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL.

ADOPTED

FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE

Councillor David McLACHLAN, Chairman of the Field Services Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Norm WYNDHAM, that the report of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.

Deputy Chairman: Councillor McLACHLAN.

Councillor McLACHLAN: Thank you, Madam Deputy Chairman. Before I start at item A, yet another very important presentation to the Field Services Committee last week on the bushfire hazard reduction summary for 2013, which is a very important program undertaken by Field Services staff on behalf of the Council and on behalf of the residents of Brisbane.


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The presentation was by Chandra Wood, the Senior Coordinator of Natural Environment for the Field Services Group, who is a well-skilled and respected officer in the field of bushfire prevention and bushfire management when required. The Committee heard a very interesting presentation on the state of the work that has been undertaken during this season to prepare for the expected hot season ahead of us.

There was some good news and some bad news. The bad news was that the conditions up until recently weren't all that conducive to undertaking hazard reduction burns, so the number of burns that were undertaken wasn't as many as were planned. But safety is always the hallmark of the officers working in this area, and they are not prepared to undertake any burns where the conditions are not absolutely perfect in terms of being able to control the burns once they have been initiated.

But burns are not the only way of preparing for the bushfire season. There is certainly a lot of preparatory work that can be undertaken in conjunction with hazard reduction burns, and these were outlined in full to the Committee, including the maintenance of fire access tracks, the slashing of fire tracks next to private properties, and other operational services in preparation for the wildfires that may occur.

There is a contingent fire fighting force of some 129 trained staff, and we have 17 operational fire suppression units, and work very cooperatively with other agencies such as the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service. There have been many instances where they have been cooperative in joint exercises of late.

The good news that I mentioned earlier was a look at the seasonal outlook. While there has been some media reporting of the conditions expected in Queensland for bushfires, along the coast it is not as bad as it is west of the divide. The information that was provided to the committee is that the rainfall is on track for an annual average. The forest fuel loads are not excessive. There are spots where there are higher fuel loads. The fuel is retaining normal moisture content, and the conclusion is that fire behaviour as a consequence, should it occur, will be more manageable. So that is good news.

The overarching conditions that are also looked at in determining the risks are that there is no unusual build-up of forest bushfire fuel on the Council's estate. The El Niño southern oscillation and the Southern Oscillation Index remain neutral through Spring. We are told this is good. The sea surface temperature indicates ongoing neutral phase. Again we are told this is good. Average soil moisture is in the top layer is also good, The grass curing fuel dryness is at around 85 per cent, which is regarded as normal. So these are conditions that suggest that there won't be any unusual factors to be taken into consideration, but vigilance remains the key.

Residents are still reminded and requested if they are in the bushfire zones to have an evacuation plan, to be prepared should the worst case scenario unfold. As always, our staff are ready and able to respond to those wildfires should they occur. Thank you, Madam Deputy Chair.

Deputy Chairman: Further debate; Councillor KNAPP.

Councillor KNAPP: Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to speak on this report because, as you are all probably aware, I share Mt Coot-tha with Councillor de WIT, and up through Brisbane Forest Park. I would like to actually congratulate the officers for the work that they do in burning our bushlands for fire preparedness, because it is something that frightens people, to be perfectly honest.

As soon as people see smoke up on the bushlands, everyone gets a bit of a scare, particularly up in my end of the world where we have had about four bushfires over the last eight years where, in one of them, we had fortunately Enoggera Dam and the planes were taking huge buckets of water out of the dam. It is a very scary thing when a bushfire starts, even though the fuel is not the same as down in Victoria, it starts to run, and you get the fire coming across. In all of our areas, there are residences backing on to bushland.


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So the work that has been done over the 17 years that I have been a councillor, I would like to recognise the work of the Field Services Group that goes out to prepare for bushfire season and it is sometimes very difficult, as Councillor McLACHLAN said, because sometimes, particularly in a wet summer, you just cannot burn in preparation for summer.

We have had a couple of fires across the back of the hills this year, which were managed and contained. Councillor WINES and I were down at our favourite spot one Saturday afternoon, and over the hill you could see the fire. Thank God for the fire brigade. Man-made fire, man-made fire.

So, Madam Chair, as I said, the residents in The Gap—and every year we send out a letter to all those residents who have got larger properties about fuel burn, about the Rural Fire Brigade that will come in and help them if they need to, and all in all I think this is a terrific report, Madam Chair.

Deputy Chairman: Further debate; Councillor BOURKE.

Councillor BOURKE: Madam Chairman, just very, very quickly, I just want to talk to the committee report and the presentation that the committee received on the bushfire hazard reduction summary for 2013. Obviously, as the councillor responsible for the natural areas across the city of Brisbane, we take a lot of interest, and I take particular interest in working very closely with Councillor McLACHLAN and all of Asset Services as well as the staff from the Natural Environment and Water Sustainability (NEWS) Branch in making sure that we're managing and protecting and preserving our bushland as best as possible.

One of those things that we have to undertake of course is fire management burns, or suppression burns, to reduce the fuel load. There is a lot of work that goes in by a number of Council officers in my own branch as well as in Councillor McLACHLAN's branch, as well as in Councillor SIMMONDS' part of Council in the Disaster Management area into the work that we do in this space.

So it is great to see the committee presentation that came through, talking through a number of the challenges, because everyone thinks that managing our natural areas is an easy and simple task. But this presents probably one of the most challenging bodies of work that we have to do when it comes to managing our natural areas. Finding that balance between protecting the biodiversity as well as protecting the fuel and the fire load and reducing that so that the fire risk for the city of Brisbane is significantly reduced.

So, the burns that occurred through Mt Coot-tha Forest, Anstead Bushland, Brisbane Koala Bushlands, Toohey Forest, Karawatha Forest, Parkinson Bushland, Seven Hills, Third Lagoon, Chermside Hills, and Brighton wetlands are all important burns that have happened as part of a broader management scheme devised by NEWS in conjunction with Asset Services to make sure that we aren't burning the same piece of bushland in those estates year upon year, that we are actually moving through that bushland and we are providing opportunities for the wildlife to move from and away from where we have conducted burns as opposed to having a scorched earth policy and burning a whole parcel of land.

At that time, 4.47pm, the Chairman, Councillor Margaret de WIT, resumed the Chair.

We actually strategically tackle these larger bushland reserves across the city to make sure that we are able to manage the impacts upon the wildlife, and manage the impacts also upon the plant life. Some of our species that we find in the city of Brisbane respond to burns; others don't too well, so we have obviously got to balance and manage the different forms and different types of vegetation that we find across the city, and that we aren't destroying the ecosystems when we are doing these burns, and that we aren't decreasing the biodiversity across the city.

So it is great to see the presentation that was provided. My hat goes off to all of the Council officers who are trained in this space. It is a challenging space when you are out there on the ground dealing with a fire. They can be unpredictable.


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Putting your life on the line quite often is a challenge, and it is great to see the work that we do and the ongoing work that we do in this space.

Chairman: Further debate; Councillor McLACHLAN.

Councillor McLACHLAN: Thank you, Madam Chair. In summing up, I would like to thank the councillors from this side who have contributed to this debate. Their insights are very important. Councillor KNAPP is a well experienced councillor with a significant area of bushland within the area that she looks after, her ward, and also Councillor BOURKE, of course, with whom I work very cooperatively between the NEWS Branch and the Asset Services Branch to make sure we are able to deliver these services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Field Services Committee was declared carried on the voices.


ATTENDANCE:

Councillor David McLachlan (Chairman), Councillor Norm Wyndham (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Peter Cumming, Nicole Johnston, Kim Marx and Ian McKenzie.

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – BUSHFIRE HAZARD REDUCTION SUMMARY 2013

208/2013-141. Chandra Wood, Senior Coordinator Natural Environment, Field Services Group, Brisbane

Infrastructure Division, attended the meeting to provide an update on Bushfire Hazard Reduction Summary 2013. She provided the information below.

2. A series of slides were presented illustrating the current and forecasted conditions for the 2013 season.

3. There are 37 potential burn sites totalling 751 hectares identified for 2013, which included high priority sites that were not burnt in 2012.

4. Fifteen planned burns, totalling 271 hectares, have already been completed. There has also been nine unplanned fires to date, totalling 28 hectares. Areas covered in the 24 burns included: Mt Coot-tha Forest, Anstead Bushland, Brisbane Koala Bushland, Toohey Forest, Karawatha Forest, Parkinson Bushland, Seven Hills, Third Lagoon, Chermside Hills and the Brighton Wetlands.

5. Some of the work that is still ongoing with regard to fire preparedness includes:- fire access track maintenance- slashing of fire tracks next to private properties- maintaining a fire fighting group of 129 trained staff- providing 17 operational fire suppression units- ongoing co-operative activities with the Queensland Fire Rescue Service.

6. There has been no forest bushfire fuel build-up on Council’s estates. The El Nino Southern Oscillation and Southern Oscillation Index will remain neutral through Spring and the sea surface temperature indicates an ongoing neutral phase. This indicates a lack of good conditions for wildfires.

7. A series of slides were shown illustrating seasonal outlooks for rain and temperature, which were taken from the Bureau of Meteorology which indicate:- that rainfall is on track for the annual average- forest fuel loads are not excessive- there are spots of higher fuel load- fuel is retaining normal moisture content


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- fire behaviour will be more manageable.

8. Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Ms Wood for her informative presentation.

9. RECOMMENDATION:


ADOPTED

BRISBANE LIFESTYLE COMMITTEE

Councillor Krista ADAMS, Chairman of the Brisbane Lifestyle Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Andrew WINES, that the report of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.


Councillor ADAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair. Last week the Brisbane Lifestyle Committee was treated to a presentation on our newly refurbished and very iconic Centenary Pool, that I know Councillor HOWARD is dying to speak about in this committee presentation. The pool was built in 1959, and obviously is quite a prominent design and a prominent architect, James Birrell, was the designer of this pool. Obviously it is recognised through its listing on Council and Queensland State Heritage Registers, and I think the construction reflects the growing popularity of swimming in Australia, considering it was immediately after the Australians' successful 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

So the Centenary Pool complex was first set up as an Olympic size swimming pool that Brisbanites could train in, but they also had a separate diving pool, the only diving pool in Brisbane, an Olympic standard pool, when it was first opened. It remained that way until 1980 when we finally saw the Commonwealth Games come to visit Brisbane.

What we found when we decided to do the refurbishment, we realised obviously there was a lot of work, but as in many things, the facility was in poor condition, and we found out that the extent of the necessary works were actually quite much larger than we had originally thought we were going to need. So even though we thought we were going to be able to do the work while we could keep some of the pool or maybe the gym opened, that was not the case.

The Learn to Swim pool was able to be kept open, but the Olympic pool had to be totally closed. So we had significant issues around water leaks and cracked pipes, around the diving tower, around the dated filtration system. Obviously something that was built 50 years ago and patched up needed a very good work over. The greatest excitement about such a heritage pool is now that we have full DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliance and there is a huge ramp to get into the 50-metre pool, so if you are in a wheelchair, you have full access into this fantastic pool, as well as the change rooms and all the facilities which are now fully compliant as well.

What we saw was a structural reconstruction, an upgrade to the shell, to the concourse, to the filtration, to the electrical systems. With a pool that gets over 160,000 visits a year, this is an outstanding project that has been delivered by the officers in Brisbane Lifestyle, and I think what we will see is a building of 1960s integrity that has been brought into the 21st century, and I think the local people, as Councillor HOWARD will probably tell us, are going to embrace the new Centenary Swimming Pool fully. It is a very iconic aquatic centre, and we hope that we are just enhancing their fitness and recreation in the area.

There is also one petition that was presented at Committee last week with regards to SANDBAG (Sandgate and Bracken Ridge Action Group) and asking us to exert influence on the State Government regarding community centre


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funding. We went through the petition and we spoke about this. SANDBAG is obviously a very important local community that does a lot of work in delivering services around access and employment and the languages. We do now know that the State has continued to fund SANDBAG and has approved funding for the next three years. The petitioner response reflected this research that we found from the State Government at this stage. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Further debate; Councillor NEWTON.

Seriatim - Clause BCouncillor Victoria NEWTON requested that Clause B, PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL SUPPORT QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR THE SANDGATE AND BRACKEN RIDGE ACTION GROUP (SANDBAG) COMMUNITY ORGANISATION, be taken seriatim for voting purposes.

Councillor NEWTON: I am glad to hear the ringing endorsements of Councillor ADAMS for SANDBAG as a community organisation. It is a fantastic community organisation initiated by the community and run by the community for the local community, and as such it is quite a responsive and flexible organisation to help meet the needs of the local area.

This petition that we are dealing with today is not a criticism of Brisbane City Council or the support that it has given to the organisation and continues to give, and I am pleased to see in the petition response that there is a clear commitment from Council's point of view to continue to provide support. But this petition was indeed a cry for help, a cry for support for SANDBAG who was devastated by the slash and burn approach by the State Government once the Newman Government was elected in George Street when it came to community funding.

That is why I cannot support the petition's response today, because you would think from reading the response that everything is okay. But it is far from that. I will just clearly outline some of the situation that SANDBAG is facing at the moment. SANDBAG is a community organisation, as I said, that was initiated by local residents and run by a local board back in 1992. It was based initially at Bracken Ridge, and they lease a space there which they continue to lease today in Councillor COOPER's ward. More recently, in 2003, it started to establish a community centre in Sandgate, in Rainbow Street, a facility which they now own outright, which is quite amazing. They have paid off their debt.

The community driven response has helped them deal with things like domestic violence support in our community, tackling unemployment, particularly for people who might not fit in some of the easier categories. They help people facing social isolation through a number of programs they have offered; supporting people with a disability, mental health issues, homelessness, literacy support, enabled and supported the establishment of Social Enterprise Seed, which is contracted by Brisbane City Council to provide some parks, maintenance and streetscape services. They are also helpful with small crisis management assistance for residents in our communities, including legal issues, income support and also having support groups through the organisation.

The way they have been set up, they have been able to provide a variety of services to the community and been able to respond to needs as they arise. It's a centre where people can drop in from time to time and get the help that they need. It's a place where people have a sense of belonging, and as human beings, that is something we all need, and it has been brilliant that SANDBAG has been able to provide that through their two facilities.

But the election of the Newman Liberal National Government has placed SANDBAG under some serious threats. When this petition was lodged, SANDBAG faced the prospect of closing its doors because it was funded under the Community Development funding stream which was cut by the Newman Government. Thankfully, through successful lobbying, SANDBAG shifted across to the Neighbourhood Community funding which has helped them keep their doors open to a degree, and that is the funding that this report refers to today.


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But SANDBAG has faced a 48 per cent cut in funding—48 per cent cut in funding. Their staff has been halved from 12 to six. The community centre hours, instead of being open five days a week during business hours, they are now open Tuesday to Friday from 9am till 2pm. They have lost their employment funding, so for people who walk through the door in need, they are able to provide immediate help but aren't able to provide those pathways back into employment to help provide some sustainability in people's lives. Because all these things were interactive.

The axing of Skilling Queensland and their programs and their funding has had devastating effects on places like SANDBAG who have also lost funding for disability support, domestic violence work, and their community development funding, which was helping to provide ways of supporting new organisations. So this has meant cuts to programs, loss of services, and also providing a huge challenge for the organisation to try and respond to new and emerging issues.

Who does this impact on, Madam Chair, these funding cuts from the State Government, the 48 per cent funding cuts that SANDBAG faces? It affects the most vulnerable in our community, the people who are long-term unemployed, people with mental illness, people experiencing homelessness, people who are new arrivals to this country. These are the people that we need to support to make sure that they have a place, to make sure that they are not isolated, and to make sure that they have the support they need.

SANDBAG hasn’t just sat back idle. They are working really hard to try and plug this shortfall. They are continuing to support organisations like the Brotherhood of the Wordless, which is an important writing group for poets who are unable to verbalise—people with high end disabilities, which is really important. They are continuing to provide their domestic violence support. They are providing the ability for people to drop in and get a shower, get some fresh clothing, do some washing, have a bite to eat. They are continuing to do this, but they are having to set massive fundraising targets. This year their target is $40,000, which equates to selling about 150,000 sausages. That is a lot of sausages to sizzle to try and keep the doors open and the services available to community.

` In speaking to this report, I am heartened to see Council continuing its support. I would like to see if there are ways we can do more to support social enterprise programs like Seed, which have been very successful, that we continue to support them in their grants. I note this year I have already given them some assistance through the Lord Mayor's Suburban Initiative Fund with some kitchen equipment. But the State Government needs to take a close look at the implications of these funding cuts. This is having an effect now, but into the future as well. So, for the sake of saving a few bucks now, we're condemning certain members of our community to the bottom of the heap. By abandoning our most vulnerable, we are doing our community a massive disservice.

I am proud that SANDBAG continues to fight and continues to work hard to ensure that it will be there for those people in our community. But the State Government needs to take a long, hard look at itself. Its cuts to community funding are an absolutely devastating thing for our people.

Chairman: Further debate; Councillor HOWARD.

Councillor HOWARD: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I rise to speak to item A in the Lifestyle Report regarding the recent Committee presentation surrounding the completion of the Centenary Pool refurbishment. Councillors will remember that I spoke of the completion of this refurbishment in June in this place, and I want to reiterate that the works at the Centenary Pool were very important to Spring Hill community residents and visitors alike, and everyone is excited about what is a marvellous upgraded facility.

Residents in Central that I have spoken to were aware, as the Minutes say, that the refurbishment was necessary because, amongst other things, the overall facility was in poor condition and there were significant water leaks and cracked pipes, the filtration system was out-dated, and not meeting design and water


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turnover standards. There were issues with concrete cracking, heating and conditioning.

I was delighted to join with the local community, our LORD MAYOR, and the Chairman of Lifestyle, Councillor ADAMS, to reopen the facility last month. I am even more delighted to hear that there is an increasing interest from other stakeholders for the ongoing use of the pool, including from Queensland Diving, Queensland Swimming and Water Polo Queensland.

But the best thing for me to see was the construction of the new disabled access ramp to the facility from the car park to entry reception, new disabled access ramp from the pool concourse into the 50-metre pool, and the new disabled access toilet and change room. Accessibility issues for Central are front of mind for me, for my office, and for our Administration, with an ageing population and about 14 per cent of Australians, or over 3 million people, with some form of physical disability. So it is fantastic to see that we are tangibly contributing to one of the aims in our Access and Inclusion plan, to eliminate as far as practicable, physical access barriers in Brisbane's public buildings and public spaces.

We are well known as a Council for our innovation in providing facilities, programs and services that are accessible and inclusive. The community of Spring Hill and beyond is very appreciative of Councillor ADAMS and the LORD MAYOR for your commitment to this project, a project that will ensure long-term conservation of this iconic Brisbane Aquatic Centre, and will provide the community with enhanced opportunities for fun and fitness. Thank you.

Chairman: Further debate; Councillor ADAMS? I will put the motion for item A.

Clause A putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clause A of the report of the Brisbane Lifestyle Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Clause B putUpon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of Clause B of the report of the Brisbane Lifestyle Committee was declared carried on the voices.

Thereupon, Councillors Peter CUMMING and Helen ABRAHAMS immediately rose and called for a division, which resulted in the motion being declared carried.


AYES: 18 - The DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, and Councillors Krista ADAMS, Matthew BOURKE, Amanda COOPER, Margaret de WIT, Vicki HOWARD, Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC, Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, and Norm WYNDHAM.

NOES: 7 - The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS, Shayne SUTTON, and Victoria NEWTON.


ATTENDANCE:

Councillor Krista Adams (Chairman), Councillor Andrew Wines (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Vicki Howard, Steven Huang, Victoria Newton and Steve Griffiths.


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A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – CENTENARY POOL REFURBISHMENT

209/2013-141. Tim Flood, Manager City Venues, Brisbane Lifestyle Division, attended the meeting to

provide an update on the refurbishment of the Centenary Pool. He provided the information below.

2. Centenary Swimming Pool was constructed in 1959 to the design of prominent Queensland architect, James Birrell. The pool was Council’s principal contribution to the celebrations marking the centenary of local government in Brisbane, which was proclaimed a city in October 1859.

3. The site is heritage listed and its construction reflects the enormous popularity of competitive swimming in Australia following the successful 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. The pool is considered a significant example of a 1950s Olympic pool and diving complex.

4. Photographs of the pool in 1960 and 1994 were displayed.

5. Refurbishment was necessary due to the following issues regarding the complex:- overall the facility was in poor condition- significant water leaks and cracked pipe work from the 50 metre pool, diving pool and

filtration system- filtration system out-dated and not meeting design and water turnover standards- accessibility issues- concrete cancer and significant cracks in and throughout the concourse and the diving

towers- heaters unable to reach and maintain constant temperature during the colder months- air conditioning needed replacement.

6. Images of the completed works and before/after the refurbishment were shown to the committee. These included pictures of the 50 metre dive pool, the plant room, the 50 metre pool and the dive tower.

7. The total budget for this project was $5.4 million.

8. Following the refurbishment, the Lord Mayor officially re-opened the pool on 21 September 2013. The committee was shown pictures of the re-opening.

9. The newly refurbished pool has sparked a lot of interest from stakeholders. These include:- Queensland Diving- Queensland Swimming- Water Polo Queensland.

10. A new dive club is being established and Clayfield Aquatics are bringing their elite squad to train at the pool.

11. A pre-market submission is being prepared to go to the market for a long-term operator from July 2014. Council expects that a long-term operator will add additional services and facilities to the venue.

12. Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr Flood for his informative presentation.

13. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE


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REPORT.ADOPTED

B PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL SUPPORT QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT FUNDING FOR THE SANDGATE AND BRACKEN RIDGE ACTION GROUP (SANDBAG) COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONCA13/291105

210/2013-1414. A petition from residents of the Sandgate and Bracken Ridge area, requesting that Council

support Queensland Government funding for SANDBAG, was presented to the meeting of Council held on 14 May 2013, by the Deputy Mayor on behalf of the Lord Mayor, and received.

15. The Divisional Manager, Brisbane Lifestyle, supplied the following information.

16. The petition contains 12 signatures.

17. SANDBAG has supported the local community for more than 20 years and works to deliver services such as learning English, finding employment and access to information, referral and advocacy services.

18. Since Council received the petition the Honourable Tracy Davis MP, Minister for Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, Queensland Government, has advised SANDBAG that she has approved funding to the community centre for the next three years.

19. These funds were approved under the Neighbourhood Centre initiative, within the Community Support and Sector Development program, to assist the organisation to respond to the identified and emergent needs of the local community. Further advice was provided indicating that the funding was at a similar level to the funding provided in previous years.

20. It is recommended that Council prepares a response to the head petitioner confirming this funding from the Queensland Government and encourage SANGBAG to continue to apply for Council’s grants.

Consultation

21. Councillor Amanda Cooper, Councillor for Bracken Ridge Ward, has been consulted and supports the recommendation below. Councillor Victoria Newton, Councillor for Deagon Ward, was also consulted and does not support the recommendation below.

22. The Contract Manager, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, and the Community Services Contract Manager, Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, both from the Queensland Government, were consulted in response to this petition.

23. The Divisional Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees, with Councillors Steve Griffiths and Victoria Newton dissenting.

THAT THE BRISBANE LIFESTYLE COMMITTEE NOTE THE INFORMATION IN THE REPORT ABOVE AND ENDORSE THE DRAFT RESPONSE LETTER TO THE HEAD PETITIONER AS SET OUT IN ATTACHMENT A BELOW.

Attachment A - Draft response


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Petition Reference: CA13/291105

Thank you for your petition requesting support for Queensland Government funding for the Sandgate and Bracken Ridge Action Group (SANDBAG).

Council certainly appreciates the important work that SANDBAG and its predecessor, Bracken Ridge Youth and Family Services, have been providing to the local community for the past 20 years.

Council understands that since the introduction of SANDBAG, Council has leased space to the organisation for its programs, but also supported SANDBAG through various grant programs. SANDBAG has been active in seeking funding from Council, both for its own projects and as an auspice for other unincorporated local groups.

Council also acknowledges the important work that the organisation has achieved on behalf of, and for, local residents. Council encourages SANDBAG to continue to apply for the various Council grants.

Council is pleased to hear that, since your original petition, the Honourable Tracy Davis MP, Minister for Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services, Queensland Government, has advised SANDBAG that she has approved funding to the community centre for the next three years.

Council understands these funds were approved under the Neighbourhood Centre initiative, within the Community Support and Sector Development program, to assist the organisation to respond to the identified and emergent needs of the local community.

If you require further information, please contact the Community Development Coordinator, in Council’s Community Lifestyle Branch, Brisbane Lifestyle Division on 3403 8888.

Thank you for taking the time to contact Council with your concerns.ADOPTED

FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE

Councillor Julian SIMMONDS, Chairman of the Finance, Economic Development and Administration Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, that the report of that Committee held on Tuesday 8 October 2013, be adopted.


Councillor SIMMONDS: Thank you, Madam Chairman; just quickly. I did not get the opportunity to speak last week on a report for the Committee because there wasn't one in the recess. So this being my first opportunity, I just wanted to comment on a few things that occurred during the recess and also last week.

The first was regarding the Asia Pacific Cities Summit that the LORD MAYOR mentioned previously. But having been there, and being involved in the organisation in the lead-up to it, I just wanted to put on the record my thanks to the team in International Relations for all the work that they did, both those who were in Kaohsiung during the summit and also those who worked tirelessly in the lead-up to it. They did us all very proud.

The other one was to again, with the certification of the EBA8 last week, is to put on the record my thanks to the officers. The team led by Greg Evans did a tremendous job throughout what was a long process, but a very diligent one. I would also like to put on the record my thanks to the unions who worked very constructively with them throughout the negotiations and always both sides in the best interests of Council employees. I think the fact that there was an 82 per cent yes vote in the end, one of the highest we have ever had, if not the highest


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yes vote we have ever had, just goes to demonstrate that result. I would like to thank all those Council officers who took the time to review the EBA and to vote however they voted, but in returning their ballot paper, to thank them very much for their participation. Thank you.

Chairman: Further debate; Councillor FLESSER.

Councillor FLESSER: Thank you, Madam Chair. This Council is drowning in debt. It is drowning in debt.


Chairman: Councillor FLESSER, hold on. Which item are you speaking to? I know you are excited.

Councillor FLESSER: Madam Chair, I am talking to whatever it's called, the net borrowings report—Net Borrowings Cash Investment Funding report. Drowning in debt, that's what is happening here, and this report shows it in black and white.

We know that our revenue to debt ratio has reached over 130 per cent. We know the benchmark should be no more than 60 per cent. When you look at the figures in this report, you can see why this Council is drowning in debt and our poor long-suffering ratepayers are paying an enormous amount of money in dead money in the interest at the rate of over $130 million a year.

So, Madam Chair, I want to go through a couple of the items that are in this report, and in particular, I want to talk about the Go Between Bridge borrowings and also Clem7 borrowings. This report shows that we still owe, on the Go Between Bridge, $253 million. I found one of these reports from March 2011. Back then we owed $262 million on the Go Between Bridge. So in two-and-a-half years, this Council has only reduced the debt on the Go Between Bridge by $10 million.

It is a similar story with the Clem7 tunnel. We currently owe $431 million. In the March 2011 quarter, we owed $444 million; a reduction of only $13 million. So they are bad enough, but at least ratepayers can see what the money has been spent on. We all have differing views about whether it was money well spent or whether it should have been different levels of government should have paid for those projects. One of the—

Councillor SIMMONDS: A point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Point of order against you, Councillor FLESSER.

Councillor SIMMONDS: This is a little bit of an odd point of order, but I am actually trying to listen to Councillor FLESSER, and I can't for Councillor JOHNSTON who is standing here in my ear.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor SIMMONDS. Councillor JOHNSTON, it's during Councillor SIMMONDS' report, it might be appropriate to let him listen. Thanks.

Councillor FLESSER: Madam Chair, I go further into the drowning situation. Legacy Way borrowings. We owed $68 million two-and-a-half years ago, and that has dramatically increased to $804 million. So that is why today we are reaching a record debt for this Council of our net borrowings reaching $2.083 billion.

One of the items I am really concerned about—

Chairman: Councillor FLESSER, just hold on a moment. Councillor JOHNSTON, I would think it would be more appropriate for you to resume your seat until this report is over.


Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON!

Councillor JOHNSTON: I'm saying, I haven’t done anything wrong. I'm standing here quietly. Councillor WINES sat down the back talking to the LORD MAYOR's advisors for ages, and he's not in trouble. For God's sake.


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Chairman: There's a slight difference. Councillor FLESSER; sorry.

Councillor FLESSER: Thank you, Madam Chair. Let me raise the point about General Purpose Borrowings. Anyone who has been coming along to the Finance Committee meetings over the last couple of months would note that I have been asking a few questions about this. General Purpose Borrowings are just out of control. It is bad enough in this report that we see that since June 2012 to September 2013 the general purpose borrowings have increased by $200 million. But when we go back just to March 2011, we see the jump in general purpose borrowings of this Council has increased by $450 million in just over two years, from $247million to $682 million. That is an enormous jump for General Purpose Borrowings.

Ratepayers can see what the other borrowings are for. But what is the big increase in general purpose borrowings being spent on? Councillor SUTTON and I have asked a few questions in Finance Committee, and the vague response we get from the Chair is that it has been spent on bikeways. We have not spent $450 million on bikeways. Even if you include a lot of the spending on road infrastructure, when you compare that $450 million increase in general purpose borrowings against the rates increases of around five and-a-half per cent a year, there is something going wrong. This Council is going far too far down the debt path.

If we look at that total amount of debt, that $2.083 billion, and we compare that to what the Council Administration keeps saying, that we are on this debt path; it hasn’t changed. It's all in black and white. We have been saying what the debt path is going to be. I would like to draw the Council's attention to a finance update—Brisbane City Council Finance Update: Eliminating Council Debt. This was produced by Councillor SCHRINNER. It is a very enlightening piece of paper. One thing it does do, of course, is show that it's a complete furphy, this line that Councillor SIMMONDS keeps saying, that it was higher under Labor, the debt was higher under Labor. When you look at the graph, it is quite clear that it has been Labor Administrations that have inherited huge debts and have made those debts smaller.

The classic example is what Jim Soorley did between 1991 and 2003—reduced the debt that he inherited of $1.6 billion in 2008 dollars, according to Councillor SCHRINNER, down to about $800 million. We know what happened in 2008-09 was that the State Government bought out this Council's bulk water assets which reduced our debt to zero. So we went from zero debt—and I am not saying that this Council should ever have zero debt, but the facts are that the Council had a zero debt in 2008-09, to today a net debt of $2.083 billion.

There is one thing very interesting in the finance update that Councillor SCHRINNER produced, and I will read the paragraph. Even following the completion of the TransApex ringroad and Road Action Plan (RAP) programs, Council's debt levels will remain well below the $1.6 billion reached by the previous administration in the 1990s. Madam Chair, our debt today is $2.83 billion. Councillor SCHRINNER, only four years ago, was saying that the debt will remain well below $1.6 billion. Why is that? I think there needs to be an explanation here in this Council Chamber to explain that. Ratepayers know that they are paying enormous amounts of money in debt. They know that the interest repayments are costing about $130 million a year. That is an awful lot of money that is not being spent on road resurfacing, or on footpaths or on libraries.

I am very concerned about the debt path that this Council has found itself in. I know we are going to reduce debt by $400 million next year, provided the Federal Government cough up their $400 million, but still this Council has got an enormous amount of debt, and it is all related to those toll bridges and this mystery $450 million increase in General Purpose Borrowings, and I think that ratepayers deserve an answer to what that $450 million has been spent on. Thank you.

Chairman: Further debate; Councillor SIMMONDS.


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Councillor SIMMONDS: Madam Chairman, just quickly to thank Councillor FLESSER for his stump speech once again about debt. We all know that what he has found—so-called found—in the papers that were freely given to him by this Administration is nothing more than what was contained in our budget documents just a few months ago and what we have said on an ongoing basis about where our debt levels will peak.

He can quibble about whether or not those borrowings are allocated to specific projects, like Legacy Way, or whether they are within a general borrowing fund, but at the end of the day, as I explained to him in the Committee, and I did use the bikeways as an example, that all of those borrowings, and the borrowing peak that we have outlined, are for infrastructure—vital infrastructure for this city.

Whether it be Legacy Way or CLEM7, whether it be the bikeways or the open level crossings, or whether it be other important capital projects that this Council has undertaken, such as the very large and extensive RAP project which saw 16 years' worth of local suburban road upgrades done in just four years, those borrowings have gone to important vital infrastructure.

At the same time, we are spending record amounts of money in other areas, including frontline services, that those on the Labor side could never have dreamed of, with 267 per cent more on community halls this financial year than in the same period under their administration; 57 per cent more on road resurfacing; 63 per cent more on suburban roads; 244 per cent on signs and lines; 125 per cent more on footpaths.

Footpaths is one of the examples that Councillor FLESSER used—oh, that's a lot of footpaths we could do if we didn't have the borrowings in place. Well, why didn't they spend it on footpaths? He claims, oh, we got the debt down; we didn't have it. Well, first of all, that's a load of garbage. But second of all, why didn't you spend the money on the footpaths? Well, they didn't. they didn't spend money on anything.

I really struggle to find where it went, because we are spending 125 per cent more on footpaths; 87 per cent more on street sweeping; 88 per cent more on a clean city; 286 per cent more on graffiti removal; 47 per cent more on grass cutting. I mean, how many times do I have to go on?

This idea that the General Purpose Borrowing Fund is a secret is a total furphy. What it is is it's for capital and for infrastructure. It is not for keeping the lights on, as we have seen other Labor governments do at other levels, like the previous State Labor government. That is not what this Administration does.

We will always be open and honest about our debt profile. I suppose if that opens us up to a stump speech attack of Councillor FLESSER, well so be it. We will wear that, because we are an open and accountable Administration. We believe that the ratepayers of Brisbane deserve to know what their borrowing levels are. But also, in being open and accountable, as an Administration, we won't hesitate in pointing out what the levels of debt were under the previous Labor Administration and what they got, or rather what they didn’t get out of it.

As the LORD MAYOR has pointed out earlier today, very much correct. Debt per capita was higher under the previous Labor Administration than it is under this Administration, even when it tops out. Let me give you some figures. Gross debt to budget size, under Labor, was 121 per cent. Under us it is 78 per cent. Gross debt to revenue was 149 per cent under Labor; it is 115 per cent under us. Gross debt per person under Labor was $2809 per person; under us it will be closer to $2000 per person. So, in every conceivable measure, the debt of this Administration is lower than that of the Labor Administration. Councillor FLESSER can't keep denying it.

What is more important is that the people of Brisbane see something for it. They've got something to show for it. They look around their city and they're impressed with how clean it is. They drive the new tunnels. We know that those opposite drive the new tunnels.


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Chairman: Order!

Councillor SIMMONDS: We know that they love it, they love the tunnels.


Councillor SIMMONDS: Well, Councillor ABRAHAMS, if you're—hang on, no, let me get this right.

Chairman: Order!

Councillor SIMMONDS: If Councillor ABRAHAMS' claim is that she has never used one of the toll roads, the tunnel, Go Between Bridge, anything like that, well, you have a Council toll transponder. With your permission—

Councillor ABRAHAMS: It is not here.

Councillor SIMMONDS: With your permission—no, with your permission, I will get the records of your Council toll transponder and see if—


Chairman: Order!

Councillor SIMMONDS: —that claim is correct, that you have never used the Go Between Bridge or the Clem7—


Chairman: Order!

Councillor SIMMONDS: Oh, you've used it once, have you? Oh, you've used it once? Oh, the story changes. Well, that didn't take very long. That didn't take very long. So Councillor ABRAHAMS has used the Go Between Bridge as a cycling and pedestrian facility. Well, yes, it is a great cycling and pedestrian facility. I completely agree, Madam Chairman.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Point of order, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Point of order, Councillor SIMMONDS; point of order against you. Yes, Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: So that the Councillor does not need it in the Chamber, I might advise that on my bike I've gone through the—

Chairman: Councillor ABRAHAMS that is not a point of order.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: —Clem7 once only. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Councillor SIMMONDS: Madam Chairman, my point is this: it is total hypocrisy, total hypocrisy, that they sit there on the other side of the Chamber and say, oh, people don't use this tunnel, when they themselves are frequent users of them. They are good pieces of infrastructure. They are good pieces of infrastructure that will serve this city for many, many years to come.

Let's face it, the LORD MAYOR was very right. I know they deny it on that side of the Chamber. I know they say that we should be on a roads diet and we shouldn’t build any more roads, but people aren't going to stop buying cars tomorrow, they are just not. We are going to see, as Brisbane's population continues to grow, a growth in car movements, and this Administration is doing something to cater for that. The continual opposition for opposition's sake from those on the other side only serves to embarrass themselves, to show them up for the people that they are, with no plans for this city, no future vision for this Administration. They can talk about debt, but we will continue to be open and transparent with the people of Brisbane. They will see what our debt level is. They will see that it tops out this year. They will see that it goes down in the next couple of financial years, and more importantly, they will see the benefits of it in the infrastructure that they use every day. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chairman: I will put the motion.


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Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the Finance, Economic Development and Administration Committee was declared carried on the voices.


ATTENDANCE:

Councillor Julian Simmonds (Chairman), Councillor Angela Owen-Taylor (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Fiona King, Ryan Murphy, Shayne Sutton and Kim Flesser.

A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION AND REPORT – NET BORROWINGS, CASH INVESTMENTS AND FUNDING (SEPTEMBER 2013 QUARTER)109/800/148/1

211/2013-141. Jiri Arnost, Corporate Treasurer, Corporate Finance, Organisational Services Division,

presented a report to the Committee on Council’s net borrowings for the quarter ended September 2013. The report details the corporate cash holdings invested and the status of Council’s funding activities.

2. The presentation provided a market and economic review, and a summary of the following issues in relation to Council’s investments:- cash position- cash activity review- earnings on investments- funding capability- borrowings- facility performance- credit margins- leasing exposure.

3. The Chairman thanked the Corporate Treasurer for his informative presentation. The report was submitted to the Committee for noting.

4. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION IN THE REPORT, SUBMITTED ON FILE AND TABLED.

ADOPTED

B BANK AND INVESTMENT REPORT – JULY 2013 134/695/317/3-02

212/2013-145. The Chief Financial Officer, Organisational Services Division, provided the Committee with

the monthly summary of Council’s petty cash, bank account and cash investment positions as at 2 August 2013.

6. During the July period, total Council funds held by banks and investment institutions (per general ledger) increased by $70.4 million to $260.8 million, excluding trusts. The net increase is mainly due to the following:- Management fees received from the Department of State Development Infrastructure

and Planning for Roma Street and South Bank Parklands. These monies will be


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passed on to City Parklands Transition Services Pty Ltd over the course of the year.- Effect of rates revenue collected towards the end of the period.- Borrowings were made from Queensland Treasury Corporation working capital

facility and invested in short term deposits which yield higher interest.

7. Council funds as at 2 August 2013 held by banks and investment institutions (per statements) totalled $269.8 million. The variance relates to timing differences between transactions recorded in the general ledger and those reflected in the bank statements.

8. Unreconciled bank receipts and deposits in transit are overstated due to reconciliation variances at the end of the period. The majority of these transactions have since been reconciled.

9. The Chairman and Committee noted the report.

10. The Bank and Investment Report for July 2013 is tabled for noting by Council.

11. RECOMMENDATION:

THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION IN THE REPORT, SUBMITTED ON FILE AND TABLED.

ADOPTED

PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS:Chairman: Councillors, are there any petitions? Councillor NEWTON.

Councillor NEWTON: Thanks very much, Madam Chair. I rise this afternoon to present a petition on behalf of local residents and residents from across the region calling for improvements to the Deagon Skate Park.

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, I have a petition of 1000 residents who are campaigning to save the RSPCA site from inappropriate development by the LORD MAYOR and the Premier.

Chairman: DEPUTY MAYOR.

DEPUTY MAYOR: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I have a petition regarding the intersection of Reynolds Street and Wright Carindale.

Chairman: Councillor FLESSER.

Councillor FLESSER: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I have a petition calling on Council to build a public toilet at Banyo Memorial Park.

Chairman: Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Madam Chair, I have a new petition about the anti-jump fence at Kangaroo Point.

Chairman: Further petitions? Councillor MURPHY.

213/2013-14It was resolved on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY, seconded by Councillor Victoria NEWTON, that the petitions as presented be received and referred to the Committee concerned for consideration and report.

The petitions were summarised as follows:

File No. Councillor TopicCA13/701947 Victoria Newton Request for Council to extend the current size of the

Deagon skate park


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CA13/719202 Nicole Johnston Calling on Council to acquire the old RSPCA site on the corner of Venner and Fairfield roads, Fairfield, from the State Government to be zoned as parklands for community recreational and sporting use



CA13/719237 Deputy Mayor, Adrian Schrinner

Requesting that Council introduce traffic controls to slow down and warn vehicle turning onto Wright Street from Reynolds Street in Carindale

CA13/719267 Kim Flesser Calling on the Lord Mayor to allocate funding for the construction of a new public toilet block in Banyo Memorial Park, St Vincents Road, Banyo

CA13/702004 Helen Abrahams Requesting that Council install an anti-jump fence at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs

GENERAL BUSINESS:Chairman: Are there any matters of general business? Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I rise to speak tonight on multi-cultural groups and activities and safe travelling around our local schools.

Just recently there have been some significant festivals across our city and I would just like to acknowledge some of those festivals and also the multi-cultural groups that make a significant contribution to ensuring that our multi-cultural diversity and the harmony of our city has a strong foundation and that the young people within those multi-cultural communities have the opportunity to learn and enrich their lives with their historical multi-cultural heritage.

Madam Chairman, recently we've had the Vietnamese community Children's Moon Festival and that is always a significant festival and unfortunately the numbers were down this year as a result of it coinciding with Riverfire. However, the attendees there, including the LORD MAYOR and also the Minister Glen Elmes, certainly made sure that the Vietnamese community were well supported. It's also very interesting to see how as this event has continued year upon year that it does continue to grow in strength.

This weekend as well we've also had the Hakka Association's 16th anniversary and I know that Councillors HUANG and MARX were also there with me to support the Hakka Association. They have a strong connection with Council because they co-ordinate the Parkinson Ward Multi-cultural and Dragon Boat Festival in June each year held at Forest Lake, and they are certainly one group that is tireless in their volunteering spirit and also very inclusive with many different multi-cultural community groups.

Madam Chairman, on Saturday night I also was able to celebrate with the Bengali community their Durga Puja festival, and I know that the LORD MAYOR was also at another Durga Puja festival on the northside. This is a very small group within our Brisbane community but they are a very strong group in their culture and enhancing the young people's recognition of their heritage, and I do congratulate them on their festivals.

Also on Sunday the Croatian community celebrated Crotober, which was to celebrate the Croatian community in October and mainly as a children's event. The Croatian Community Centre was significantly impacted by the 2011 flood and that community is appreciative of all the support from Brisbane City


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Council gave to restoring that facility to a venue that they are certainly using and that has certainly become a hub for many different multi-cultural groups.

In the upcoming weeks, including this weekend, there will be Deepavali celebrations across our city and our local Indian community will certainly be out celebrating in a big way.

Madam Chairman, I would just like to use this opportunity as well in general business to extend condolences to the Filipino community here in Brisbane who may have family who have been impacted by the earthquake today in the Philippines which struck Bohol province near Cebu, where there have been 32 people currently reported that have perished in that earthquake. I know that the Filipino community here, they are a very strong community and certainly they have a community centre in Councillor HUANG's ward, so our thoughts and prayers do go out to those families of the Filipino community here and we trust that there will be no more fatalities.

In regards to travel around school and the Active School Travel program, I am greatly appreciative of the fact that we have the Active School Travel program and in fact 100 per cent of all of the State primary schools in Parkinson Ward have participated in the Active School Travel program and some are actually legacy schools going through it a second time.

I would like to put on the record that it is vital that all residents, parents and carers are vigilant around our schools. It is very unfortunate that many drivers do not seem to want to comply with traffic regulations around the schools and their actions are putting young children in jeopardy. It seems to be that it's very much this “it's all about me” syndrome from these drivers. I'm hearing repeatedly from school principals and teachers that when they're asking them to please abide by the regulations or please not to stop in certain areas that the teachers and principals are being abused, which is totally inappropriate. This has been reported to our Council RRG (Rapid Response Group) officers and also to the police.

It is not about the drivers around school, it is not about what suits them. It is about the safety of each and every child that is in that vicinity. I make no apology, Madam Chairman, for taking a hard stand on this because no family deserves to have a child placed in jeopardy.

Some of the issues that we have around our local schools just come down to a couple of components. It's the laziness of drivers, it's their lack of attention and it's their deliberate illegal parking. This is not on. We need to be very careful when there are young children involved and I think it's about time the message really gets out. There are a majority of parents who do the right thing but there are some who are placing lives in jeopardy.

Over term three, Council officers—and I do thank them for their efforts—were out and about outside schools around Parkinson Ward and they issued 78 infringements over a 15-hour period for No Stopping offences, parking on yellow lines and parking in bus zones. Now these are basic traffic regulations that people should be complying with and they're not. So it's got to the stage where school principals, teachers, local police, P&Cs (Parents and Citizens Association) and I have utilised altogether many different methods to make drivers aware, but for some the message is still not getting through.

Well, Madam Chairman, I would like to share a very stark message for the families across Brisbane. In mid-August I was at a family reunion and my son, along with his cousins, were playing with some other cousins. One of those was Thomas. Thomas was then aged six. On 27 September, Thomas was killed on the way to school. Yesterday would have been his seventh birthday. No family deserves to lose a child on their way to school and I would like to highlight this very unfortunate circumstance as a legacy to Thomas.

We all need to do what we can to ensure children are safe around schools and this week a letter has gone out from myself and local police, advising residents and parents of the importance of complying with those traffic regulations around schools. I urge everyone in this Chamber to do everything you can to make sure


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our young children are protected in those school zones, and I thank the council officers for their continued efforts to deal with the parking issues around schools. Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Further general business. Councillor GRIFFITHS.

Councillor GRIFFITHS: Thank you, Madam Chair, I rise to give the Chamber an update on Nyanda State High School. I've raised this issue before in the Chamber and particularly in relation to keeping the school open for the communities of the southside.

While were on leave and just after the Federal election, it was announced by the Newman Liberal National Party Government that the school was to be closed.

Councillor DICK: Shame.

Councillor GRIFFITHS: It's more than a shame, Councillor DICK, and I'll take that interjection. It's a disgrace. The parents had put up an outstanding fight to save the school, as had the students, local business community and local community services. In addition many residents from the local community who weren't involved with the school became actively involved in fighting for a local resource that they've come to know and love over many years. It is astounding that a State Government would want to close any school. It is more astounding that a State Government would target a school that is particularly specialised in dealing with children from special education backgrounds, children from refugee and multi-cultural backgrounds and many Aboriginal and Islander children who attend the school as well.

Nyanda is a small school of approximately 300 students. But it's a school that delivers comparatively against schools of a much larger size. The most confusing element I think for the school community and certainly for myself and the other political members who are involved is when we hear all the blab in here about New World City and the fact that we're building 160,000 new homes over the next 15 years, that we're hearing from the state government that we need to be closing a high school.

This is a high school that, let's remind everyone, it was only built 15 years ago after the previous Liberal National Party government closed Acacia Ridge State High School. They have form. They have real form.

Madam Chair, I was pleased to be able to work with the Federal Member, Graham Perrett and with the Independent, Carl Judd to work with the community to try and save this school. We attended all the community meetings. We held additional community meetings. Unfortunately, there was not Liberal National Party member to be seen at any of those meetings, not even the minister, not one. That says a lot and it was noted by the community.

If you're going to have the guts to implement a policy and you say you've got a majority then at least face the crowd, at least have the ability to face the public, face the students, tell them what you're doing. But not one of those people could bother to do that, Madam Chair. I'd be embarrassed too. It was humiliating.

It was interesting that even Mark Stewart, the member out that way - and I'm sure Councillor MARX will go back and tell Mark—couldn't be bothered to attend one meeting. In fact, the parents had to track him down at a mobile office. They had to track him down at a mobile office that he had, to get him to respond to them. I understand he had a terrified look on his face as they approached him.

It was interesting because I saw Mark Stewart MP last night at an event and at that event they were pleading that their funding didn't get cut. In a roundabout way they were pleading—they're a community agency—that their funding didn't get cut because they're watching and seeing what this government is doing and really Mr Stewart couldn't give a very good answer because he's not someone who lobbies for the local community, he's someone who sells out the local community.

Madam Chair, the other person who didn’t show his face - and it surprised me - was a candidate they ran called Malcolm Cole. Malcolm was invisible. In fact,


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when he was challenged about the issue, he attacked a student, virtually attacked a student. The student tells me they felt attacked.

Councillor BOURKE: Point of order, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Yes, point of order against you, Councillor GRIFFITHS. Yes, Councillor BOURKE.

Councillor BOURKE: What is the—

Chairman: There's been a problem with the mikes this afternoon.

Councillor BOURKE: Point of order, Madam Chairman. We don't have privilege in this place and I would just ask you to remind Councillor GRIFFITHS that he needs to be very careful with the words that he chooses and not necessarily impugn motive on anyone on this room or outside of this room.

Chairman: Yes, thank you Councillor BOURKE, I agree with that.

Councillor GRIFFITHS, back to the Nyanda school.

Councillor GRIFFITHS: I'm happy to revise that, Madam Chair, and say the student felt verbally attacked and the parent felt that their child had been verbally attacked as well.

Councillor BOURKE: Madam Chairman—

Councillor GRIFFITHS: So that's—

Councillor BOURKE: Point of order.

Chairman: Yes. Councillor BOURKE—

Councillor BOURKE: Those—

Chairman: No, I—

Councillor BOURKE: Those words once again, Madam Chairman.

Councillor GRIFFITHS: No—sorry, what is the point of order?

Chairman: No.

Councillor BOURKE: Sorry, point of order, Madam Chair. Those words once again are claiming something in Councillor GRIFFITHS' words which he hasn't presaged—

Councillor GRIFFITHS: Point of order—

Councillor BOURKE He is making an accusation, Madam Chairman. He needs to be very careful. We don’t have privilege in this place—that he doesn't put something on the record—


Councillor BOURKE: —that will come back to bite him in the backside.

Councillor GRIFFITHS: Thank you—

Chairman: Thank you Councillor BOURKE. Councillor GRIFFITHS, if he steps out of line, will wear the consequences. He knows what he should or shouldn't be doing in this place.

Councillor GRIFFITHS: That's right, Madam Chair, that is exactly right, and I'm happy for that to be on the record because that's what happened and it happened in a public forum at the Powerhouse. So there were many witnesses to that particular incident.

But Madam Chair, what I think we need to take from that and what the Liberal National Party need to take from that is Moreton, the federal seat, is a bellwether seat that changes with government.


Councillor GRIFFITHS: Well, the people of Moreton spoke very clearly about what they thought about the LNP's moves to close the school. They voted strongly against the LNP, strongly, so much so that there was a swing to Labor. I assure you, Madam Chair, this issue will not be going away. These residents want their school saved. These residents believe their kids have a right to an education and do not


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believe in the blind ideology that the LNP have of closing viable State high schools.

Madam Chair, this is a very disappointing outcome for the community. It's an outcome where the Liberal National Party haven't kept to their word in terms of they provided—and this is on The 7.30 Report, Madam Chair, you can check it out—to the public that the school would allow a two-year transition period for students. They backed out of that and they've now said the school will close by the end of this year.

Many, many, many people are very upset with the breaking of promises and commitments and the way this has been done. There should be many school communities all over the state fearful that this could happen to their school as well. This LNP Government, this Campbell Newman government, has form. They have real form. They don’t believe in education, particularly not for disadvantaged groups.


Councillor GRIFFITHS: If they did, they wouldn't be closing Nyanda High School.


Councillor GRIFFITHS: That's right, Madam Chair, they have form. They have form on so many issues.


Councillor GRIFFITHS: And the public know they have form and the public are very, very wary of this LNP Government. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Chairman: Further general business. Councillor HUANG.

Councillor HUANG: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I rise to speak on the traffic challenges facing primary school in MacGregor Ward.


Councillor HUANG: Madam Chairman, in the past week I have met with principals of both Kuraby State School and MacGregor State School and our Council officers regarding traffic issues surrounding these schools. MacGregor Ward has two of the largest primary schools in Queensland, MacGregor State School and Warrigal Road State School. Both schools have nearly 1300 students coming from families residing both in and outside of its catchment area.

Kuraby State School is a relatively small school with just over 500 students. It also shares some commonalities with these populous schools. Firstly, all these schools are located near the arterial roads with high traffic volumes. Take MacGregor State School, for example, this school is located on the corner of Mains Road and McCullough Street. According to the figures provided by the Main Roads Department, the Kessels Road underpass information centre on average there are more than 40,000 vehicles travel along Mains Road, both inbound and outbound of the city daily.

Both Warrigal and Beenleigh roads where the other two schools are located may not be as busy as Mains Road but they are both taking traffic coming from other southern suburbs, as well as Logan City, and to a lesser extent traffic from the Gold Coast.

Secondly, all these schools are better performing schools that have attracted students from both in and outside its catchment area, which means a high proportion of these students are travelling to school by car.

Thirdly, these schools have strong multi-cultural presence. Both MacGregor and Warrigal Road State schools have a high proportion of students coming from families of Asian descent. There are about 40 per cent of the students in Kuraby State School coming from Arabic-speaking families.

Madam Chairman, although the commonalties of these schools demonstrate that MacGregor Ward is a harmonious and cohesive multi-cultural community that we all appreciate and are proud of, these commonalities also pose traffic challenges that will require a joint-effort by both Brisbane City Council and the


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State Government. These challenges include traffic safety for both students and pedestrians and traffic congestion for the surrounding area during peak hours.

In order to address these challenges I have worked closely with those schools by advocating road safety infrastructures and behavioural change initiatives, like Active School Travel. With the support of this Council Administration, and the hard work of our Council officers, we are achieving progress towards the right direction.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the P&Cs of these schools for their support and local state members for their joint efforts in addressing these issues. Madam Chairman, the traffic challenges in MacGregor Ward are the result of growth and development of our city and I'm proud to have been part of a team that is actively addressing these challenges and providing a long-term vision and solution for this city.

Chairman: Further general business, Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, Madam Chairman, I rise to speak on a number of matters, including the RiskSMART development assessment (DA) process, the RSPCA site at Fairfield, EBA8 and, if I have time, being an Independent.

First of all, I would like to start with you a quick concern I have regarding the RiskSMART process and I'm glad Councillor COOPER is still in the Chamber to take this onboard. In the past few months or weeks, it's only a fairly recent situation, I've been getting emails from Council officers regarding timeframes for my comments with respect to particularly impact assessable, generally inappropriate development applications that have been submitted through the RiskSMART process.

Now as we know, the RiskSMART process is supposed to streamline and make it easier for developers to get approvals for development applications. I've got absolutely no idea why Council would be allowing any development application called an impact assessable, generally inappropriate DA, to be submitted through RiskSMART. I don't think that is right.

But the big problem is coming with the advice which is coming from the Council officers, and I've raised this with the CEO and I will continue to pursue it. The problem that I'm getting is we are being advised that we have 10 days, literally as a development application is lodged, to make a submission and then Council will make a decision about the DA.

Now as we know, under the Sustainable Planning Act, there must be public notification. There is an extensive process of assessment that goes on, and I am at a loss to understand why Council officer are trying to abbreviate a development assessment process for generally inappropriate, impact assessable DAs.

How do I know that I'm getting the correct advice from the Council officers? I don't, and I presume they're doing this with other councillors as well.

So we're told we have to comment within 10 days. We haven't even in most cases had time to tell the residents that a DA has been lodged in that street based on those timeframes. They are inappropriate, they are unreasonable and they do not reflect the statutory process that has been established under the Sustainable Planning Act. They seek to abbreviate the rights that I and members of the community have to contribute to the DA assessment process.

Public notification in complex DAs is absolutely critical. It's the residents who are directly impacted who give you feedback about what their concerns are with respect to DAs. If this Council tries to pressure councillors into making quick assessments of generally inappropriate, impact assessable DAs under some fast tracked internal timeframe that has no reference at all to any public or statutory notification period, I think that is wrong, and I will continue to pursue it. If I'm being asked for comments as the community is being asked for comments, it should reflect the statutory timeframes that this Council is required to observe.


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The information in the emails that's been coming out to me in recent weeks in my view is fundamentally wrong and misleading and am I not going to stop pursuing this matter, and I'm glad Councillor COOPER's here. She's got her head down but she needs to take onboard—I remember from a few years ago, we had questions about how many DAs were in certain wards. I think Councillor COOPER had the lowest number of DAs in her ward.

I had one of the highest numbers of DAs in my ward. I think Councillor ABRAHAMS was higher, and I think Councillor SIMMONDS was higher. But let me tell you, I assess dozens and dozens of DAs and there should be absolutely clear and transparent timeframes that reflect the statutory obligations of this Council, not some fast tracked internal process that makes it easier for developers to get impact assessable, generally inappropriate DAs through the internal council assessment process. It's not on, and I will continue to raise this issue as a process matter with the CEO and now on the record with Councillor COOPER, to ensure that councillors are being given reliable and reasonable information about the development assessment process.

That is not happening now and it's been happening for the past few weeks, and it is extremely problematic. When you're dealing with dozens of DAs every week, keeping track of the timeframes is not as easy as it seems because there are public notification timeframes, when Council officers want something, when the community needs it, when decisions are being made, it's not as easy for those of us who have hundreds and hundreds of DAs every year versus a councillor that might have two or three a year.

I have no idea what Councillor SIMMONDS does. I don't even know if he bothers to tell his residents about his DAs but I do and I certainly value the feedback that my residents give me once they’ve had a chance to review a development application. It should be that Council is asking any councillor or the public at the appropriate time for their feedback, not trying to fast track that process, particularly when it comes to noncompliant DAs.

Secondly, the RSPCA site; I've tabled a petition today of about a thousand signatures of local residents, largely from Yeronga and Fairfield and surrounding suburbs. This is by far and away the most outstanding response I've had to a petition in the area. There's absolutely no question that residents do not want to see development on this site and they want to see this site preserved as parkland and green space and preserved because it floods, rather than seeing further inappropriate development that will flood as well.

Now, the sad thing about all of this is it's extremely clear that this Council has back flipped on its initial unanimous decision in this Chamber to acquire this site from the State Government. When we assessed this matter as a Council back in 2011, Councillor KNAPP said it is—and I quote—a terrific idea. We then unanimously voted to request the site from the State Government. We outlined as a Council in that decision that we would expect to spend $300,000 to $400,000 on the remediation. Now, it might be a bit higher than that in today's dollars but this Council two years ago was prepared to spend money to remediate the site.

Now we know that at some point this year there was a secret E&C decision about the RSPCA site and this Administration back flipped. We can see that an email went out to the State Government saying we don’t want the site any more. There is a very surprising letter from the Director-General of the relevant department at the State level, saying dear Mr Jensen, oh my goodness this is a bit odd, what have you done? Mr Jensen writes back saying I'm sorry, we don’t want the site any more.

Now an interesting part of all of this is the petition's just been tabled today but in the last couple of weeks the LORD MAYOR has written a disgusting and a stupid letter, quite frankly in my view, out to residents saying that the information I've given residents was wrong, that the State Government didn't offer the Council the site for free and there were remediation costs.


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Now, number one, I asked the LORD MAYOR a question in this Chamber a few weeks ago and he stood up and in the simplest terms said, yes, the State Government offered us the site for nothing—for free. Now he said that, it's a matter of public record that he said that. We can see from all the files and the correspondence that that's exactly the case. The State Government were not charging Council to acquire the land. They did expect, as Council had told them two years ago, that Council would remediate the land. We have nearly five million dollars set aside in this year's council budget for remediation purposes. It happens all the time.

But the LORD MAYOR has written out to the residents, even before the petition will be considered in this place, and said, yes, too bad, so sad, we're not doing it. Now that's a thousand residents in Yeronga and Fairfield. It's the most stupid thing I've ever seen, and I say please keep it up, right? LORD MAYOR’s staff are sitting here in the office. Keep it up; it's working really well for you.

I cannot believe how bright these people are over here that they would go out and treat the community with such disrespect. These are people who genuinely care about their local area, who want to see a good outcome and who believe it, who believe it, when they're asked for their opinion about a site—

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON, your time has expired. Thank you.

Councillor MURPHY.

Councillor MURPHY: Yes, Madam Chairman, look, thanks very much. I want to speak about some events and some festivals that have just occurred and that are coming up in Doboy Ward this year and next. Since being elected as councillor for Doboy Ward, my priority has been to reinvigorate the festivals culture that once existed in my ward and so part of the election commitment that I made to the people at the last election and followed through on that in the last year.

Earlier in this year on 26 May I hosted, along with Aaron Dillaway, the annual Murarrie Neighbour Day, and it was a chance for Murarrie residents to come down to the Vicky Wilson Park and have a day of fun and activities. We had jumping castles; we had the SES (State Emergency Services). We had the Port of Brisbane Rotary running a free barbecue for what are some of the most disadvantaged residents of my ward. It was well enjoyed by those residents and I'm looking forward to building an even better one next year along with the Murarrie Progress Association.

I must thank the LORD MAYOR for allocating money in the 2013-14 budget for an upgrade to Vicki Wilson Park. It was commented to me by many residents who were there at the neighbour day that the park was looking a little bit tired and so I wrote to the LORD MAYOR and very diligently in the next budget it was passed and he allocated money for a refurbishment. So I am very grateful for that.

But that's just the start of the events that are planned for my ward, Madam Chairman. In the past weekend we just had the Brisbane Kite Festival there at the Murarrie Recreation Reserve and, again, with Aaron Dillaway I opened that festival in front of about 8000 people. Now in its eighth year, it is going from strength to strength. There were all different types of kites flying there. There was diamond kites, there was a clownfish, for you Councillor CUMMING.


Councillor MURPHY: There was even a flying ship. My favourite, Councillor SCHRINNER, was an Australian flag kite, which was very proudly flying over the recreation reserve there.

But more importantly, Madam Chairman, than seeing the spectacle of the kites flying over the rec reserve was the spectacle of seeing families sit down with each other and spend some good quality time with each other, away from screens, away from Androids and Xboxes and Wiis and all sorts of devices that we have in this day and age. They were sitting there. They had just a piece of string, a bit of fabric and the wind. So it really was a tremendous event that we see families getting together like that. It was awesome.


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For what is a very small outlay from Council—only $5000—we committed festival funding to that, we achieve an extraordinary benefit for the community. So I want to thank Councillor ADAMS and her officers in Brisbane Lifestyle for facilitating that this year.

I'd also like to thank the Port of Brisbane, Balmoral and Carindale Rotary Clubs. Organising an event like that doesn't just happen overnight, it takes a lot of planning, a lot of effort, and those rotary clubs come together to organise that in a very cost-effective way for Council.

In Carina I've been working on the Movies on Mayfield with the Mayfield State School P&C. They're a very energetic and passionate group of young parents that want to open the school up and bring the community in in ways that haven't been experimented with at that school yet. So next year we'll be holding the inaugural Movies on Mayfield, a huge outdoor cinema on their school oval. We'll be opening the school up for the community to come in and participate in that. It's the first time the school has done something like that and it's made possible through a grant from my LORD MAYOR’s Suburban Initiative Fund allocation.

It's going to be a tremendous family event. It's going to hopefully be a beautiful summer night so we'll be looking forward to welcoming approximately 5000 people to that event in its first year. So that should be a good fundraiser for the school as well.

Finally, Madam Chairman, this is an event that's very close to my heart, the Wakerley Christmas Carols. This is an event that was first run in 2003, up until 2010 when it was cruelly canned by my predecessor, who was running a political campaign against the LORD MAYOR at the time. So one of my goals as the local councillor was to bring that event back as soon as I could. Madam Chairman, I'm very pleased to advise the Chamber that I have established, as of a month ago, the Wakerley Christmas Carols Council which is an advisory group of locals from the community, local business people as well, that are working with the Port of Brisbane Rotary Club to bring that back to Dianthus Street Park there at Wakerley on 7 December this year.

The Council has got to work. We're planning the carols; we've got rides, attractions, a stage, Santa Claus. We've got a Facebook page. It's going up and it's already getting started and with a far smaller allocation of money than it used in its final year because we are attracting plenty of interest from local businesses that are keen to get involved.

So as you can see, there are a range of events to be going on in the Doboy Ward. We are reinvigorating our local festivals culture and there's never been a better time to be a resident of Doboy. Thank you.

Chairman: Further general business. Councillor ABRAHAMS.

Councillor ABRAHAMS: Thank you, Madam Chair. I wish to discuss the presentation of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment Committee Report in the Chamber today and the committee presentation last week on Brisbane’s local government area growth.

Madam Chair, I rise to speak because I cannot let what was said by Councillor COOPER go without being refuted. In all committee meetings I am polite, courteous and have never shown disrespect to any Council officer. But my role is to ask questions, to make sure I understand the presentation and in so giving a degree of overview of the work of that committee. That is my role, and I shall continue to do that role in a considered, polite way in spite of continued intervention by the Chair who politically intervenes in questions which I tolerate as that of the role that she has a Chairperson.

But, Madam Chair, it is sad when in the discussion in that committee there is clearly something that would appear strange and in asking questions about that lack of information, which the Council officers participated in because they wished to provide accurate information and advised me of the figures until that discussion was curtailed.


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There was nothing in my behaviour that has ever been impolite or outrageous. Then I correct—I looked at my figures. I spoke to the Council officers and provided them my figures. They said they'd investigate and so they did and advised me of their error. I didn't do that in a report because it's not necessary, because what the Council officers did was not relevant. What was relevant was Councillor COOPER knew the presentation was inaccurate and Councillor COOPER did not take the opportunity, as she should have knowing information was inaccurate in her committee, to just very quickly correct it and then the matter would have been settled.

Madam Chair, if she had corrected it there would not have been an issue. In doing that and correcting an error which was very apparent, she is taking responsibility for the accuracy of the information in her committee and that is her responsibility. So by ignoring it, not bringing it to the attention of everyone here, not reassuring the media and the other councillors that, yes, there was a concern—it had been highlighted and it was there, end of the matter—she chose to take a sideway step and pass the blame to the officers. That is what I sincerely object to.

Every one of us who has been a chairperson in this Council knows that the buck stops with the chairperson. The chairperson has to fess up. It's a simple thing. You say you're sorry and everyone accepts it. That is what Councillor COOPER did. Clearly from her outrage towards me she knew of the error. She knew of the error and chose not to comment on it but instead passed the blame to the Council officers through me and my behaviour.

So she's wrong on two counts. One is my behaviour. I believe I can look at myself in the favour of being absolutely responsible and responsive and respectful of the Council officers but I can't respect a chair who won't accept the responsibility they have and when a mistake is wrong, simply say so.

Now, Madam Chair, just to put the cream on my concern, this is the Chairperson that corrected a resident because she didn't have quite the same address for the development which is clearly causing a huge amount of impact. So if you can be so accurate in front of a resident, surely you could be accurate with the information that's presented here. I would like to go onto the record to say how I appreciate the officers who were keen to get their report accurate. That's what they're on about. Madam Chair, the Chairperson doesn't have their integrity.

Chairman: Further general business? I declare the meeting closed.

QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:(Questions of which due notice has been given are printed as supplied and are not edited)

Submitted by Councillor Victoria Newton (received on 10 October 2013)Q1. Can the CEO please provide the full list of properties previously owned by the Brisbane City

Council which were sold in 2012/13 financial year (RP Data and street address)?

Q2. Can the CEO please provide the full list of properties previously owned by the Brisbane City Council which were sold in 2011/12 financial year (RP Data and street address)?



Q5. Can the CEO how many dog owners were issued Infringement Notices as a result of barking dogs in financial year 2011/12?



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Q8. Can the CEO please advise how many Barking Dog Complaints were lodged with Council in 2011/12 financial year for each Brisbane City Council Ward?



Q11. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were received by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for East Region?

Q12. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were approved by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for East Region?

Q13. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were refused by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for East Region?

Q14. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were received by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for North Region?

Q15. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were approved by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for North Region?

Q16. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were refused by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for North Region?

Q17. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were received by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for West Region?

Q18. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were approved by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for West Region?

Q19. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were refused by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for West Region?

Q20. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were received by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for South Region?

Q21. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were approved by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for South Region?

Q22. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were refused by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for South Region?

Q23. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were received by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for Central Region?

Q24. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were approved by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for Central Region?

Q25. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were refused by Council in the 2012-13 financial year for Central Region?




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Q33. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development Applications were approved by Council in the 2011-12 financial year for West Region?















Q48. Can the CEO please advise how many “Generally In Accordance” type Development


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Applications were approved by Council in the 2010-11 financial year for West Region?








ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:(Answers to questions of which due notice has been given are printed as supplied and are not edited)

Submitted by Councillor Nicole Johnston (from the meeting of 8 October 2013)Q1. Would the CEO please advise if there have been any changes to the City of Brisbane Act in

the 2013 calendar year?

Q2. If there have been any changes to the City of Brisbane Act would the CEO please provide a list of the sections amended or deleted and a brief description of the changes?

Q3. Would the CEO please advise whether a decision of a full Council meeting regarding the

allocation of funding can be rescinded or altered by an individual Council officer?

Q4. Would the CEO please advise the 2013-14 budget allocated for existing footpath repairs or replacement?

Q5. Would the CEO please advise how many existing footpaths are currently awaiting repair or replacement and the total length?

Q6. Would the CEO please advise the street name and suburb of the top 50 footpaths that have been identified as awaiting repairs or replacement this year?

Q7. Would the CEO please advise the criteria and/or policy for prioritisation of existing footpaths listed for repairs or replacement?

Q8. Would the CEO advise whether requested repairs to the damaged footpath along Oxley Road, Sherwood and Sherwood Road, Sherwood will be repaired of fixed this financial year? If not what priority have they been ranked?

A1. to A8. Information being compiled.

Submitted by Councillor Nicole Johnston (from the meeting of 8 October 2013)Q1. Would the CEO please advised which person (position or title) or body of Brisbane City

Council made the decision to refuse to acquire the old RSPCA site at Fairfield?

Q2. Would the CEO please advise the date that this position (to refuse the land offer) was: a. communicated verbally to the State Government and


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b. communicated in writing to the State Government?

Q3. Would the CEO please advise the estimated cost of remediating the RSPCA site at Fairfield offered to Council for free by the State Government?

Q4. Would the CEO please advise the date that the Establishment and Coordination Committee made a secret decision about the future of the old RSPCA site?


Submitted by Councillor Victoria Newton (from the meeting of 8 October 2013)Q1. Could the CEO please list all the current members of Council boards, the date each member

was appointed by E&C and the current annual remuneration paid to each member?

Q2. Could the CEO please advise how many unpaid toll infringements that were referred to SPER in the 2012-2013 financial year have:a. Been paid in full?b. Have commenced part payment plans?

Q3. Can the CEO provide the number of street trees that have been planted in The Gabba Ward and Central Ward since 1 July 2012 with the figures broken down for each ward if possible?

Q4. Can the CEO provide the number of street trees that have been replanted in The Gabba Ward and Central Ward since 1 July 2012 with the figures broken down for each ward if possible?

Q5. Can the CEO provide the number of site where the level of damage to the trees, that Council officers have determined to no longer continue to replace the street trees?

Q6. After all budget reviews, can the CEO advise what was the actual budget spend on the Active and Health Parks Activities Program in the 2011-2012 Financial year (Budget item 5.3.1.1) and the 2012-2013 financial year (Budget Item number 5.3.1.1)?

Q7. Can the CEO please provide the Capital Works Program list of the parks identified as a priority for playground upgrades, including brief details of the proposed upgrades?


Submitted by Councillor Nicole Johnston (from the meeting of 8 October 2013)Q1. Would the CEO please advise the street number and name, or other relevant location, where

Council road signs (not stickers on private property) urging cyclists to keep quiet have been installed in Jamboree and Bracken Ridge Wards?

A1. Information being compiled.

RISING OF COUNCIL: 6.15pm.

PRESENTED: and CONFIRMED

CHAIRMAN

Council officers in attendance:

Andrew Langford (Team Leader, Council and Committees Support)


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Stephanie Thompson (Council and Committees Support Officer)Billy Peers (Personal Support Officer to the Lord Mayor and Council Orderly)


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