Will the community be involved in planning for future use of the Commonwealth land in Birkdale?

Will the community be involved in planning for future use of the Commonwealth land in Birkdale?

Future use of the Commonwealth land in Birkdale, management of community radio station Bay FM and the need for better mentoring of our future political leaders are discussed in letters to Redlands2030.

If you have something to say, send an email to theeditor@redlands2030.net

Commonwealth lands at Birkdale

Steve Davis, Karen Williams and Andrew Laming hamming it up on the Commonwealth lands prior to the 2015 State election. Photo: Redland City Bulletin

Andrew Laming MP has been discussing the future of the Commonwealth land at Birkdale. Why? Whose interests is he promoting? He wants a university there but is this a realistic option when we have three major universities in Brisbane that are preferring electronic classrooms?

Therefore, is he thinking of a private university for overseas students, with accommodation – another name for housing? How would another built environment enhance the area and benefit the community? Where is the public interest in that? Whose interests is he serving?

Andrew, are you aware that the community values green spaces and koalas which are found on the Commonwealth land at Birkdale? You’ve said that the open space will be for the university, leaving the treed area for koalas, yet, in contradiction, you’ve also said that the koala population will be protected along the green area near the creek.

This doesn’t sound like retaining the koala habitat that already exists. With the loss of 27 koala trees at Ormiston for housing and the future loss of koala habitat with the proposed development at Toondah Harbour, can the community trust that this healthy, koala habitat will be protected and not destroyed, degraded nor fragmented?

Redland City’s community values are documented in the Community Plan

Andrew, are you aware that the community values heritage? The Commonwealth land offers Quandamooka Cultural Heritage and European Cultural Heritage. Archaeology is yet to be done. The Willard baby’s grave needs to be located. Middens, Aboriginal artefacts, the Willard’s farm house, the US Radio Receiving Station – imagine what a tourist hub this land could become! Aboriginal and European history would be on show and complemented by seeing koalas living in the wild, yet within an urban environment, so close to Brisbane CBD! Biodiversity would flourish as the bush would be protected.

You state, Andrew, that the open space would be used for the university, yet, the US Radio Receiving Station, nominated for Commonwealth Heritage by Birkdale Progress Association, is located in that open space. The extensive antenna array has to be included. With less open space will the koala habitat be cleared? What about the special vegetation that grows there? Will it be protected from development?

Andrew why are you lobbying for a university on the Commonwealth land? You’ve stated that the councillors will decide, yet, you’re the spokesman. You’re our representative in Federal parliament. During the last election you stated that you would fix our roads but I haven’t seen any evidence of that. Why didn’t you lobby for Federal funding of the cross-river rail which would support rail commuters and reduce our road congestion, air and noise pollution? I only hear you criticise the State government.

Andrew, get out of the real estate office and think of the bigger picture. Lobby for the Commonwealth land to be given to the people as a National Park. After all, it is owned by the people.

That would be an excellent legacy for when you’ve left office. Think about the local industries that can be supported by tourism. Think about how the community would benefit from tourists enjoying the unique offerings of the Redlands.

Andrew can you become an advocate for public good and a strong supporter of our community values?

Pam Spence
President, Birkdale Progress Association Inc


Community radio – Blues by the Bay

Community radio

What an appalling and disgusting email I have just received as a public member of an incorporated community radio association. No suggestion of discussion or opportunity to respond – just arrogant instructions. No opportunity for the members of our Association to be involved in this decision. No General Meetings of members have been held since February for members to vote on the direction of Bay FM. No General Meeting has been held to allow we members to vote on this issue of program changes – just bullying and intimidation by a dictatorship.

15+ years of Blues By the Bay on Tuesdays 6-8pm on Bay FM just flicked off by bullies.

Thousands of hours of personal time and financial cost by dedicated volunteers have gone in to create this successful radio show over many years with a likely listener audience of thousands.

This is a prime example of the lack of integrity, intimidation, bullying, greed, corruption and abuse of power being inflicted on members by the current Bay FM management committee…

This is NOT community radio.

I did not vote for this Bay FM management committee and I fought hard to prevent these people from being in this position where I knew they would continue to abuse their power like this.

I will continue to stay as a financial member of Bay FM – perhaps we will be able to vote these people out one day.

We need a Queensland Independent Crime and Corruption Commission (ICAC) together with a serious review of state and federal legislation regarding public associations, bullying and community radio. The Qld Office of Fair Trading, the Qld CCC and ACMA and CBAA all have zero teeth and zero will to have any – when we communicated with them ALL for help when the bullying by these people began. These authorities just ran away, hid behind the formalities of Acts and just sat on their hands. The Qld Office of Fair Trading, in my opinion, actually assisted these people to get into this position of power. These public organisations did not and still do not care about or do anything about the intimidation and bullying that was going on… and is still going on.

The management of Bay FM has now lost its heart and its soul and has lost the spirit of community radio.

Graeme Palmer
Member Bay FM 100.3MHz Community Radio
Proud co-presenter of Blues By The Bay


Political Youth Need Mentoring

After being active in politics now for almost seven years, I have learnt a great deal of what’s right and wrong with our institutional body politic. For those that don’t know, I have been heavily involved on and off and I have held various roles in the Labor party both on a junior and senior level, worked briefly for unions, as well as working in retail, market research and IT for some time over the past few years.

In my time I have seen a culture rich in toxic bullying and gossiping. The reality of the situation is most people in the youth wings of our parties whether it be in Labor, the LNP, Greens etc have no regard for policy development or the practicality of real issues affecting everyday people. Whilst a meme around an issue may generate a few good laughs here and there in their circles, no consideration is put aside far from either your nearest bar tab or social function, which sadly enriches the culture of elitism where expectations of everyday society become totally unparalleled and unrealistic. This only alienates potential hardworking activists of all political persuasion.

What our political elders must do is change the perpetual cycle by guiding and mentoring our political youth so many of those with talent and drive either don’t become disillusioned with the processes or become lame duck hacks vying for the nearest cheap run at handing out their CV.

We need a cultural change where ethics become the norm and our would be politicians in the making meet real people with real issues to carry a sense of direction for everybody not just the few. Skills based training and educating cultural understandings rather than a focus on social ladder climbing is what could be the solution.

C Sorensen – Karklis
Victoria Point

 

Letters published by Redlands2030 – 12 August 2017

 

5 Comments

Dennis Tafe, Aug 23, 2017

Guys and Girls of Qld State Labor,
Now is the time to wake up and smell the roses because if you leave it much longer the voters of QLD will have dumped you long before the next state election. I have rung the Springwood Office of Mick de Brenni and the Capalaba Office of Don Brown. They are yet to contact me? Your Environment Minister, Steven Miles, is also the Member for Mount Coot-tha. He has offered research grants of up to $100,000 to study koalas in SE Qld but he doesn’t seem to realise that the diminishing koala population doesn’t need research, it needs habitat. I’m a senior biologist so I should know. The Councils of both Logan and the Redlands are receiving generous donations from developers so they allow them to cut down gum trees willy nilly. This is not my assumption. These are the facts and the donations to both Councils are on the record. They are not illegal but these generous donations to well paid public servants do not pass the pub test. Then we have the Toondah Harbour debacle, which is likely to blow up in your faces when people realise that the Walker Group wants to wipe out a large section of the Ramsar Migratory Shore Bird Protection Zone so that they can construct 3,600 units over the water. But this means jobs, I can hear Annastacia echoing. Yes, it’s true. About six workers with heavy dredging equipment could dredge that whole protected zone in a few months. Check out the attached photo of the sign installed about 5km due south of Toondah a couple of years ago. The Council threatens “on the spot fines” for disturbing the 50,000 shore birds, which migrate to Moreton Bay each year from places like Japan and Siberia.

Amy Glade, Aug 22, 2017

note to Graham Palmer, Community Radio.
Have your ever listened to Gold Coast radio to see how they operate Graham?
As an elderly person, they play music of my era along with present day songs as well but what I love is talk back radio, listening to members of the community who speak their mind on local issues without fear of being threatened by powers-that-be, informative sessions by retired Supreme Court judge, David Ashton Lewis, who will answer questions people put to him (he helped me once at no cost on dealing with a neighbourhood dispute) and I would say on a weekly basis, Cr Dawn Crichlow will listen to complaints from locals in their local area, and if she can’t resolve issues on air, will ask residents to call her office along with phone number.
Where in Redland City can we go to air our complaints on issues that affect our lives?

Amy Glade, Aug 17, 2017

Read Brian Williams article in local Redlands newspaper 08-16-2017, re COMMONWEALTH LAND comments by Birkdale Progress Association’s President Pam Spence, on why MP for Bowman Andrew Laming along with Redlands Mayor Williams want to see a university on the site when we already have 3 universities with Griffith nearby able to expand facilities as needed. Everywhere I go people complain about the horrific traffic congestion on our local roads, not only at rush hour but other times too…bumper to bumper…with 10,000 more inhabitants expected any time soon with non-stop development in Redland City. We can’t take any more in Capalaba’s Finucane/Old Cleveland Rd Birkdale East roadways unless Main Roads traffic managers can reduce congestion. The Commonwealth land with its WWII history, adjacent to Willard Homestead, built in mid-1800s, needs to be heritage listed. This land must NOT be concreted for major buildings & dwellings, but remain in the hands of the Redlands people to promote tourism while trying to keep as much as possible the natural environment to prevent extinction of our much valued marsupial, the koala. We know from past experience, once bulldozers move in, not one blade of grass remains & many of us have witnessed the slash and burn methods used by Redland developers leaving a desolate landscape in their wake.
On Redland mayor’s first visit to China with Council of Mayors, informed she recruited Chinese workers, friends/family of then MP for Capalaba, Michael Choi, who built a home in Birkdale, and worked on IGA store in Wello Pt with wife interpreting. With further visits to China, will Mayor Williams be welcoming more Chinese to the Redlands for reasons best known to herself and MP for Bowman Andrew Laming?
Informed recently of land being handed over to the people for $1. Mr Laming should do what’s right for the people of Redlands, convincing Treasurer Scott Morrison to do likewise. Perhaps then people would look more kindly on our leaders who appear to be totally obsessed in driving development even on land that rightfully belongs to the people, while turning a blind eye to what the Redlands people want. As for Andrew’s comment about MP Don Brown ripping the land away from public use….doesn’t sound right. Don Brown remarkably, wants to RETAIN the land, not RIP the land away from the people of Redland City as you and Mayor Williams’ plans would surely do…the way I see it.

Dennis Tafe, Aug 13, 2017

After reading the letters from people like Pam Spence and others it is evident that some of our pollies from both sides of the fence, along with some of our councillors, have hidden agendas. Someone mentioned heritage listing. The response I received from two of the RCC councillors when I mentioned the crazy decision in relation to a 5-story block of units right beside the 2-storey heritage listed Grandview Hotel, the oldest licenced hotel in QLD, was “we have no strategy in place for heritage buildings.” Crazy isn’t it? If this is the thought process for a small block of units you can imagine the non-transparent process behind a 15-story block of 3,600 units built over the Ramsar Migratory Shore Bird Protection Zone. Guys, you have to understand, there are big dollars to be made so who cares about the impacts on the koalas, shore birds, dugongs, turtles, fish and crustaceans.

Dave, Aug 12, 2017

Well done 2030…how is it you guys can deliver such wide-ranging perspectives on matters of critical public interest but our community radio and our local newspaper miss the point. It is not a matter of right and wrong it is a matter of healthy debate…frank and fearless.

Again, well done Redlands2030!

Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net

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