Fire, water and RIC on Council meeting agenda

A three month progress report on improving fire management practices will be considered by Redland City Council at its general meeting on Wednesday 18 October.

Fire management

In July the Council received a scathing report from Queensland Fire and Emergency Services which contained 56 recommendations grouped into the following themes:

1. Illegal dumping and hoarding
2. Low community resilience and disaster preparedness
3. Emergency response capacity across multiple agencies
4. Maintenance plans and access trails
5. Local Laws and legislation
6. Access to water and fire hydrants

The officers report says actions have been initiated to address 52 of the 56 recommendations.

More money is needed to fix this area of Council’s responsibilities. Officers flag that funding requests will be put forward during the  budget review process in December 2017 or when next year’s budget is being prepared.

Redlands water quality OK

In good news, drinking water supplied by Redland City Council (RCC) achieved 100% compliance with the Australian drinking water guidelines for the parameters that were tested.

There were no confirmed cases of illness arising from Council’s water supply system last year.

Closed session items

In closed session, without the public or media present, the Council will discuss the following items:

• Redland Investment Corporation business plan
• Provision of Council services
• Assessment of a proposal from Redland Investment Corporation
• Awarding a contract for green waste collecting, transporting and processing

Redland Investment Corporation (RIC)

The Redland Investment Corporation (RIC) was set up by the Council secretively in late 2014, perhaps an idea copied from Ipswich City Council.

Council’s stated aim of making money was to be achieved by selling off 16 local parks.

In 2015 the community told the Council very clearly that the parks sell off was unacceptable. Just before the last election this plan was abandoned.

Since then there has been no point at all in having a RIC. But it has lingered, doing deals which could be handled by the Council itself under the control of a properly qualified property officer.

Getting rid of RIC would result in greater transparency, and save ratepayers some money on the cost of administering RIC, points which Redlands2030 made some time ago in:

Council’s real estate deals questioned.

Attend the meeting on Wednesday

Here is a link to the 18 October meeting agenda which includes the fire and water reports.

The meeting will be held at Council’s offices in Bloomfield Street, commencing at 9:30 am.

Members of the public can observe proceedings from the Public Gallery, except for the items to be discussed in closed session.

Previous Council meeting on 4 October

Cr Paul Gleeson (Division 9) was absent from Council’s last general meeting on 4 October.

Items discussed at this meeting include:

• Plans to commence the process of amending various local laws
• The coroner’s report on the death of Ethan Stephenson
• The Quandamooka people’s native title claim for parts of mainland Redland City

Application approved against officers recommendation

An application for operating a dental practice at 34 Bunker Road in Victoria Point was considered.

Despite the officers report recommending this not be allowed, because of inconsistency with the planning scheme, a majority of councillors voted 8:2 to approve the application.

• Crs Boglary, Mitchell, Gollè, Hewlett, Edwards, Huges, Talty and Williams voted FOR the motion.
• Crs Elliott and Bishop voted AGAINST the motion.

Other items discussed openly

Councillors also discussed and approved:

• A library strategy
• Allowing a video surveillance camera to be installed on the Russell Island Jetty
• A design guide for development of multiple dwellings
• Redlands Softball  Association lease renewal

The Local Government Infrastructure Plan was endorsed.

Council’s  Natural Environment Policy was discussed in response to a motion by Cr Boglary. Councillors agreed to ensure that necessary resources would be applied clarifying which types of trees could be used on Council footpaths in areas where koalas live.

Items discussed in closed session

• Dealing with land contamination issues at the Cleveland Library site
• Approval of sole supplier negotiations for aerial spraying of mosquitoes
• Acquisition of land in Alexandra Hills
• Resumption of Open Space zoned land in Redland Bay
• Refunding canal charges to residents in Raby Bay Aquatic Paradise and Sovereign Waters

Here is a link to the 4 October meeting minutes.

Here is a link to a video recording of the meeting.

 

Redlands2030 – 17 October 2017