Paying with cash, unsustainable development in Redland City and questions about the proposed construction of 3,600 apartments on wetlands next to Toondah Harbour are discussed in letters to Redlands2030.
If you have something to say to Redlanders, email your letter to theeditor@redlands2030.net/redlands2030-pre-may2020
Why a suburban concrete jungle is not my idea of paradise
Trees in Cowley Street, Ormiston
When I go outside for my afternoon walk, I am constantly surrounded by others; families, joggers, cyclists, fishermen, dog walkers, you name it.
Staying isolated in our houses all day has given us a new-found appreciation of the Redlands and the parks and nature it has to offer.
While COVID-19 may have taken away our freedoms, it has given us something incredibly valuable – time. Time to spend with our families or working on new projects. Time to re-evaluate our lives. And most importantly – time to make a difference by holding our Council accountable for failing to protect the koalas and bushland that makes the Redlands so beautiful.
Koala populations and habitats have been under immense pressure due to urban development and agriculture since the European settlement.
With the end of the koala fur trade in the 1930s, koalas have struggled to sustain their populations in Australia’s urban environment.
Koala populations across Moreton Bay, Noosa Shire, Ipswich City, Brisbane City, Redland City, Logan City and Gold Coast City have declined by 80.3% since 1996.
Loss of habitat due to urbanisation has resulted in koalas being forced to share small patches of land, inducing stress and sickness. These are the same patches of land that the Redland City Council want to take away.
Cowley Street in Ormiston was a formerly protected koala corridor that was ignorantly removed from the last City Plan. The plot of land has now been earmarked for development. There are countless other instances of known koala corridors and food trees being cleared and developed in the Redlands.
When I go outside for my afternoon walk, while I appreciate the area I live in, I think of the sacrifices nature has had to make to accommodate us. I think of how koalas are confined to their small patches of land and how the threat of sickness and stress looms over them, just like us during this pandemic.
Most importantly, I think of Mayor Williams’ awful vision of turning the Redlands into a developer’s paradise, a suburban concrete jungle.
While it may be difficult to focus on anything but COVID-19, we must use this time to reflect on dwindling koala populations and how we can prevent unsustainable development.
ES
Ormiston
Toondah questions remain unanswered
Petition to State Parliament calling for an inquiry into the Toondah project
I have some concerns that, despite the groundswell of opposition at the recent elections, the Mayor and her developmentally focused cohorts will see a win as win.
This is likely to mean that secret deals, closed council meetings and ‘commercial in confidence’ arrangements continue as before and that they will continue to use the ‘it’s up to the Feds now’ (or the State) to avoid taking responsibility for the any adverse outcomes in Toondah Harbour.
Questions that I have asked more than once remain unaddressed and therefore unanswered while the potential problems remain.
What safeguards are in place for the residents, their homes, their health and their property values in the impact zone during the several years of construction?
Who will be responsible for maintaining and repairing the roads etc. which were never designed to withstand long term, high volume, heavy vehicle traffic?
Has any consideration been given to the likely impact of this development on the general ambience of the area and the right of those most affected, nearby local residents to the quiet enjoyment of their homes?
These are only a few of the questions that must surely be asked and answered to the satisfaction of the electorate before a sod is turned.
And then, of course, there are the koalas, the turtles, the dugong, the native and migratory birds.
Unless an extended buffer zone is created, these native animals and migratory shorebirds cannot be expected to put up with the noise, the dust, the vibration and the impact on their lifestyle and almost certain decimation of their habitat any more than any one of us would if this was foisted on our doorstep or in our backyard.
So, where will they go? what will they do?
What, then is the benefit of this project, in the short and long term, other than financial and to whom?
JK
CLEVELAND
Bring back cash
Paying with cash?
I journeyed back to the hi-fi store on Saturday. I am one who doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer. Earlier in the week, I was refused the right to pay with cash.
I approached the staffer/doorman well outside the entry point and asked him when they were going to relent on the no cash stance bullshit.
After an initial shrug of the shoulders, an unwillingness to entertain the thought, and my endearing persistence, he said: “Well we are taking a bit of a hard stance on handling cash, and anyhow, everyone’s got a credit card .”
When I said, “I don’t have a card”, he simply didn’t believe me. Finally, he conceded that they will take cash if there is no option.
The cashier inside happily accepted my payment. I left smiling, and waved to the same staff/doorman, as proof of purchase….. and accomplishment ……much to his disgust!
The bigger picture is that the push to use cards at the expense of cash, ultimately comes from the big end of town, essentially to drive up the demand of everything, from the thoughtless spur of the moment placement of a deposit on an apartment at Toondah to spending more on basic groceries than you otherwise would etc.
I mean, if you’ve only got $50 in your pockets when you go shopping you can’t spend $60 !!
So cards are better for revenue, profits, share prices, dividends, and for more GST for the government.
How does a child learn to save without cash? How do you make arrangements for the tooth fairy?
That plum pudding never tasted the same without the threepence pieces in it!
RH
Brisbane
More letters to Redlands2030
Straddie access, elections, and ANZAC Day
Letters react to the Council elections
Should Redlands merge with Brisbane
Redlands2030 – 20 May 2020
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One Comment
Cash has certainly fallen from grace for me. More and more of my smaller transactions get done with the flick of a card….no weighty, noisy or cumbersome change. But od course less in the way of tips too!