Dissatisfaction with Redland City Council, thanks to the few people nominating as challengers to incumbent councillors, the State Government’s inadequate SEQ Koala Conservation Strategy and wildlife rescue challenges are discussed in letters published by Redlands2030.
Courage and conviction needed to run for election
An Australian trait is to knock those who put themselves up for election to public office. But it is no easy task and Redlanders should thank those who take on the task.
The field of people standing for Redland City Council looks light compared to the candidates already up and running in Logan City, but maybe it is the lack of incumbents in Logan. With the Council being dismissed, no incumbents exist!
Whatever the reason, the candidates already announced and running in Redlands are to be thanked but lets hope more come forward soon to test the mettle of the incumbents but more importantly, to give the democracy we value a good work out.
I appreciate it takes courage and conviction to take a stand by nominating for a position as a Councillor. Success and the associated rewards are not guaranteed. In fact conducting an election campaign can cost thousands of dollars and that seems an unfair impost on the few prepared to have a go.
SO
Cleveland
Dissatisfaction with Redlands Council is over 80%
If Cr Peter Mitchell wants to offer a glowing endorsement of the Redland City Council (RCC) 2018-19 Annual Report perhaps he should first examine the level of dissatisfaction of the RCC performance by over 80% of the residents of the Redlands.
We cannot wait for the March 2020 council elections to show the extent of our disgust with many of the block decisions of the Council, the most outstanding of which is the signing of a binding agreement involving Walker Group with details kept secret using “commercial in confidence.”
If RCC goes bankrupt over this agreement, as Cr Paul Golle predicts could happen, it is the residents who will have to pay the consequences.
The owners of Raby Bay Canal homes are having to pay an extra $2,500 each in rates because of a previous debacle involving RCC. That was only 30 years ago and now the Council is once again being hoodwinked by developers. Most residents don’t want to see the shorebird zone being dredged so a commercial development of 10 storey blocks of units can go ahead in the Bay, blocking the views of residents and tourists.
No Australian insurance company would insure those units. A few residents were swayed by the three artist’s impressions appearing in the Redland City Bulletin but most could see they were blatantly false presentations because there were absolutely no 10 storey blocks of units shown anywhere. I say bring on the 2020 elections.
DT
Victoria Point
SEQ koala conservation strategy needs focus
Apart from the proposed mapping strategy, the SEQ koala conservation strategy reflects words said in Wildlife & Koala Policy statements for many years that have totally failed to address the steadily declining koala population because they have not been effectively implemented.
With the local koala population in steady decline over the past thirty years, from approximately 10,000 to an estimated 340 on the most recent count, it is abundantly obvious that the koala population is at a critical point where the number of annual deaths outnumber the number of births, or has already passed the point of Extinction!!!
Government, at all levels, stands condemned for it’s inaction & failure to address this blatantly obvious destruction of an iconic protected wildlife species!!
The total lack of commitment, awareness & concern for koalas by state & local government was amply demonstrated in recent months when four koalas were reported killed on the Cleveland railway line near Ormiston.
An inspection of the railway fence in the Redlands showed a fence in dilapidated state of repair, that was not & never intended to be a Wildlife barrier, & in spite of claims to the contrary, showed no signs of recent repair or maintenance. No comment or action was taken, in spite of requests for clarification from QR or Redland City Council.
Without immediate focus & commitment to koala population stabilization & growth, it is obvious with the steady decline in koala numbers that the animal is committed to extinction!
While the proposed strategy suggests a degree of urgency in implementing the “new proposals”, it remains to be seen whether the “procrastination of due process” will lead to the extinction of the koala in SEQ!!!
DB
Alexandra Hills
Rescuing all wildlife!
I’m a wildlife rescuer. I’ve been doing it for a few years now for a number of different organisations. It doesn’t matter what my name is because there are lots of other people doing what I do. We rescue all wildlife regardless of what they are believing that “all animals are equal, but NONE are more equal than others”.
We rescue the cuddly, the furry, the feathery and flighty, the slithery and scaly, the scratchy and bitey.
This is my story of the last six months or so.
I’ve driven about 15,000 kms in a 20 year old ute to answer about 250 calls. I’ve gone days and nights without sleep, near worn myself and my ute to a standstill.
I’ve rescued the sick, the diseased, the stressed, misplaced, broken, lost frightened and abandoned, the hit by car, hit by train, bitten by dog, the left to lie at the side of the road. I’ve tramped miles through the bush, crawled down drains and climbed up trees. I’ve been on roofs, on motorways and anywhere else you can think of.
Not everything has died or been euthanized – but lots have not survived.
I’ve seen tears in the eyes of grown- ups (including mine) when I know an animal is not going to survive and I’ve had sick or injured koalas die in my arms. I’ve seen time worn vets, vet nurses, carers and dozens of volunteers struggling with stress and exhaustion for the sheer volume of work they have to get through.
And smiles of joy on little kids faces when they see a koala released back the bush.
The point I’m trying to make is that every rescue I have had to do, goes back to something we have done in the past without considering the consequences to our wildlife AND WE ARE STILL DOING IT NOW.
Anything we do from now on is almost too late. Roadtek (on behalf of the State Government) have just started some koala fencing on the M3 at Klump road (and good on them) but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been called out, at all times of the day and night to herd a koala off the motorway or scrape up the left overs.
The point I’m trying to make to the developers, the Federal and State Ministers, the Mayors, the Councillors, the buck-passers and the greedy is this:
While you are counting the bucks, we’ll be out there counting the bodies.
Name withheld
Cleveland
More letters
If you have something to say, email your letter to theeditor@redlands2030.net
Here are more letters that have been published by Redlands2030:
Claire4mayor, safety and plastic roads in letters
High rollers, splitters and Toondah in letters
Wildlife, the Cleveland train line and air quality
Redlands2020 – 12 January 2020
Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net
3 Comments
Without naming names there was an Redland City Council decision in a council meeting on 7/8/19 where a block decision of the majority of councillors (7 to 3) voted to allow a unit development right in the middle of a koala protected zone in Ormiston. One of those councillors in the block decision stated that “all the emotion that anyone wants to throw out about lovely, cuddly koalas will not change the fact we act under a regime.” Is it no wonder that the koala population of the Redlands is heading towards extinction ? And then you have another councillor giving himself and his fellow councillors a glowing endorsement for their performance over the last year. It is time for the council and the state government to start acting in the best interests of sustainable growth and conservation of our unique wildlife. Some of these same councillors and politicians have the nerve to then talk about promoting tourism.
Rescuing All Wildlife 12.1.20
Gold star and my thanks to the wildlife rescuer who wrote their heart felt letter.
I am not a rescuer or a carer but I have been at the interface through being veterinary nursing. Veterinary staff, much like yourself and carers, do not change shifts and go home without being very impacted.
You get on the bus and look out the window and go through it all. The fractures, the head injuries, the sick and wounded. The hit by cars, the traps, the arrows and the tortured. You question how much longer you can keep doing this. You sit at the dinner table and release your stress with your family discussing the ‘what came in today’ stories. It’s tough and it changes you.
I went into veterinary nursing thinking it would complete my dreams and be a feel good career. Like rescuers, you have to be tough, often walled up, focused and results driven. There’s no place or time for emotions. When the hard decisions are made, you have to just get on with it and get it done. You hold the innocent and often beautiful souls and you whisper soft words to them through the euthanasia process. You then pat them as they leave the table. You shed your tears but not then because you can’t. You do this on the bus.
Adelia
I am happy for my full name to be printed.
It’s an excellent thing that we appear to have a Mayoral candidate in Claire Richardson, someone who is independent of politics, and someone with the qualifications and desire to address over development.
The GREENS, LABOUR and LNP are all pro a BIG Australia and its accompanying high population, wasteful overuse of resources, over development and congestion. It’s interesting that the GREENS, whilst portraying themselves as champions for the environment and use this as the foundation and reason for their existence, are also on the unsustainable BIG Australia bandwagon, the often suggested mechanism that is driving pollution and world wide man made Co2 climate change.
If we are serious about living in a Redlands that avoids both extremes of political and social thinking, one that fosters a harmony between sustainable and responsible development, and the environment, we must move away from the failed thinkers and look to those who are capable of mediating this outcome.