Destination management plan 2023-2028
A proposed Destination Management Plan will be considered by councillors at Redland City Council’s February monthly meeting.
The officers’ report says the Council commissioned EarthCheck to assist in developing the Destination Management Plan. But apart from this statement, there’s no information about any advice or certification that has been provided by Earthcheck which claims to be “the world’s leading scientific benchmarking certification and advisory group for sustainable travel and tourism’.
The Plan advocates continuing with the “Redlands Coast” brand messaging but provides no assessment of this brand’s effectiveness in attracting visitors to Redlands.
There’s quite a gap in the proposed plan between statements which extol the importance of Redlands’ natural environment such as:
Sustainability and environmental stewardship underpin the actions and intent of this destination management plan due to the inherent connection between visitors, the natural environment and social licence to operate within the Redlands Coast
community. (page 19)
and the proposed ‘actions’ which include ongoing support for environmentally destructive projects lacking social licence such as the Toondah Harbour residential project, the $300 million Birkdale whitewater project and the $200 million Heinemann Road sports project which requires clearing of 550 trees.
Similarly, the Destination Plan mentions Redlands’ heritage values yet Redland City Council has a dismal record of heritage management and is currently fighting a state heritage listing of the Willard’s Farm precinct in the Planning and Environment Court.
The plan lists Quandamooka culture as one of the strengths and First Nations tourism as one of the opportunities. But there is little if any evidence of any clear respect for the rights of Quandamooka people and community to self-determination of the uses of their country and waters. This is not an ‘academic’ matter; one small but telling example is the use of photographs of people without naming them and without indicating whether they have given permission for the use of the image.
The document contains misleading information such as “Redlands Coast has more than 170 species of flora and fauna”. Some years ago, when the Council was more environmentally aware, it published a very useful Biodiversity Strategy 2008-2012 which says Redlands has more than 1,700 recorded species of animals and plants.
Since 2012, it seems that the Council has lost 1,530 species of animals or plants. Or a zero got dropped when the Council edited its Wildlife in Redlands Coast webpage.
Motion to have more meetings
A notice of motion from Cr Paule Gollé proposes that Council revert to having fortnightly meetings in response to community discussion, including comments from mayoral candidate Jos Mitchell reported in the Redland City Bulletin.
In 2021/22 Redland City Council had just 15 meetings (including three special meetings) compared with 22 meetings in 2020/21 and 23 meetings in 2019/20.
Some southeast Queensland councils have public committee meetings in addition to their general meetings and special meetings, for example: Logan City, Ipswich, Toowoomba, and Noosa.
Wheels on footpaths ban to end
Prohibitions on use of bicycles, wheeled recreational devices or wheeled toys on footpaths in parts of three major centres (Cleveland, Wellington Point and Capalaba) will be removed if Councillors agree to change local laws.
Consultation by the Council between 14 February 2022 and 4 March 2022 resulted in 222 comments with 121 (54.5%) opposed to the changes and 85 (38.5%) in favour.
The most common reason given for opposing the change (102 responses) was that it is perceived to be unsafe for pedestrians.
The officers’ report recommends that the prohibitions be removed regardless of the community’s feedback, saying:
Removing the prohibition is consistent with supporting the economic vitality of the three centres and acknowledges the increasingly significant role that active transport modes play in the city.
No change to division boundaries
A review of Redland City enrolment numbers finds that all ten divisions are within the +/- 10% variation allowed by local government electoral laws.
The officers report says there’s “no drive to change the current arrangements” for Redland City to have ten divisions and one councillor for each division.
A reduction in the number of division councillors from ten to six would save Redlands ratepayers at least $500,000 per year, as reported by Redlands2030.
Confidential items
There are two confidential items scheduled for discussion at this meeting:
- 20.1 Request for Partial Refund of Development Application Assessment Fees – Victoria Point; and
- 20.2 Renewal of Sub-Lease Cleveland.
Watch the meeting live
A video of this meeting commencing at 9:30am on Wednesday 15th February will be livestreamed on YouTube.
The meeting agenda, including officers’ reports for non-confidential items, is available on the Council’s website.
Redlands2030 – 12 February 2023
Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net
One Comment
That RCC lodged a “Non-Claimant Application” seeking a determination of the Non-Existence of Native Title along Redlands coastline and Moreton Bay waters, tells us all we need to know about how it values local indigenous culture and self-determination. I guess that inconvenient point didn’t suit the Destination Plan’s fictional narrative.