Allowing more dogs, ratepayers funding Mayor Karen Williams many Olympic ‘study trips’, koala conservation, fast track procurement for constructing Stage 1 of the Heinemann Road sports precinct in Mount Cotton, a camping trial for Macleay Island and concealed water leaks are some of the matters to be considered by Redland City Council at its last general meeting for 2021.
Some of the things that are NOT up for discussion include:
- Adding about 40 private dwellings to Redland City’s Local Heritage Register (proposed at the September 2021 Council Meeting but councillors put off making a decision)
- Amending the Redland City Plan to better control medium density development – community consultation closed on 16 September 2021.
Proposal to allow more dogs is rejected
Proposed changes to Redland City Council’s local laws to increase the number of dogs that can be kept have been overwhelmingly rejected by the Redlands community.
Current laws allow only two dogs to be kept on a property although a third dog may be kept with Council permission.
A review of dog limits initiated by Cr Julie Talty in December 2020 resulted in Council officers recommending that Council change its local laws to increase the maximum number of dogs – as shown in the table below.
| Property Type / Size (m2) | Allowable number of dogs without Council approval | Allowable number of dogs with Council approval |
| Units, townhouses, multi-dwelling premises including retirement villages | 2 | No additional dogs |
| 0 to 2000m2 | 2 | 3 |
| 2,001 to 10,000m2 | 3 | 4 |
| Over 10,000m2 | 4 | No additional dogs |
| Prescribed dogs (Foster carers, show dogs, agility dogs) | As above | 4 dogs may be kept subject to conditions |
The community was consulted about these proposed changes to local laws in May – July 2021.
“Awareness and participation from the community was strong from the commencement” say the officers in their report.
The Council got 875 properly made submissions about the proposed changes to dog keeping laws.
| Number | % | |
| Submissions agreeing with proposed changes to dog numbers | 199 | 22.7 |
| Submissions disagreeing with proposed changes to dog numbers | 676 | 77.3 |
| Total submissions properly made | 875 | 100.0 |
A Community Consultation Submission Review attached to the officers report gives the main reasons for disagreement with the Council’s proposed changes as:
- Impact on wildlife
- Noise and nuisance
- Concerns about pack behaviour.
Despite the consultation process finding that the community overwhelmingly opposes the Council’s proposed changes, the officers are recommending that the Council still proceed with the Prescribed dog rules which will allow people to keep up to four dogs with Council approval (for show dogs, agility dogs and dogs kept by foster carers).
There does not appear to be any evidentiary basis for this recommendation. If the Council wanted to adopt only one aspect of its proposed changes, the Have Your Say survey should have been structured to find out community views on Prescribed dogs, separately.
Other items at the next Council meeting
Other matters to be discussed at the December Council meeting include:
Concealed water leaks (item 13.2)
Councillors will be asked to approve policy amendments which provides for some flexibility in “extenuating circumstances” for remission of water bills in the event of a concealed water leak.
The policy amendments don’t make clear whether or not this flexibility will include remission of the bulk water charge component of the water bill which is a State Government responsibility.
Perhaps this will be carefully and clearly explained during the Council meeting.
Cost of travel related to the 2032 Olympics (Item 13.3)
Because Redland City Mayor Karen Williams has been given a position on the Organising Committee for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games (OCOG) she “may be required to attend both Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to study and learn from other Host Cities on how the Games are organised and developed”.
Officers recommend that Redland City Council amend its policies to include such Olympics related overseas travel in the list of Core Specific Training Requirements funded by ratepayers, saying:
“It is anticipated that the delegate [Mayor Karen Williams] would be expected to undertake one or two study tours per year in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and that an annual amount be determined at budget deliberations to accommodate Council’s commitment to the OCOG study tours.”
Koala Conservation / Action Plan 2022-2027 (Item 14.2)
Councillors will be asked to approve plans for koala conservation over the next five years which aims to achieve a net gain in available habitat and koala population numbers by 2027.
Eprapah Creek shared pathway (Item 14.3)
This matter was contentious in 2018 including a petition to Queensland Parliament.
Now officers are recommending that Council approves a final alignment for a shared footpath and cycleway linking new residential estates in Thornlands to Victoria Point.
Southern Thornlands potential future growth area (14.5)
If you are interested in southern Thornlands then read the officer’s report for this item.
Regional sport and recreation precinct – Stage 1 (Item 15.3)
Councillors will be asked to approve an Expression of Interest (EOI) and restricted tender process for construction of Redlands Coast Regional Sport and Recreation Precinct Stage 1, Mount Cotton.
The officers report says:
“In June 2021, Council was successful in obtaining a $4.5M Queensland Government grant to assist with the delivery of the bike activity sub-precinct ($2.5M) and recreation sub-precinct ($2M).
Grant conditions stipulate the funded work is to be completed by June 2024, therefore these
works are planned to be constructed as part of Stage 1.”
The works funded with this State Government grant have to be completed by June 2024.
The next State Election will be held in October 2024.
Camping trial at Coast Road foreshore, Macleay Island (Item 15.4)
The Council has been investigating the idea of having a camping ground on Macleay Island.
At the Council’s November meeting Macleay Island resident Gayle Dean spoke eloquently against the proposal during Public Participation. You can view her speech on the meeting video recording commencing at time 35:50.
The issue is covered in a story published by the Redland City Bulletin:
Macleay Island residents say camping ground could be an “environmental nuisance”
Officers are now recommending that the Council undertake targeted community consultation with Southern Moreton Bay Islands’ residents and community groups, on the proposal of a basic camping trial for 12 months at Sandpiper Beach on the site (Alternative 1) in the plan below.
The proposed resolution says “subject to overwhelming support by Southern Moreton Bay Islands’ residents and community groups” the Council will call for expressions of interest to find a community group to manage and operate the camping ground.
Why doesn’t the proposal come back to a Council Meeting after the consultation has been carried out? Councillors (and the community) should get an explanation of the consultation process and the results.
Confidential items
There are nil, zero, confidential items listed for discussion in the agenda for this Council Meeting.
So far this calendar year, 42 confidential items have been discussed in Redland City Council meetings.
This is fewer than the 65 confidential items discussed in 2020 and the 87 confidential items discussed in 2019. May the trend continue!
Court appeals against development approval decisions
Council meeting agendas used to include a report on the status of court cases resulting from appeals against Council decisions on development applications.
This no longer happens but if you go looking on the Council’s website you can find this report:
SUMMARY OF PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEALS & APPLICATIONS AS AT 30 NOVEMBER 2021
About Redland City Council meetings
This Redland City Council meeting is closed to the public due to the Council’s interpretation of the State Government’s COVID public health directions and Local Government Regulations.
There may be an opportunity for public participation. Members of the public wishing to address the Council should complete and submit an Application to Address the Redland City Council Meeting no later than midday on the Monday before the meeting.
The ‘public’ version of the 15 December 2021 meeting agenda (including officers’ reports for non-confidential items) can be accessed on the Council website.
The meeting will be video recorded (except for confidential discussions) and this video recording will be posted to the meeting video recordings webpage on the Council website. Videos usually appear within 48 hours of the meeting.
The Council usually publishes the meeting minutes about one week after the meeting. Meeting minutes include the wording of all resolutions adopted and details of which councillors voted for or against every resolution – including the confidential items.
When published, the minutes will appear on this Council webpage.
Here are the contents of the agenda for Redland City Council’s meeting on 15 December 2021:
Redlands2030 – 9 December 2021
Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net