The Right to know and Redland City Council

Concerns about governments and councils ignoring the community’s Right to Know lead this week’s letters to Redlands2030. Other letters are about professional standards and Capalaba’s development.

The Right to Know

The Right to Know campaign is long overdue, I just hope its not too late. I agree whole hardly that “when government keeps the truth from you, what are they covering up?

But there needs to be a broader call on the information to be released. The clever avoidance of full and frank release seems to be a weakness and it is rampant. What the community needs is assurances, like in court, that what is being given “is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.

The call to release details of secret deal behind the Toondah PDA looks likely to be in the courts for years. In the meantime, the community is left not knowing the implications of the deal between the developers, the State Government and Redland City Council. It is surely untenable that this deal stays secret past the next election!

I had was always believed that the greatest threat to our democracy was from outside Australia. But of late, and watching the “Right to Know campaign” unfold, I feel as though I was greatly mistaken.

Advance Australia Fair. Not likely. 

JT
Cleveland

Capalaba community gets no respect

Visiting Capalaba Park shops recently, a business woman complained to me about how Redland City Council now refers to itself as Redlands Coast.  Her question and mine is Why?

When we have long referred to ourselves, simply as, ‘the Redlands’.

She went further stating her opinion that our politicians have done nothing for Capalaba…zero, zilch!  

In my view she is right. There are few nice restaurants, too much traffic and from what I see, the place is saturated with fast food outlets.  If that is a result of Council  planning the result will have doctors hit with waves of obese patients and unprepared to tackle Australia’s multi-billion dollar obesity crisis.

Then, there are the parks in Capalaba.  These are neglected!

The local Councillor (Division 9) seems out of reach of most of the division’s constituents, as is the adjoining Division 7 Councillor.  

In my view they show no respect for Capalaba or its community. 

ACC
The Redlands

Professionals have obligations to the community

We live in a world in which we rely on professionals  in many contexts for a safe, healthy world. Unfortunately , we are also suffering a crisis of trust which frequently  involves professions  and those who appear as “professionals” within them.

Most frequently, the trust issues arise from undisclosed conflicts of interest.  The very existence of an undisclosed conflict involving a professional begins to erode confidence in the entire profession.

Clearly there are risks to such professionals  which may have repercussions for the individual, or firm.  They range from reputation risks which can destroy a career or a company, to criminal consequences, when clients or third parties are harmed as a result of unprofessional conduct.

To focus this down to a set of local circumstances, I believe we have a case which may or may not be unprofessional conduct, but where some of the stakeholders have no voice, and thus where risky behavior may go undetected.

When an environmental report is required as one of a series of professional input to a development proposal of one kind or another, it is interesting to contemplate the range of stakeholders.   Here’s a list for consideration of DEVELOPMENT STAKEHOLDERS:       

• The client
• The developer
• Affected neighbours – ie the Locals
• The local authority – the community – the public
•  Affected native flora and fauna…. ie The environment          

On the surface, the stakes are fairly broad for most development proposals, but seldom recognized, understood or regarded.  A true professional who expects the trust and respect of the public would, one would expect, pay some regard to the entire range of stakeholders when writing a report for a client, irrespective of who is paying for the engagement.

I have recently read two reports written by the same professional firm.  In both cases, the report states that no or minimal occurrence of a particular species was observed, although some historical signs of habitation could  be seen.  In each case, there was clearly a local population of this valued species known by neighbors and others, but the consultant recorded that none had been observed.

So is it good enough that  a narrow view of the environmental status of the site, one that suits the client’s requirements, is used as a trusted part of the evidence used in making a  decision about proceeding with a development?   Who is there to hold this “professional” to account?  Is it a lie when the entire truth is withheld?   

One cannot avoid the suspicion that the submission of such reports is all too common, not recording the whole truth, but a “sanitized” version of reality that suits the client.  

In the end, we all lose.

DC
Thornlands

More letters

If you have something to say send an email to: theeditor@redlands2030.net

Here are links to some letters published recently by Redlands2030:

• Toondah questions raised in letters
• Badness, gladness and madness in Redlands
• Adani and UNESCO inspire letters on Toondah

Redlands2030 – 29 October 2019