A big thank you to the many Redlands2030 community supporters and volunteers who turned out in force to the second annual fundraising dinner and auction held at the Redlands Baseball Club in Sheldon.
It was a sold out affair with more than 100 people in attendance.
Our guest speaker Kathleen Noonan, who is a well known Courier Mail columnist, delivered a powerful speech about the important role community action groups like Redlands2030 play in shining a light on government decision making.
The success of this fundraising event will help meet our ongoing administrative costs such as insurances, advertising, legals, printing, publishing and venue hire.
Of particular importance this will assist Redlands2030 in facilitating community action in response to the proposed development of 3,600 apartments on 100 acres of land to be reclaimed from Moreton Bay’s protected Ramsar wetlands next to Toondah Harbour.
We are very grateful to the local businesses and individuals who generously donated great raffle and auction prizes to make sure the event was a resounding success.
We have already started planning for next year’s Redlands2030 dinner.
Steve MacDonald
President – Redlands2030 Inc.
Redlands2030 – 16 August 2019
Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net
2 Comments
Power to the people. Let’s shake the cage of pollies from the three levels of government who support this shameful development. This week I was at Straddie twice once with senior International government officials some were environmental scientist. The other group well educated and informed young people both groups were shocked when told of the plan for Toondah
Good morning Mayor and Councillors of Redland City Council,
I’m not sure how to say this in a courteous tone but, while a number of you have worked very hard in your respective divisions, as a collective group of councillors you have made some appalling decisions that affect the residents of the Redlands, the diminishing wildlife and the unique Redlands environment. I am going to be blunt in my assessment and I think some of you will be pleased with my honest and factual information because you’re already aware of the growing dissatisfaction amongst the residents. If one or more of you wish to make threats towards me I have to tell you that I am not easily intimidated and I will not say anything that cannot be supported with facts. Also I will not single out any particular councillor because that serves no purpose when the aim is to improve the functioning of Redland City Council as a whole.
You are all aware that a survey of 600 residents by Redland City Council showed that only 19% were satisfied with management growth and development, a significant drop from 35% in 2017. An article leaked to Redland City Bulletin (31/07/19) indicated “that the council ranked far below average – 58.3% – in managing the city.” A council spokesman said that all local governments struggled with growth and development and council did not have full control in that area. However, some of the decision making within Redland City Council is heavily biased towards developers and I will use the latest case of councillor voting on Wednesday 7th August to demonstrate what can happen when developers requests are placed above those of hundreds or residents.
This voting exercise was recorded on video tape from start to finish and was later reported in the Redland City Bulletin (RCB) dated 7th August 2019. You must have been aware that it was being recorded and would be available to the public. It concerns the reclassification of land in a koala protected habitat from bushland to rehabilitation land. The developer, Azure Development Group, wanted the land to be reclassified so that they could construct 59 home units on the land and remove any remaining gum trees that obstructed construction. That land was heavily treed prior to 2013 but, according to the RCB report “tree clearing had been approved by the Council in 2013 and 2016, based on arborist reports. ”
Councillors of RCC quite correctly pointed out that now these blocks of land in question had only sparse vegetation and one councillor commented in the meeting that this 1.6 hectares, previously heavily wooded, now resembled a football field and clearing was carried out with Council approval.
Another councillor said he was ” quite amazed we are considering this because, as you all know, this is right in the middle of our Ormiston Koala Protection Area. There are koalas transitioning through that whole area and there have been 28 individual koalas identified. ”
What surprised me about this meeting was that a spokesman for Azure Development Group was allowed to give a 7 minute address to councillors before the voting took place. He made a case for reclassification of the land so that his company could remove any remaining trees and start their 59 unit development. No other speakers were invited to speak. The councillor who opened the discussion amongst councillors, stated that:
“the developer is new to the Redlands and I thank him for standing up before us today because we know it’s not so easy. He is prepared to come into the Redlands, stand before us and share that they would like to enhance the area as much as possible with offset planting and working with our councillor officers.”
The Mayor interjected councillors, stating:
“Councillors, just to be really clear, we are not reducing the habitat. It’s going from bushland to rehabilitation land. That’s legally required of us to reassess.”
A councillor speaking against the reclassification of this parcel of land then said:
“we all have different agendas. My agenda is to protect what is relevant to the area.”
A councillor speaking in favour of the reclassification then said:
“Nobody is downgrading anything. Nobody is offsetting anything. All the emotion that anyone wants to throw out about lovely, cuddly koalas will not change the fact that we act under a regime. None of that outburst was relevant.”
Then a definition of bushland was requested and given, which defined bushland as:
“land that is 2 hectares or more and has to contain mainly forested areas.”
This was followed by a definition of rehabilitation habitat, that did not really fit the 1.6 hectare lot under consideration. It said:
“rehabilitation land is 5 hectares or more with scattered trees.”
As an outsider I could see that councillors in favour of the reclassification were stating that this land, which was previously heavily wooded, is now sparsely wooded so it doesn’t fit the definition of “bushland.” However, it doesn’t fit the definition of “rehabilitation land ” either yet this was the only choice offered to councillors during the voting process. The dictionary definition of “rehabilitation” is “to restore to former condition” and there was no way that some offset planting of saplings along the western boundary was intended to restore this area in question to its former condition. So the classification of bushland no longer applied but neither did the classification of rehabilitation land. Some councillors saw it as simply a means to an end, as indicated by yet another councillor:
“this clearly demonstrates we are asked to approve the indefensible. The clearing as it took place, was approved by Council. That is what has resulted in us being in this position today. I do maintain some concern in my mind.”
Just before voting the original speaker in favour of the reclassification gave a summary, stating that:
As a council we value those koalas in that area. This reclassification is not going to change the habitat for the koalas we have got.”
As a biologist my only comment of this last councillor’s comment is:
“that councillor must be aware that the developer intends to construct at least 59 home units on that area of land. Those units will house people at some time in the future and some of those people will have children and dogs. As we are all aware, the biggest killers of koalas after loss of habitat are dogs and cars.”
As councillors with varying demands you are busy people, so I have visited this area to take photographs of the area in question and the adjoining bushland. I have first taken a photo of the bushland and then turned 180 degrees to take a photo of the cleared land. You can see the degree of clearing that has taken place since 2013, all with Council approval. Neighbours on nearby land have told me that the sound of chain saws was a regular sound over the last five years.
Also check the last photo of a heavily wooded area along Redland Bay Road in Victoria Point. Council intends to allow another developer to clear this land between Double Jump Road and Clay Gully Road so that they can construct a large housing development along side a road that is heavily congested during peaks hours.