MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
The 4455 meeting of the Brisbane City Council,
held at City Hall, Brisbane
on Tuesday 2 December 2014
at 2pm
Prepared by:
Council and Committee Liaison Office
Chief Executive’s Office
Office of the Lord Mayor and the Chief Executive Officer
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE 4455 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,
HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2014
Dedicated to a better Brisbane
AT 2PM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS _____________________________________________________________ i
PRESENT: ______________________________________________________________________ 1
OPENING OF MEETING: __________________________________________________________ 1
APOLOGY: _____________________________________________________________________ 1
MINUTES: _____________________________________________________________________ 1
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: __________________________________________________________ 2
QUESTION TIME: ________________________________________________________________ 7
CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS: _________________________________________ 18
ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE _________________________________________ 18
A LEASE TO THE CHERMSIDE AND DISTRICT SENIOR CITIZENS CENTRE INCORPORATED __________ 40
B LEASE TO THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF BRISBANE ______________________ 41
C QUEENSLAND TREASURY CORPORATION CREDIT REVIEW OF BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL 2014 ____ 43
D PERMIT TO OCCUPY AND USE PART OF THE QUEEN STREET MALL _________________________ 44
E CONTRACTS AND TENDERING – REPORT TO COUNCIL OF CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES
FOR OCTOBER 2014 ______________________________________________________________ 45
F
2014-15 BUDGET – SECOND REVIEW _________________________________________________ 50
G ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN PROGRESS AND QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD
ENDED SEPTEMBER 2014 __________________________________________________________ 50
INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE ___________________________________________________________ 51
A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ARTERIAL ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE __________ 59
B PETITION – SPEED LIMIT ISSUES – GRACEVILLE AVENUE, GRACEVILLE _______________________ 60
C PETITIONS – PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AROUND CORINDA STATE SCHOOL _______________________ 61
D PETITION – INTERSECTION ISSUES – MOLLOY ROAD AND RICHMOND ROAD, MORNINGSIDE ____ 62
PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE ______________________________________________ 63
A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ACTIVE COMMUNITIES KLUMPP ROAD BIKEWAY ______________ 64
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE ___________________ 65
A DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION (DISTRIBUTER-RETAILER) UNDER SUSTAINABLE PLANNING ACT 2009:
PROPOSED CENTRE ACTIVITY – MULTI-UNIT DWELLING (52 UNITS), SHORT-TERM
ACCOMMODATION (101 UNITS), RESTAURANT AND CONVENTION CENTRE - 50 FREDA STREET,
UPPER MT GRAVATT – THE SOUTHSIDE UNIT TRUST ____________________________________ 67
ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE ____________________________________ 69
A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – 25,000 STREET LIGHTS RETROFIT PROJECT ___________________ 73
B PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL ENSURE THAT THE NORTHEY STREET CITY FARM ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED CONTINUES OPERATING ON ITS CURRENT SITE ___________________________ 73
C PETITIONS – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL FORMALLY NAME THE FORESHORE BIKEWAY/PATHWAY
BETWEEN CLIFF STREET AND MOORA PARK, SHORNCLIFFE, AS ‘LOVERS WALK’ _______________ 74
D PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF ADDITIONAL LIGHTING IN THE DOG OFF-LEASH
AREA WITHIN PERRIN PARK, TOOWONG ______________________________________________ 75
FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE _____________________________________________________________ 76
A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – CREEK ROAD BRIDGE COMPLETION UPDATE _________________ 77
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE 4455 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,
HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2014
Dedicated to a better Brisbane
AT 2PM
BRISBANE LIFESTYLE COMMITTEE _________________________________________________________ 78
A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – COUNCIL CABS AND PERSONALISED PUBLIC TRANSPORT REVIEW
AND PROCUREMENT ______________________________________________________________ 80
FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE ______________________ 81
A COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY __________________________________ 83
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS:____________________________________________________ 84
GENERAL BUSINESS: ____________________________________________________________ 85
QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN: ________________________________ 86
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN: _____________________ 87
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE 4455 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,
HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER 2014
Dedicated to a better Brisbane
AT 2PM
PRESENT:
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK) – LNP
LNP Councillors (and Wards)
Krista ADAMS (Wishart)
Matthew BOURKE (Jamboree)
Amanda COOPER (Bracken Ridge)
Vicki HOWARD (Central)
Steven HUANG (Macgregor)
Fiona KING (Marchant)
Geraldine KNAPP (The Gap)
Kim MARX (Karawatha)
Peter MATIC (Toowong)
Ian McKENZIE (Holland Park)
David McLACHLAN (Hamilton)
Ryan MURPHY (Doboy)
Angela OWEN-TAYLOR (Parkinson) (Deputy
Chairman of Council)
Adrian SCHRINNER (Chandler) (Deputy Mayor)
Julian SIMMONDS (Walter Taylor)
Andrew WINES (Enoggera)
Norm WYNDHAM (McDowall)
ALP Councillors (and Wards)
Milton DICK (Richlands) (The Leader of the
Opposition)
Helen ABRAHAMS (The Gabba) (Deputy Leader of
the Opposition)
Peter CUMMING (Wynnum Manly)
Kim FLESSER (Northgate)
Steve GRIFFITHS (Moorooka)
Victoria NEWTON (Deagon)
Shayne SUTTON (Morningside)
Independent Councillor (and Ward)
Nicole JOHNSTON (Tennyson)
OPENING OF MEETING:
The Deputy Chairman, Councillor Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, opened the meeting with prayer, and then
proceeded with the business set out in the Agenda.
APOLOGY:
308/2014-15
An apology was submitted on behalf of Councillor Margaret de WIT (Pullenvale Ward) – LNP, and she was
granted leave of absence from the meeting on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY, seconded by
Councillor Kim MARX.
MINUTES:
309/2014-15
The Minutes of the 4454 meeting of Council held on 25 November 2014, copies of which had been forwarded to
each councillor, were presented, taken as read and confirmed on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY,
seconded by Councillor Kim MARX.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-2-
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Mr Carl Dux - Development application for 71 Brighton Road, Highgate Hill
File number: 137/220/701/208
Acting Chairman:
I would like to now call on Mr Carl Samuel Dux who will address the Chamber
on the development application for 71 Brighton Road, Highgate Hill. Orderly,
please show Mr Dux in.
Please proceed, Mr Dux; you have five minutes.
Mr Carl Dux:
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to day, everyone. I've come
to explain the local community's objections to 71 Brighton Road, Highgate Hill,
which is a proposed three-storey backpackers. Most of you won't know Brighton
Road. It is a residential street of Highgate Hill. We live next door in 67 and
purchased it five years ago, and renovated an 1880s home back to its original
condition.
We purchased it safe in the knowledge that next door would be zoned lowmedium residential and provide a safe and comfortable place for us to live and
raise our children. A developer recently purchased the block, also zoned lowmedium residential, and they propose a three-storey 20-dorm room backpackers
on the site. Many of you will have stayed in a backpackers, and I imagine you
can recall there's often two or three sets of bunks in each room, so it contains
who knows how many people.
The feedback session closed with over 60 objections from local residents, and
many calls to the councillors. I implore you to read those objections if you can; I
know that you are all busy. I am not here to reiterate those responses. I am here
on behalf of my family and to also speak on behalf of the people who couldn’t
respond. The other direct neighbour is Housing Commission flats, and I know
most of those people quite well.
I realise your response is as practical as you can be in the process, but many of
these people can't respond. I speak for multiple people who can't read the signs,
let alone write their objections. This person with schizophrenia has a delusion
that if she responds in any way and objects, the Council will kick her out of her
home. There's a recovering drug addict as well who probably doesn’t need a
three-storey partying backpackers three metres from her flat. These people need
peace and stability in these homes, and it is currently provided to them with the
set up around these streets.
From my family's perspective, the proposal makes a mockery of the planning
code. It is a 24-perch block, which is the old small block with two cottages on it,
and they want to put a large backpackers facility. I don't want to spend long
reiterating the oversized floor plan, lack of setbacks, no outdoor areas—that is
all in the documentation. It is online. Even the Council feedback to the
developer was that this building was monolithic in nature that they were going
to build in the backyard.
I want to mention just two specific things: Brighton Road already has a
backpackers on the residential street, so I repeat that this application would see
two backpackers on one residential street in Highgate Hill. Some of you will
have been backpackers, and you might remember the itinerary is sleep in, get
up, see some of the great sights of Brisbane, grab some lunch, stop at the bottle
shop, have a big party in the afternoon. Most of us went to bed once the curfew
was put in, but then every night there were always a few who want to push on.
They get kicked out of the backpackers, they drink on the street, some of them
get violent, some of them get destructive. We put up with that.
West End has a balance at the moment that sits on a knife edge but is very
liveable. It's an exciting and dynamic place to live, but a second backpackers on
the one street would really push things over the edge for us and make it
impossible to raise a family. I can't raise two little girls who will grow up to be
teenagers with a three-storey backpackers overlooking our backyard.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-3The major thing I also need to present to you is the danger from the proposed
traffic solution. The block is small, and so a mini bus and industrial waste truck
can't turnaround. They have to back over the footpath. Vulture Street is a busy
street, and people rat-run up our street to get around it, so they come around that
corner at pace. We also have heavy traffic areas from the elderly people who
live in Tangara, which is a retirement centre on the other side.
I was a traffic engineer once, and I can guarantee you that the concept of risk
mitigation has been ignored in the traffic solutions that are being proposed.
Someone will get hurt or killed, and a litigation case really wouldn’t be
defendable because the code specifies that a backpackers must have a
turnaround. Some pretty smart people have sat down and worked through the
planning code for a long time. The fruit of their labour is that we have a plan
that is holistic about how Brisbane should be developed and doesn’t just look at
one single site.
This proposal not only seeks to change a residential zone into a commercial
zone, but break extensive codes in achieving the profiteering vision for the
developer. It has had a tremendous impact in a negative sense on my family.
We're finding it very stressful to deal with this. We don't wish for this to
continue on. We feel that the community has spoken to you, and we hope that
you look to protect everyone around us, including my family and all of the
people that have objected by just using the planning code and rejecting this
application. Thank you.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor COOPER, would you care to respond?
Response by Councillor Amanda COOPER, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development
Assessment Committee
Councillor COOPER:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair, and I thank Mr Dux for coming
into Council this afternoon. I understand that you are speaking about this
application at 71 Brighton Road, Highgate Hill. It was lodged on 29 June this
year and it actually was made under City Plan 2000, so it is impact assessable,
as you were saying. Of course, as the highest level of assessment, Council is
considering this application very, very carefully.
It is for short-term accommodation. I believe there was some confusion initially
as to whether it was to be a backpackers hostel, and that has now been
confirmed that it is the case. They are proposing 20-dorm rooms, a caretaker's
residence and six on-site car parking spaces. It is, as you said, in a low-medium
density residential zone, and in a Demolition Control Precinct, so it does have
those that do apply to the particular site.
But even under the new City Plan, the site would still be classed as low-medium
residential, so that is consistent under both plans. As the application is in a
Demolition Control Precinct, the proposal includes the refurbishment of the
existing homes, and in particular this application under City Plan 2000 is
actually flagged as not just impact but also impact generally inappropriate. So
the two dwellings are incorporated in the plan, and this high level of assessment
really indicates clearly that Council considers that what they are proposing was
not envisaged for this location.
I think it has just ended its notification period, on 17 November, and I believe
there have been submissions made, and in fact I think there has been a
submission made on your behalf which has been received by Council on
9 November; therefore you are a formal submitter to the application. You raised
a number of issues talking about inappropriate land use, the number of beds, the
con-compliance of the planning scheme, the proposed GFA (gross floor area),
traffic, the mini-bus access constraints, non-traditional building design, and lack
of car parking. So those are all really good grounds for you to have incorporated
in your submission.
Council officers have gone back to the applicant. They have raised further
issues. There was an information request that went out on 11 August, and it
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-4made a number of requests of the applicant to amend their application. Those
basically are quite detailed, and I think you are well aware of what those
particular issues are.
We have had a response on 3 October amending the application in response to
those, and the response to that is currently under review. So there has been some
changes proposed, but Council officers are still not confident that it has
addressed all the issues to their satisfaction and they are working through that as
we speak.
So, at this point in time there has been no decision made on the application. I
absolutely accept the comments that you've made today. It is something that is
of genuine significant impact to your family, and that will be very much
respected by the officers. Of course, no matter what the decision is of Council,
you will be able to then take action in the Planning Environment Court if you
are not happy with that outcome. So thank you very much for coming into the
Council Chamber today. I really appreciate the detail that you have gone to with
your submission, and certainly your issues are the issues very much that Council
will be focusing on in its assessment of the application. Thank you very much
for coming in this afternoon.
Mr Carl Dux:
Thank you very much.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you, Councillor COOPER; thank you, Mr Dux.
Mr Misha Jovanovic - Development application for 50 to 56 Dover Street, Hawthorne
File number: 137/220/701/202
Acting Chairman:
Our second speaker today is Mr Misha Jovanovic who will address the Chamber
on the development application for 50 to 56 Dover Street, Hawthorne. Orderly,
please show Mr Jovanovic in.
Please proceed, Mr Jovanovic; you have five minutes.
Mr Misha Jovanovic:
Thank you. Madam Chairman, LORD MAYOR and Councillors; on behalf of
residents in the Hawthorne Hill area, I would like to talk to Council about the
importance of adhering to the agreed City Plan and its supporting
neighbourhood plans to ensure that there is a right balance between heritage,
community and development.
I would like to draw you attention to a deeply concerning development
application being reviewed by Council at 50 to 56 Dover Street, Hawthorne,
which is covered by the Bulimba District Neighbourhood Plan. It involves the
relocation of two pre-1946 Queenslanders to very small lots and 14 apartments
developed behind. This has caused considerable concern and anger amongst
residents in the area.
In addition to 47 individual submissions online, 143 people have signed a
supporters' submission prepared by an architect and solicitor, and approximately
200 people have also signed a petition. Our story has been published in the
South-East Advertiser.
My family and neighbours are dramatically affected by this development. I have
met with many local residents and found many with similar stories about how
non-compliant developments had impacted them. We realise that this is a
growing issue, and we must act as a community to object to developments of
this type. The main concerns of this development are the sheer size, scale, bulk
and height of the building, and the flow-on impact of adding a building
comprising 14 apartments behind the Queenslanders dwarfing these residences.
The developer will be digging out almost the entire area of the hill so the
apartments will tower over the street. This equates to about 40 additional
residents on a small street resulting in increased traffic, inadequate parking, loss
of green space and several other issues.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-5The proposed apartment block is four storeys rather than the allowed two, and
has a grossly excessive GFA. The developer has not accidentally submitted
these plans; they know they are grossly over the performance criteria. Currently
there are no apartments in Dover Street. The predominant architecture is
character homes and some low-rise townhouses. The very reason people are
attracted to this area is due to the character, charm and ambience such homes
create.
There are many implications if excessive developments are approved. For
example, due to inadequate parking in the complex, development will add 20 or
more parked cars in Dover Street. This will take up a large proportion of space
in the street with only one development. Council must consider this when
reviewing applications.
There has been significant development in the Hawthorne/Bulimba/Balmoral
area over the last few years. Riding and Hawthorne Roads are at capacity. Let's
stop fooling ourselves that all new residents utilise public transport. Traffic
planning in this area has been totally inadequate. After 16 years in Hawthorne, I
have heard lots of talk about fixing traffic problems with very little action.
What is most alarming and distressing for residents is the aggressive nature of
this development and the precedent it would set. During the pre-comment
period, Council requested that the developer address a number of issues in
respect of bulk, the number of apartments and height, and the developer chose to
proceed with these changes. This shows total contempt and disregard for
Council guidelines.
Following the comment period, the developer has been given another chance to
change course, with Council writing to clarify unresolved issues. This includes
most of the issues the developer was asked to fix initially. How many chances
do they get? Council has developed the city and neighbourhood plans, and
residents expect Council will follow the very guidelines and performance
criteria they have set. We are extremely worried that, unless residents are
overseeing what is happening in the community, Council will waive
development through. Isn't it the job of Council staff to ensure that the city and
neighbourhood plans are adhered to? What are ratepayers paying for?
Governance is not just about having processes and systems for appropriate
decision making; it is also about ensuring they are actually followed. As our
elected representatives, we place this in your hands to ensure rigor in the
governance process. Recent changes have made proposed DAs less visible in the
community; this makes Council much more accountable. The local community
is watching to ensure you apply your own rules. We will ultimately hold you to
account.
In summary, I trust Council will seriously consider the issues I have raised.
There are many long-term local residents who are aware of the issues and want
action, not words. We are not anti-development; we understand the need to
increase density in a growing city. However, we expect development to be in
harmony with the local community and stay within the guidelines. Remember:
Brisbane's heritage, character and architecture is made up of all the small
communities who love Brisbane and needs to be carefully preserved. Once it is
lost, it is gone forever. Thank you.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor COOPER, would you care to respond?
Response by Councillor Amanda COOPER, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development
Assessment Committee
Councillor COOPER:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair, and I thank Mr Jovanovic for
coming into the Council Chamber this afternoon. I understand that the
application you are concerned about is what I actually have as 52 Dover Street. I
think you referred to it as 50 to 56, but I believe it is the same, exact application
at Hawthorne. It was lodged on 25 June 2014. It was actually made against City
Plan 2000, so this is an application before new City Plan came into force.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-6It is impact assessable, and it is being assessed against City Plan 2000 and the
Bulimba District Neighbourhood Plan, and as you were pointing out, it will be
an impact-assessable application which has to go through public notification.
Certainly it is an opportunity for the community to have their say and for
Council to see what those particular submissions outline.
It is an application for 40 multi-unit dwellings and two pre-1946 houses and a
reconfiguration of a lot from four lots to three. The two pre-1946 homes are
actually to be relocated within the site, so they are shifting those around I
understand, on the site, bringing those forward to allow development at the rear
of the property.
Under the Bulimba District Neighbourhood Plan, it is zoned for low-medium
density residential, and under that plan there is specific performance criteria that
the applicant can seek to address when they are making an application. So
they've got to respond to both the character code and the low-medium density
codes with this particular application.
I just wanted to clarify; you said that Council should not accept these sorts of
applications, but just to be very, very clear, Council cannot refuse to accept an
application. It is not obliged to approve an application, but it must assess that
application on its merits. The actual legislation is actually State legislation that
we operate under, and that legislation is all drafted around having something
called Performance-Based Planning, where there are acceptable solutions, or
now acceptable outcomes, or performance solutions and performance outcomes.
So that is mandated in State legislation across all of Queensland. So Council has
to operate in that space.
There was public notification that went from 18 September to 9 November. The
local Councillor, Councillor SUTTON, has expressed strong concerns about this
development on behalf of her residents. Certainly the Council officers' initial
review of the application revealed that they weren't satisfied with the
information that was supplied and asked the applicant to supply further
information.
That was formally made on 6 August, and very specifically in the information
request noted that the proposed development did not comply with the
performance criteria of the Bulimba District Neighbourhood Plan. So not just
the acceptable solution; it didn’t meet the performance solution under the
neighbourhood plan. So officers are indicating very clearly to the applicant—
and I think that is important that they say very clearly to the applicant that they
are not satisfied with what has been provided to Council.
So particular issues at that stage were building bulk and scale, shadowing
impacts and provisions of communal open space. There has been a response
from the applicant on 16 September, and then in addition of course to
considering those submissions, Council has responded again with a further
issues letter on 17 October saying they are not satisfied with the information that
has been supplied. So we are currently waiting for the applicant to respond back
to Council. Just to be clear, that is the process that we go through to make sure
that they are clear as to what Council's expectations are. We can't force them to
respond to Council. If they don't, we will make our decision on the information
that is provided. If it doesn’t meet the requirements, then Council will not
support that application.
It is a little bit confusing, but the process is very much about documenting
exactly what the issues of Council are so they cannot say at a later date that
Council wasn't really clear as to what we would require them to do in response
to that application. I believe there are 113 properly made submissions. They will
inform Council in the decision making process, but at the moment we are
waiting for that applicant to respond to Council. If they choose not to, then we
will make a decision based on the information that has been provided.
I totally understand where you are coming from. The local Councillor has been a
very strong advocate about this particular matter, and we do take these matters
very, very seriously, can I assure you of that. Of course, whatever the decision
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-7of Council is, you then have that opportunity to go through an appeal through
the Planning and Environment Court if you are not happy with Council's
decision. So thank you very much for coming into the Chamber this afternoon. I
really do appreciate your feedback. Thank you.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you, Councillor COOPER; thank you, Mr Jovanovic.
QUESTION TIME:
Acting Chairman:
Are there any questions of the LORD MAYOR or a Chairman of any Standing
Committee? Councillor HOWARD.
Question 1
Councillor HOWARD:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chairman; my question is to the LORD MAYOR. I
understand, LORD MAYOR, that you were presented with a copy of the
Parking Taskforce Report yesterday. Can you please provide a summary of
some of the key findings in this report, and explain whether any of these
recommendations will be adopted by Council?
LORD MAYOR:
Thank you very much, Councillor HOWARD, and Madam Chairman, it is
certainly the case that yesterday I was presented with a copy of the Brisbane
Parking Taskforce Report. At the outset, can I say that that report is online for
people to view.
I want to, at the outset, thank the people who so generously gave of their time in
the development of this report. As I said, in the middle of this year, in June, we
wanted to put together a broad-based group of people to come to terms with the
issues surrounding parking in our city, and to work towards the development of
recommendations to be presented to this Council by the end of this year.
I thank the DEPUTY MAYOR for his work on that committee. I want to thank
Mr Geoff Leddy of the RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland), as
President, for his involvement; to Madonna Stewart from P&Cs Queensland. I
thank Mr Trevor Evans from the National Retail Association; to Ms Joanne
Jessop from Multicap; to Benjamin Wash and also Wayne Crookes, from the
Taxi Council Queensland; to Graham Garrett and Brad Wyatt from the
Transport Workers Union (TWU); to Stephen Tait from the Chamber of
Commerce and Industry; Lorraine Duffy from Parking Australia; and Alan
Geyer and also Christian Kittel from Brisbane Transport (BT). All of those
people worked very diligently over the last six-month period to put together this
report presented to me yesterday.
The report is one which presents 55 recommendations. This morning I have
announced that we will, as a Council, accept those recommendations, and we
will over the coming weeks work towards a timetable around the rollout of those
recommendations. Within the report itself, there is a recommended delivery
timeframe, and the starting position is that I certainly respect the position that
each individual recommendation carries with it in terms of the taskforce's
recommendation of a delivery timeframe. So we will have to work through those
timeframes in terms of the practical rollout.
What I can say for certain is that, starting from 1 January, there will be an up to
15-minute free period for parking. That will relate to parking meters outside of
the CBD and also relate to King George Square and Wickham Terrace car parks.
What we found, evidence-based, is that 40 per cent of stays on parking meters
are up to 15 minutes. That is a very significant proportion. So, 7,715 parking
meter spaces representing 94 per cent of all parking meters will have that up to
15-minutes free against those meters.
That will not only be of benefit to the people who are wanting to duck into a
convenience store or a post office or grab a quick coffee, whatever it might be,
but also it will be of significant assistance also to shopkeepers.
Also on 1 January we will see an increase in the allotted time for people with
disabilities, where there is a carer potentially involved as well, to be able to have
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-8up to five minutes to alight in what would normally be a two-minute drop-off
zone. It is just a more practical period of time.
We will also start the tender process for an App development. That is around
more convenient payment methods for people utilising parking meters. So if
people are caught up in a shop, if they are in a meeting, whatever it might be,
and they need to extend their parking meter stay, they can do that by phone
under that arrangement.
Also on 1 January we will commence the convenient tap and go measures. This
is where a credit card can be utilised against all parking meters in this city, and
that again will be another added convenience for the people of this city.
Commencing at the start of the school year, next year, we will start to have an
engagement with schools around parking plans for each school. We all know
that out there at peak hours it is a nightmare around schools. We want to engage
with those schools and continue to work with how we can make things a little
easier. There are many more aspects, but that is the start of the plan, and I table
the report.
Acting Chairman:
Further questions; Councillor DICK.
Question 2
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chairman; my question is to the LORD MAYOR.
Will you give a guarantee today that there will not be one extra dollar of parking
and fine revenue coming into Council's coffers as a result of any of your parking
taskforce leveraging technology and enforcement recommendations?
LORD MAYOR:
Madam Chairman, I think a smarter question might have been: how will Council
in fact be paying for the recommendations in this report? Quite clearly—
Councillor interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
Well, that's what you'd like to think, Councillor DICK, because that's all you're
interested in. But can I just say that the announcement—
Councillor interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
—the announcement today was one where I said that, for those staying up to 15
minutes in parking meters, that represents about 40 per cent of all stays. We
know that from the factual evidence we have received out of parking meters.
That is the reality of these recommendations. There will be some costs
associated with many of these recommendations as well. Obviously we want to
try and move towards a simplified signing system within our city streets. I think
that is something that will also be greatly welcomed by people ultimately. Our
signs are very cluttered, and it has happened over many, many years now where
there has been more and more information added to signs.
By having a simplified version, I think that will be a tremendous step forward.
That will come at a cost, and that is why over the coming weeks I have to sit
down and work through, against the recommended delivery timeframes, just
how this city can do it. We will have to make budget adjustments in order to
fulfil the recommendations put forward by this committee. But again, I want to
make this point: this is the first time that any Administration has had the guts to
have a comprehensive parking review. There was one in 1992, and that was of
course before any of those opposite were in the Chamber.
Councillor FLESSER:
Point of order, Madam Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order against you, LORD MAYOR; Councillor FLESSER.
Councillor FLESSER:
Madam Chair, the question was not about 1992; it was asking the LORD
MAYOR would he give a guarantee today that not one extra dollar of parking or
fine revenue will come into Council's coffers as a result of the parking review.
Acting Chairman:
The LORD MAYOR was providing context in relation to what was required to
implement the recommendations from a budget perspective. LORD MAYOR.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
-9LORD MAYOR:
So, Madam Chairman, what I am saying is that there will in fact be additional
costs to this Council as a result of these recommendations; that is very clear. We
have to, as a Council, now work through those recommendations.
Obviously there is going to be a substantial reduction in revenue from the
announcements that I have made today. That is very clear. Up to 40 per cent of
stays are 15 minutes or less at parking meters. Again, those parking meters
relate to 94 per cent of all parking meters in our city. So, again, I do want to
make the point: it might not seem relevant to you, Councillor FLESSER, but it
is a fact that no other administration has had the guts to take this on, has had a
very detailed review. Whilst there was one in 1992, it did only relate to the
CBD. It didn’t take into account the broader parking issues. So, Madam
Chairman, I again reiterate my thanks to all of those people that have been
involved.
Councillor DICK:
Point of order, Madam Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order against you, LORD MAYOR; Councillor DICK.
Councillor DICK:
Madam Acting Chairman, I know the LORD MAYOR is providing context; my
question was very specific, referencing leveraging technology enforcement
recommendations—specifically that recommendation. If the LORD MAYOR
could give a guarantee whether we are expecting any more revenue off that
recommendation.
Acting Chairman:
The LORD MAYOR still has a couple more minutes left of his time.
LORD MAYOR:
Madam Chairman, I think the only thing that we can really guarantee here today
is the fact that the Labor Party won't come up with a parking policy. They have
all the time put on the table this issue and that issue, and they have never ever
come up with any recommendations of how they are going to deal with the
issue. So I am quite happy to stand here today and to say to you that this set of
recommendations will in fact be a cost negative outcome for this Council. That
is the reality of the recommendations.
Councillors interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
That is the reality of the recommendations. So I don't know whether Councillor
DICK, when the time comes to find the money that we need to to have the
surveys of schools across this city, whether he will support recommendations
around that or not. That will be interesting to see if he does support those actions
out there—
Councillors interjecting.
Acting Chairman:
Order!
LORD MAYOR:
—among the schools—
Acting Chairman:
Order! Just a moment, please, LORD MAYOR. Councillor JOHNSTON, if you
continue to call out and interject in this Council meeting, you will be warned.
LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:
So, Madam Chairman, the one thing that I can guarantee always in this city is
that if people don't overstay meters, there's no fines; it's that simple. It's that
simple. So, what we are going to do, though, is to give people the opportunity
where they are caught in a shop, where they are caught in a meeting, whatever it
might be, the capacity, that convenience, capacity, to be able to take the measure
of changing that circumstance, rather than have to race back to the car and break
the meeting or whatever, which often they can't do, or if they're caught up in a
transaction in a shop, whatever it might be.
So that's what we are about—making things easier. I thank the committee for
coming forward with these recommendations. We will be back with more in
terms of a rollout timetable over the coming weeks.
Acting Chairman:
Further questions; Councillor McKENZIE.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 10 Question 3
Councillor McKENZIE:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chairman; my question is to Councillor
SCHRINNER. In light of the release of the Parking Taskforce Report, which
puts forward 55 recommendations to improve on-street parking management
across Brisbane, are you aware of any alternative views as to how parking
should be managed?
DEPUTY MAYOR:
Thank you, Madam Chairman. That is a very pertinent question, Councillor
McKENZIE. What we have that's been presented yesterday by the Brisbane
Parking Taskforce is a document that wasn’t cooked up by someone inside of
Council; it was a document that came from community input, both in the form
of community submissions and residents' submissions, business submissions,
and then in the form of a taskforce which had eight out of the 10 members being
external people.
So there were only two Council people on this taskforce committee—that was
myself and a representative from Brisbane Transport. The rest of the members
were external stakeholders representing a wide range of the community,
including Queensland's largest club, the RACQ, which represents a very high
proportion of all Queenslanders, and is very passionate about the issue of
parking.
When Councillor DICK criticises this report, he is not just criticising me—and I
don't care if he does; he is criticising all of the people that put such a great effort
into this report. But obviously he sees it as the job of the Opposition Leader to
criticise, and I guess we can all understand that. But let's have a look at what he
said. Let's have a look at what the Opposition has said. There are two ways we
can find out what they've said. Number one, we can find out what submission
Councillor DICK put into the taskforce, and number two, we can see what he
said since the taskforce was released.
Councillor DICK, in his press conference today, made some very interesting
comments.
Councillors interjecting.
Acting Chairman:
Order!
DEPUTY MAYOR:
Ask what the LORD MAYOR and Council is going to do about the affordability
issue. I thought, hang on a second, the affordability issue? That doesn’t sound
familiar to me. Is that anywhere in his submission? So I read through his
submission two or three times; I couldn’t find a single mention of the word
affordability. No mention at all of affordability.
Did Councillor DICK say that parking meter charges were too high? Not a word
in his submission about that. Did he say that our Council car parks—King
George Square and Wickham Terrace—were too expensive? Not a word about
that. He didn't even say that commercial car parks were too expensive. No
mention about affordability or car parking prices at all in his submission.
Suddenly now there is an affordability issue. He didn't seem to think that was an
issue when he put his submission in.
Councillor interjecting.
DEPUTY MAYOR:
We did talk to the RACQ. The RACQ was part of putting this report together.
All Councillor DICK can come up with is an RACQ report which refers to
private, commercial car parks, not about Council. But let's see what Councillor
DICK did ask for. It was very much a back to the future submission. He said,
let's go back a couple of years in time. Let's remove the fee for parking permits.
Let's make them free. Okay, he's got a right to ask for that, I guess. So $10 is
probably the cheapest permit you can get anywhere in Australia. If he wants to
make them free, that's fine.
When you look at the resident feedback on parking permits, the vast majority of
responses were not about the price; they were about improving the scheme,
about improving the system. They were saying we need to make approvals faster
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 11 and more convenient, and we need to stop permits flooding the streets, because
we know that just a few short years ago there were 75,000 permits out there
flooding the streets, and that is far more permits than available on-street parking
spaces. So there were more permits out there; everyone had a permit, but there
were no parks. That means the system broke down.
We started charging a $10 administration fee; the number of permits more than
halved—around 30,000 permits, down from 75,000. So immediately that $10
fee has improved the sustainability of the scheme. Yet Councillor DICK wants
to go back to the 75,000 permits—no limits. He didn't suggest any caps or
limits; he just wants to go back to the future.
The other thing he said we should do is roll back the extended meter hours. This
was an initiative we specifically did, and we said it very clearly at the time, to
try and improve turnover in those extended hours. The situation we had—and
it's very clearly referred to in the report here—is that many places in the CBD
were experiencing full occupancy when it comes to parking demand.
Acting Chairman:
DEPUTY MAYOR, your time has expired. Further questions; Councillor DICK.
Question 4
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair; my question is to the LORD MAYOR.
Council's fines infringements are up to five times more than the police charge
for the same offence. You said you will implement recommendation 46 of your
Parking Taskforce which states you will work with the Queensland Government
to standardise the fine levels for parking infringements. Does this mean you
want the State Government to increase their fine levels to apply everywhere
throughout the State?
LORD MAYOR:
Madam Chairman, I thank Councillor DICK for the question. It is the case that
the police have certain opportunities, if you like, in terms of the parking
regulation in our city. But the fact of the matter is that police do really very little
in this space. They have other priorities as a police service. That, I think, if fair
and reasonable. I mean, I'd much rather the police, let's face it, be out there
doing what they need to do as priorities around dealing with issues of violence
and the other many serious crimes that are committed than to have to deal with
parking related issues. But they do have the capacity to issue a fine.
Their regime is different to that of Council's. That has often been a point of
contention, and whilst it is completely a decision for the State as to what they
do, can I just say to you, Councillor DICK, that I don't see this as one of the
priority areas in terms of the recommendations. It is a recommendation, that is
quite correct, but there are many other recommendations there that will be
having a far great priority in terms of the roll out of the recommendations than
that one.
It is one in which this Council will have no ultimate control over anyway. So
you are welcome to ask me the question today, but I would just this: it is one
which we would not have the ultimate determining and decision making powers
upon. There should be probably some consistency of fines in terms of that
regulation.
But what is of greater importance is, I think, the various recommendations that
will provide a greater level of convenience to motorists, a greater level of
opportunity for shared space within the road network. That is the biggest issue
that I think we have before us. So, Councillor DICK, that is the answer to your
specific question that you've raised.
Acting Chairman:
Further questions; Councillor WYNDHAM.
Question 5
Councillor WYNDHAM:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair; my question is to Councillor McLACHLAN.
Last week's recent storm event created significant damage in our city. I
understand that your portfolio has been working around the clock to get our city
back on its feet as quickly as possible. Can you please detail some of this hard
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 12 work so we can shine a light on the extraordinary efforts and the commitment
Council officers have made over the past days?
Councillor McLACHLAN:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair, and to Councillor WYNDHAM
for the question. Yes, certainly our field officers, Field Services crews, do
deserve our praise and admiration for their efforts since the big storm last
Thursday. That is on top of their work getting the city back on track after G20
and their response to a not insignificant storm through much of the city a week
later on 19 November.
We all witnessed what Mother Nature can dish up last Thursday afternoon,
certainly when she puts her mind to it. In context for an hour or so, and just
under 120 hours ago, a cascade of ice and water was unleashed on Brisbane in
what many have called the worst storm event to hit our city since 1985. But as is
typical with these intense summer storms that carved a path as it rumbled
through, it meant that some suburbs copped it really hard while others were
relatively unscathed. It was certainly terrifying for anyone caught out in the
open, but no less terrifying for anyone who had heeded the storm warning
advice to take shelter only to find that that shelter was not respected by the
wind, ice and water.
Fortunately and remarkably, no one was seriously injured in the event, the socalled super cell storm, that has been recorded as delivering a punch equivalent
to a Category 2 cyclone. I am certainly going to be making sure my emergency
plan and kit is upgraded after the event, and I am certain plenty of others will be
as well.
The damage to private and public property was quickly in evidence. Whole
suburbs were blacked out with trees down across power lines and nearly 75,000
homes were initially without power, around Forest Lake, Inala, Acacia Ridge, St
Lucia, Nundah, and others, with significant localised flooding, trees either
uprooted or left standing but completely stripped of leaves. Council properties
came in for their share of the damage, along with the private property damage.
The Local Disaster Coordination Committee and the Regional Incident
Management Teams, led by Asset Services staff, were quickly in operation on
Thursday afternoon to direct the resources required for response, well before the
storm clouds had cleared the coast. It was quickly apparent that between 50 and
60 suburbs had been impacted most severely. I won't read them all out here—
they are posted on the website. But it was clear the storm came in from the
south-western suburbs, headed north across the inner-west, the CBD and innernorth before it started to lose its punch.
Apart from directing SES (State Emergency Services) resources to people in
distress, the immediate priority was to direct resources to road clearing and to
unblocking drains, blocked by the quick build-up of debris. Brisbane City
Council knows what to do when these storms hit. The Gap storm and subsequent
events have left us with the legacy of experience and resources to deal with
these events, knowing the pattern is always going to be different, depending on
the storm's path.
The waste transfer stations were put on standby to accept waste into the night.
Bins for food waste were sourced ready for deployment in the suburbs where
power was lost, and where it was most likely, according to Energex, that it
might take at least 48 hours to be restored. Street sweeping crews were
immediately rostered on; crews from our tree maintenance contractor and other
contract teams were out at work with the remnant rain still falling to clear roads
and footpaths as the first priority of the clean-up. The morning light, of course,
revealed the full extent of the damage. This storm seemed to take particular
delight in whacking school property, and the glaziers of Brisbane will be in
business for quite some time, I suspect.
Our own Trade Services crews currently have over 30 jobs directly linked to the
storm's impact on Council properties. The top floor of Green Square in the
Valley was evacuated at the height of the tempest as all the windows blew in or
were shattered by ice, and we did lose some leadlight windows here at City Hall.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 13 There was water through libraries at Corinda and Annerley, and plenty of other
minor repair and glass replacement needs to be undertaken, including some
ward offices.
The full count of street trees and park trees lost is still being undertaken, but it is
going to be in the order of at least several hundred, with many more again
requiring significant maintenance and which may not survive. There have been
some parks that have lost all their trees, and significant trees have been lost in
the City Botanic Gardens.
Residents of the worst affected suburbs will continue to see recovery activity
under way, and these are examples rather than a full list. But the first sweep, the
storm ruined household items has been undertaken by our contractors, kerbside,
who have collected over 50 tonnes from kerbs in Salisbury, St Lucia, Taringa
and Yeerongpilly, to name a few.
Our Field Services staff certainly deserve our praise. They are always ready and
able to attend to these events when they occur.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor McLACHLAN, your time has expired. Further questions; Councillor
DICK.
Question 6
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chairman; my question is to the LORD MAYOR. I
refer to today's Courier-Mail headline which states your parking review has,
“failed to cut costs”. As you know, Brisbane City Council is famous for being
the most expensive place to park in Australia. Why did you duck helping CBD
small businesses by refusing to wind back the extra late night and weekend
parking meter fees that you recently introduced?
LORD MAYOR:
Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Again I have announced today measures
which are going to obviously see a significant reduction in revenue to this
Council in terms of parking meters. So, we have provided now an opportunity in
the CBD for people to be able to get in and out of the CBD by way of drop-off,
by way of a quick opportunity through that 15 minutes of free time within the
King George Square and Wickham Terrace car parks.
I note that the Labor Party have had every opportunity to put forward their own
policies in the past, and have failed to do so.
Councillors interjecting.
Acting Chairman:
Order! Order!
LORD MAYOR:
What rubbish.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor SUTTON, if you continue to interject, I will warn you.
LORD MAYOR:
You know, that's really, really interesting, Madam Chairman, because they of
course had every opportunity to put forward policies in the past and it is funny
that Councillor SUTTON should be interjecting because I've been asked for
guarantees today about no increases in fines, and there's Councillor SUTTON
out there this week asking me to increase fines on caravan owners—caravan
owners in her area. Of course, Madam Chairman, it comes on the back of
Councillor DICK wanting me to—
Councillors interjecting.
Acting Chairman:
Order!
LORD MAYOR:
—to throw the book at people out in his own ward on others.
Acting Chairman:
Order!
LORD MAYOR:
I can go through a whole list of them.
Acting Chairman:
Order!
LORD MAYOR:
I can go through a whole list of them, Madam Chairman. They come in here
masquerading as all things to all people, as in this question here today now from
Councillor DICK on the CBD, but when it comes to reality out there on the
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 14 ground, it's a completely different kettle of fish. They want it both ways—both
ways—have their cake and eat it too; that's the Labor Party.
If you were so intent on an improved scenario in the CBD, why didn't you
present a policy at the last election, for example? You had an opportunity. You
could have done all sorts of things about increasing parking opportunities—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order against you—
Councillor interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
I'm sure there is.
Acting Chairman:
Order! There is too much audible noise in this Chamber. Councillor
JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, Madam Chairman, Councillor BOURKE has been interjecting for the last
several minutes, very loudly. I can hear it on the far side of the Chamber. As you
have cautioned me—
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
—will you also caution Councillor BOURKE—
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
—for disrupting the meeting?
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, I do not need you to provide direction to me while I am
in the Chair. There is a considerable amount of audible noise in this Chamber
from a variety of sources on both sides. I called order, and I brought everyone
back to order. LORD MAYOR, please continue.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order; Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Just to be clear about the Rules of Procedure, I did not direct you to do anything.
I made a point of order under the rules in the normal way that I am supposed to,
and I would appreciate it if you'd treat my point of order with respect.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, I treated your point of order appropriately. I explained
that there was way too much audible noise in the Chamber, and I was bringing it
back to order when you called your point of order. I do not need you to direct
me or in any other way, shape or form give me your perspective on what should
be occurring while I am chairing this meeting. LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:
Madam Chairman, I just want to remind Councillor DICK of one thing: these
issues were canvassed over the last six months by this taskforce. The
information was on the table for that taskforce to examine in detail. We have
had representatives of the Retailers Association; we have had representatives of
the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry; we have had
representatives of the TWU representing couriers and others; we have had BT
representatives, Taxi Council representatives. In spite of all of these
representatives and RACQ included, at the end of the day there was no
recommendation that came forward around that point that you raise in your
question.
Again, I just make the point that we specifically went out to a broad-based group
of people that have met many, many times, and I again thank them for all of the
hours and hours and hours and hours that they gave up over the last six months
to be engaged in this taskforce. But at the end of the day, Councillor DICK, it is
not included in the 55 recommendations that they have presented to me. So I
respect your right to ask the question; I respect your right to have a point of
view, but I also respect the fact that the facts were before this body, and there is
no recommendation that has come forward in that regard.
We will, however, as part of the recommendations, be looking at having
discussions with building owners to see if there might be some easier courier
opportunities within buildings in the CBD. We know that there is this ongoing
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 15 tension in terms of space around buses, taxis, couriers and indeed, then, parking
opportunities on-street for people. So I again also remind Councillor DICK that
the parking meters themselves, and the cost of parking meters, has only gone up
10 per cent in 12 years. They were $4 back in 2002, and today, 2014, they are at
$4.40, so they have gone up 10 per cent over that 12-year period. I guess a lot of
people would be hoping all their other bills went up by just 10 per cent in that
period of time.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR, your time has expired.
LORD MAYOR:
They talk about costs; they are the facts.
Acting Chairman:
Further questions; Councillor KING.
Question 7
Councillor KING:
Thank you, Madam Chair; my question is to the Chairman of Environment,
Parks and Sustainability Committee, Councillor BOURKE. I understand that
Frew Park was opened to the public last Saturday. Could you please explain
why this park is such an iconic project for the city and the people of Brisbane?
Councillor BOURKE:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chairman. I would really like to thank
Councillor KING for that question. You are right: last Saturday we did open
Frew Park, the newest park in Brisbane, for the residents of Brisbane to enjoy. I
am reliably informed that there were crowds there early on Saturday morning,
well into the evening. I know that Councillor MATIC had an event there on
Saturday night as well. The feedback we've had so far from the comments I read
out in Committee this morning is that we've had many return visitors with small
children and parents going back every day since it opened last Saturday.
I just to refresh the Chamber's memory, Frew Park is a 3.5 hectare park located
on Milton Road in Milton. Council decided to purchase this site back in 2011.
At the time there were the nay-sayers, I am sorry to say, there were the naysayers in this place. Councillor ABRAHAMS and those opposite questioned and
queried why we would ever want to build a park in Milton. But the facility that
stands there today, the feedback that we've had and the support of the
community, all through the process and the consultation and the work that we've
undertaken obviously stands testament to the need for this particular facility.
So, in 2013, we undertook formal consultation with the community about the
design of the park as well as the particular design for the playground. That
consultation was done using Councillor MATIC's contacts into local schools as
well as the community to make sure that we designed and built a park that was
purpose fit for the use of the particular area.
What did we see in terms of the outcome of that? We've got a wonderful tennis
facility. So there are six tennis courts provided at this particular location; there is
a kiosk and pro-shop also. It is a two-storey building; has an air-conditioned
area inside as well as a viewing area and outdoor seating area, so you can sit and
watch the tennis, you can sit and watch the kids playing on the playground, or
you can sit and watch people mingling around through in the park. That facility
will be operated by Tennis Gear Australia, and they are already in there. There
are already people playing tennis on the courts.
We also saw the return of Stefan's tennis racquet to the frontage on Milton Road.
I want to acknowledge particularly Mr Ackerie's contribution to the city of
Brisbane, in particular, for that piece of history and piece of heritage. Many in
this Chamber would remember driving along Milton Road and seeing that
particular tennis racquet sitting out the front of the old Milton Tennis Courts. It
is great that we have been able to, as part of this project, return that particular
piece of heritage to its rightful place at Frew Park.
Frew Park, of course, is named after Mr Robert Frew who was one of the early
tennis pioneers of Brisbane, and in particular, of Milton, and also one of the
great champions of Queensland Tennis. He was President of the Queensland
Lawn Tennis Association as well. So we have acknowledged the forefathers of
tennis in this location. We have also acknowledged Wendy Turnbull in the
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 16 naming of the Wendy Turnbull Green, as well as the Roy Emerson Tennis
Centre and Tennis Courts which are located on the site as well.
But what really excites me about Frew Park is the playground. The playground
is called the Arena, and the reason it is called the Arena is because it is designed
to mirror the old grandstands that used to stand on the site. It is a unique
playground. It was done in consultation with the community and in consultation
with the children, and targeted particularly at the 10 to 15-year-old kids. But it
doesn’t exclude younger children if they want to try and play on some of the
elements.
In this particular part of Milton, we identified the need to have a different play
space. Gregory Park and Milton Park already cater for younger children, so we
purposely designed the Arena to have components and elements which target
that older age group. So there's a seven-metre high slide, a commentary box that
you are able to climb out on, and there is nothing underneath you except for the
wire mesh, and I am told it is quite an eerie feeling standing up there, as well as
climbing walls, slides and a whole range of other different facilities to challenge
and excite the children.
All of this can't have been delivered without great work by the Council officers,
and I particularly want to pay tribute to the very hard-working Council officers
in my branch who have seen this project through the three years of work, and in
particular, the ones in the design area of my branch. Of course, Frew Park sits as
part of our package that this Administration is delivering when it comes to parks
across the city.
With the $2 million all abilities playground in the CBD Botanic Gardens, Frew
Park, our upgrades to White Hills Reserve, Calamvale District Park, Ken
Fletcher Park, as well as countless other playground upgrades right across the
city, no one can doubt the commitment of the LORD MAYOR and this
Administration to upgrading and improving our park facilities across the city for
all of Brisbane's residents.
Acting Chairman:
Further questions; Councillor DICK.
Question 8
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chairman; my question is to the LORD MAYOR.
Recommendation 22 of your Parking Taskforce Review states you will cap the
number of residential parking permits in new parking permit areas to one
residential permit and one visitor permit. This is in contrast to the rules
obviously for existing parking permit areas. Why are you creating a two class
parking permit regime?
LORD MAYOR:
Well, Madam Chairman, I thank Councillor DICK for the question. What it does
is it says that where there are existing developments in place, there is an existing
set of rules in relation to those developments. But it is a case of where there are
new developments, where applications are lodged after 31 March next year. If
people are buying in, in those unit developments, they need to be conscious of
the parking arrangements at those units. It's as simple as that.
If you've got two or three cars, there is not much point in buying a unit with one
car space. That is perfectly fair and perfectly reasonable. It is on the basis of
this, Councillor DICK, why should people, if they are buying a unit with a
particular set of circumstances, then expect the rest of the community to solve
their problems for them in terms of the number of cars that they have? There are
all sorts of living opportunities we have across the city. If your personal
circumstances mean that you have three or four cars in the family, as some do,
then you need to make arrangements accordingly that have the capacity to house
those cars. Otherwise, if that is not the case, you have a real problem in our
streets, and we know that.
So what this, I believe, will do is that if there is a market demand out there for a
certain product, the circumstances will drive that demand. That is where we
have created this situation. So where people are in an existing development,
where the rules are in place, we should not retrospectively change those rules.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 17 But where there is a new development, people need to go in and to buy with
their eyes open, because it is the old story again: there is no point in having a
plethora of permits hanging around out there if you don't have the space on the
streets for those vehicles. People have got to understand that.
We are certainly going to encourage people when they buy into a development
to understand exactly what they are buying into. If it is that the demand then
says out there that there is a need for more car parks within those developments,
that will happen. The market will sort that out. So that is why, Councillor DICK,
we are having a new set of arrangements from this time forth. We know that the
existing arrangements—and let me point to some examples where the Labor
Party created Kelvin Grove. This was a big social experiment. This was the
roads diet we're all deemed to have, according to Councillor ABRAHAMS.
Councillor Hinchliffe went out there as well as the Planning Chairman around
those times and promoted this low-car environment; just don't have any car
parks and it will all sort itself out. But then I was confronted, when I became
Deputy, I was confronted with petition after petition from people and businesses
in that area wanting parking meters put in because there were simply no spaces.
That is what happened. I've got all the letters to show that. That is what
happened from that experiment. So the fact of the matter is that permit systems
are not working where there are more cars than there are spaces.
Councillor interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
Yes, that is exactly right, Councillor ABRAHAMS. You will remember the
arguments that we had when Campbell Newman and I came into that as
minority members of that Cabinet, and we argued with you and we argued with
Councillor FLESSER and many others week after week about how there needed
to be more car parks put into some of these developments. We had those
arguments out week after week after week.
It happened, you remember them, Councillor ABRAHAMS; you remember
them very, very well. There were some donnybrook arguments about it. But the
reality is that, into the future, that will be the situation, Councillor DICK.
Acting Chairman:
Further questions; Councillor MARX.
Question 9
Councillor MARX:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair; my question is to the Chairman of Field
Services Committee, Councillor McLACHLAN. I understand that Brisbane has
won the following awards in the National Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable
Cities Awards 2014: the Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention Award, the
Energy Innovation Award, and the Australian Sustainable City Award 2014,
which is the overall award for being Australia's most sustainable city. This is
outstanding news, and an endorsement of this Administration's policies. Could
you please provide further details about what these wins mean for our city?
Councillor McLACHLAN:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair, and to Councillor MARX for the
question. Yes, indeed, I am very pleased to be able to announce, as was flagged
last week, that we've been successful in the Keep Australia Beautiful Awards,
the sustainable city awards. We have taken out the big award—and I must be
careful about splinters here on the recycled timber frame—but this is the award
for the overall winner—Brisbane City Council, Australian Sustainable Cities
Awards, and also the other awards as mentioned by Councillor MARX, the
Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention Award, which we did win last year as well,
and to cap it off, the right way around, the Energy Innovation Award.
So three major awards for Brisbane City Council, and in particular the
Sustainable Cities Award, the big kahuna award. They are great awards. Dame
Phyllis Frost of course was the founder of Keep Australia Beautiful over 40
years ago. That award is named after her. The judge is particularly impressed by
our work in litter prevention, and the presentation that we made was built
around the contribution of our waste and resource recycling crews, but not just
those crews; this is a whole of Council event. We put in a submission that was
based on everything that is being in Council, and we were awarded accordingly.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 18 I can do no more than read from the press release that was put out by Keep
Australia Beautiful, and it says this: “The crowning of Brisbane City Council as
the Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Sustainable City 2014 has been
welcomed as a well-deserved win for the city. Brisbane City performed strongly
across all categories, and has also emerged as outright winner of the two
categories, the Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention and Energy Innovation. It's
programs are rooted in strategic plans and communicated to the community, the
elected representatives, thus committing themselves publicly to work towards a
more sustainable future, and empowering staff to do great work to achieve these
outcomes.
“All cities have room for improvement, and Brisbane has been working to
improve all its operations plus push further ahead in the areas that it was already
showing leadership and excellence in”, says the Australian Sustainable Cities
judge, Cameron Little.
Also—and I will table this report—this is the judge's report that goes to the
rationale behind the crowning of Brisbane City Council as Australia's most
sustainable city. We were up against some very stiff competition from the other
states. We were the representative of Queensland, representing Queensland in
this competition, but there were very strong submissions also from the other
state finalists: the City of Glenorchy in Tasmania, Brimbank for Victoria,
Palmerston for Northern Territory, Manly for New South Wales, Bunbury for
Western Australia, and Holdfast Bay for South Australia. They were all strong
competitors for this award, but Brisbane was able to prove by its overall
philosophy, it's overall strategy, that we are doing great things as recognised by
the judge who went around the visit all the finalists to see how they were
performing.
The judge has admitted to some issues of dealing with the difference between a
very large council covering a whole area and smaller councils that were putting
in projects, if you like, and showing their philosophic intent. But what was most
impressed upon the judge was that philosophy of Council, that the big city
Green Heart was certainly shining in his estimation as he looked at all the things
that we are doing, and led him to the conclusion that we were the deserved
winners. If I may just repeat one more quote from the judge, which everybody
will have the chance to read: the breadth and depth of Brisbane's engagement
with improving the sustainability of its operations, particularly an unusually
wide range of energy innovations, has set it apart in 2014.
Brisbane, as I said, and he says, is an unusual case in that that is one city council
servicing the entire state capital city, but this gives it both challenges and
opportunities, and those we've certainly been able to take. Mr Little, the judge,
was particularly impressed by the recently announced CBD cooling program
which is a great innovation and which, when we host the sustainable cities
awards here in Brisbane this time next year, I am sure all those who are the state
finalists for the other states will be most impressed when they have the chance
to come and see what we can do here in Brisbane to be Australia's most
sustainable city.
Acting Chairman:
That ends Question Time.
CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS:
ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK), Chairman of the Establishment and
Coordination Committee, moved, seconded by the DEPUTY MAYOR (Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER), that
the report of the meeting of that Committee held on 24 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Chairman.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 19 Acting Chairman:
Point of order, Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, Madam Chairman; pursuant to section 41(1) of the Meetings Local Law,
through you I seek the following information from the LORD MAYOR. In the
second review budget report at section 8.4.1.1 Enhancing Council Project
Delivery, your report states about the G20 operations that $727,000 in expected
reimbursements has not materialised for Council. Can you please advise the
Council which level of government, or which agency, has failed to reimburse
Council for G20 expenses?
LORD MAYOR:
Thanks very much, Madam Chairman.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
And—point of order, Madam Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order; Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Thank you.
Declaration of Material Personal Interest in Clause E- CONTRACTS AND TENDERING – REPORT
TO COUNCIL OF CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES FOR OCTOBER 2014- Councillor
Nicole JOHNSTON
Councillor JOHNSTON:
I note that in the E&C Report, item E, that there is a contract that has been
awarded to a subsidiary of Thiess. I am a shareholder in Leighton Holdings, the
parent company of Thiess. I do not believe this is a material personal conflict of
interest, but I'd like to place it on the record.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you. LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:
Thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Just in relation to the question raised by
councillor JOHNSTON, a significant proportion of the decrease in revenue can
be attributed to the fact that the Federal Government's initial request for BT
buses and drivers was scaled back in recent months resulting in less revenue but
also less BT expense.
Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON remained in the meeting room and associated public places for the duration of
the debate on Clause E.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you, LORD MAYOR.
Councillor MURPHY:
Yes, point of order, Madam Acting Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order, Councillor MURPHY?
Seriatim – Clauses C, D, E, F and G
Councillor Ryan MURPHY requested that Clause C, QUEENSLAND TREASURY CORPORATION CREDIT
REVIEW OF BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL 2014, Clause D, PERMIT TO OCCUPY AND USE PART OF
THE QUEEN STREET MALL, Clause E, CONTRACTS AND TENDERING – REPORT TO COUNCIL OF
CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES FOR OCTOBER 2014, Clause F, 2014-15 BUDGET –
SECOND REVIEW, Clause G, ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN PROGRESS AND QUARTERLY
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 2014, be taken seriatim for voting
purposes.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR.
Councillor SUTTON:
Point or order, Madam Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order, Councillor SUTTON.
Councillor SUTTON:
Yes. Councillor SIMMONDS knows about this point of order, just with one of
those contracts, the same contract that Councillor JOHNSTON referenced.
There is a figure missing. There is no value on the contract. Actually, you were
in the Committee this morning where we asked about that, too, whether or not
that can be provided early in the debate.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 20 Acting Chairman:
Certainly the LORD MAYOR may be able to respond to that during his speech.
Thank you, Councillor SUTTON. LORD MAYOR, would you like to
commence now?
LORD MAYOR:
Sure. Madam Chairman, the reason that there is no cost against it is because
there is no cost to Council.
Just before coming to the report itself, can I make a number of comments. Often
in this place we talk about economic development; I talk about the Access and
Inclusion Plan, and probably we talk least the issues of sustainability. I think it's
a demonstration today, the fact that we have over the last week been awarded as
Australia's most sustainable city, that whilst we maybe have been a little less
short on talk than we perhaps should have been, even, the runs are on the board.
It is of some great honour, I think it should be, to all Brisbane people that we
have been provided with this award as Australia's most sustainable city. It does
reflect on the work of our Council officers in many areas of Council. It also
reflects very much upon the CitySmart team. I want to acknowledge the work of
Jim McNoulty. Jim has recently resigned as Chairman of CitySmart after many
years now in that role, and I just want to pay a debt of thanks to him for the
enthusiasm and the passion that he has brought to that. I want to thank Megan
Houghton and her team for their ongoing efforts as well.
But that award really reflects a whole range of different Council areas.
Sustainability has been built into this budget now and retained in terms of our
commitment to renewable energy and across our operations and those types of
things, the water cooling project being the most recent of those. I just simply say
thank you to all of those that have been involved.
Also on the issue of thanks, I want to thank all Councillors—some more than
others, perhaps; there has been one hell of a storm of course in the city last
Thursday night, and some of us got off pretty scot-free within our own homes,
within our own areas, but others have been very, very significantly affected. I
noted yesterday, as of about lunchtime, the number of insurance claims were up
to about 40,000, and over $200 million in claims. So it has been another
devastating blow to the city.
I want to reiterate if there are any people out there who are vulnerable, people
who are infirm, people who might have disability who need assistance in terms
of the clean-up within their home, we need to know of those people. Again, as I
have publicly stated a few times now, people are to ring the contact centre so
that we can help them, work with them, to marry up volunteer assistance to get
them through this circumstance.
There are many, many devastated homes in terms of the requirement of
tarpaulins, and our SES teams have been working very, very hard with the
assistance of other volunteer groups—fire fighters, et cetera—and not only
volunteer groups but also professional bodies, so we thank people for their
patience. There is a big job out there to be done, and we will continue as a
Council to work through those issues. But to those Councillors that have worked
cooperatively and diligently in their own areas, I say thank you.
A few other issues—in spite of the massive storm, we were able to switch the
lights on the Christmas tree last Friday night, so the show must go on, as they
say. Over the coming weeks, there will be a plethora of Christmas events, and
we look forward to that celebration throughout the city.
The ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ in the Museum of Brisbane is something that I
would recommend to all councillors. It is amazing what people hoard. A
Brisbane person has just got these amazing number of original costumes from
the big names of Hollywood, going back to the 1920s right through to the 50s
and 60s. So Grace Kelly, Fred Astaire, Marlin Brando, Judy Garland, Barbra
Streisand, all the big names, so it is worth having a look. They are beautifully
presented. I have to congratulate the Museum of Brisbane for the way they have
presented it. That will be, I think, a very well sought after presentation and
offering at the museum as an exhibition.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 21 The other things I wanted to mention very briefly include the Brisbane Twilight
Markets. They are up and operating, of course, in the King George Square area.
We've got about 80 local artisans out there with a whole range of handmade
wares and fresh contemporary Queensland products. So I just acknowledge that
and recommend that to you.
Before I go on to the report itself, I want to firstly table the submissions of the
Parking Taskforce. So, thank you, Billy, if I could just trouble you to table
those, thank you very, very much. Item A is the lease to the Chermside and
District Senior Citizens Centre Incorporated. Council has agreed to transfer the
ownership of 545 Roghan Road from the Queensland Government, which
includes the Fitzgibbon Community Centre, pursuant to section 127 of the
Economic Development Act 2012. This is something that I think all councillors
will support. It is a provision of an opportunity there for that District Senior
Citizens Centre, so we wish them well with their lease.
Item B is a lease to the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of
Brisbane—YMCA. This is at 34 Folkestone Street, Bowen Hills. This was
assigned from the Strikers Sports Recreation and Welfare Association Limited
to the YMCA back in 2010. That lease expires on 1 July 2024, but the YMCA
have requested a longer-term lease to ensure that they are able to receive the
benefits of the recent facility development and able to appropriately depreciate
the new assets at Perry Park. There's been a number of people that have been
involved in it. I think Clem Jones Foundation were involved as one of the
assisting entities in that work, as were Brisbane Roar. Again, this is a pragmatic
outcome for that group, so it is here for the recommendation of Council.
The third item is the Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) Credit Review.
This review sets out how this Council is placed from a financial point of view.
Once again the review has revealed that our financial position is strong with a
neutral outlook. This has been the position we've had now for a few years, so it
is great to be able to retain that strong position within our city's finances.
One important point to remember is that this is an independent assessment of
our position by the organisation that lends us money. So they are always looking
at us with a watchful eye to make sure that we are doing the right thing. Some of
the review notes state that several steps have been undertaken by this
Administration that will improve our financial position. Some of those are
refinancing of QUU (Queensland Urban Utilities) loans so that QUU are
borrowing directly from Queensland Treasury Corporation; the transformational
projects, such as BaSE (Business and Systems Efficiency), that will deliver
significant benefits to this organisation over the next 10 years.
Also, the leasing of concession rights of Legacy Way and Go Between Bridge—
these are key components to making sure that we retain our finances in a very
strong position. The report also acknowledges that Council's infrastructure is
appropriately financed, and again commends the Council executive team on
their management of those finances.
Item D is a Permit to Occupy and Use Part of the Queen Street Mall. This is the
next step in the revitalisation process occurring in the Queen Street Mall, and
that is about delivering a number of benefits at no cost to ratepayers. As a result
of the Council partnering with stakeholders in the Mall, ratepayers and visitors
to the Mall receive at no cost a new Visitor Information Centre, a spectacular
upgrade to the Jimmy's on the Mall, and increased pedestrian space.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR, your time has expired.
310/2014-15
At that point, the LORD MAYOR was granted an extension of time on the motion of Councillor Ryan
MURPHY, seconded by the DEPUTY MAYOR.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 22 LORD MAYOR:
Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and thank you, Chamber. So the
arrangements there is that with the new Jimmy's on the Mall, Council receives a
base rent of $850,000 a year, and there is also a profit share arrangement beyond
$6.8 million in sales each year. So that is that one.
I acknowledge that those who were inconvenienced during that construction
process, I thank them for their patience. However, I know that there are steps
that have been undertaken to assist those people, including some free advertising
and the like to make sure that there is some recompense where possible at no
cost. Furthermore, Madam Chairman, we are going to be going through a
visioning process in the Queen Street Mall next year to just look at where it goes
over the next 20 year horizon.
Item E is the October Contract Report. There's a number of aspects to this, and I
will take a little time on this one, because there are some significant issues here.
Number one in the contracts and tendering report is a Landfill Gas Industries Pty
Limited. This is a short-term arrangement for landfill gas flaring and gas field
management at two closed landfill sites—Cemetery Road, Upper Kedron, and
also at Bacton Road, Chandler.
The purpose of this is that Brisbane City Council obviously is responsible for
the environment and safety obligations of managing the landfill gas emissions
from closed landfill sites. Council has a duty of care involving gas controls with
a specific focus on residential properties that are within close proximity to waste
boundaries. So Council has continued to actively extract gas from the
underground gas collection fields through the outsourcing of gas flare rental and
gas field management services. So that is that one. That has been the case for a
number of years.
The next one is awarded to Golding Contractors Pty Limited, this is for the
Shorncliffe Pier construction. That has now started on site. I guess you have
been keeping a bit of a daily lookout on that one, Councillor NEWTON, keeping
a watchful eye. In March 2012, Council closed public access to the pier. We've
now got to go through the painstaking process of replacement, and Part A of that
is to actually see the removal of the bridge. But there will be the construction of
a marine barge for the section from the 110-metre mark to the 350-metre mark,
but there will actually be a bridge built for the first 110 metres from which the
reconstruction work can take place.
Number three is the Waterway Constructions Pty Limited contract. This is for
the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade test piling investigations. This contract is for
barge and piling services for the Kingsford Smith Drive test piling investigation
to enable greater understanding of piling risks, productivity rates and vibration
generated. So these services are required as piling in the Brisbane River can be
challenging, and we found that out during Riverwalk, to the variability of the
geotechnical profile and some uncontrollable conditions. So Waterway
Constructions Pty Limited have been previously engaged by Council for other
relevant projects, including Tenerife Wharf, Brisbane ferry terminals—Bulimba,
Brett's Wharf and Hawthorne.
Number four is asbestos removal. This has gone to Ordanga Properties Pty
Limited. This is for the Bardon Community Kindergarten and Preschool, and
Bellbowrie Kindergarten and Preschool as well as Cannon Hill Kindergarten
and Community Preschool, Carina Kindergarten and Preschool, and the Acacia
Ridge Kindergarten and Preschool. This is the removal of asbestos material
from a range of kindergartens as listed, and its replacement with non-asbestos
material.
Number five is awarded to Michael Reid Family Trust ATF Crosana Pty
Limited, stabilisation of the upslope batter at Stuartholme Road at Bardon. This
contract relates to stabilisation of the upslope and batter. It is also to catch the
drain at Stuartholme Road, Bardon, to control erosion.
Number six is M&N Enterprises Pty Limited trading as Playscape Creations.
This is the supply and installation of playground, installation at Phil Denman
Park at Jamboree Heights. It is a new playground. It will be on a level space
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 23 within the park which was previously occupied by a half-pipe skate ramp. The
playground will cater for a range of ages, from toddlers to young teenagers, and
will be primarily based around pavilion style structures, with the under surface
to be completely rubber.
The structure will include a range of climbing, sliding and other imaginative
play options. The new playground will complement the existing facilities which
include a fenced dog off-leash area and some other facilities, including a
basketball half-court, cricket nets, et cetera. I should have mentioned earlier that
we opened Frew Park the other night, too, which was a great event.
Councillors interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
Bulimba ferry—it's all happening. Bulimba ferry, I'm slipping. I should have
been announcing these big things. Anyway, that's all right, they're all happening,
that's good. Christmas coming to everybody.
Number seven, Piling and Concreting Australia, PCA Pty Limited. This is
design, supply and installation of micro piles in Kelvin Grove Road at Kelvin
Grove. This contract is for the design, supply and installation of micro piles to
provide stabilisation to an excavated cut face and to support a temporary barrier
system. Contractors will be required to demobilise and remobilise daily as
traffic conditions are to be returned to normal by 5 am each day.
Number eight is the provision of repairs for a total of up to 390 MAN A69
compressed natural gas, CNG, and diesel buses. The purpose of this is Brisbane
Transport bus fleet includes a total of 390 MAN buses which are a low
emission, low floor, urban transit bus. The MAN fleet travels approximately 24
million kilometres per annum, supplying approximately 30 million passenger
trips. Brisbane Transport identified that the wheel arches over the rear wheels of
some MAN buses were cracking at vibration wells due to the manufacturing
fault, where the lip of the wheel arches was ground away to improve an ease of
installation.
Council officers also detected that there was an emergence of corrosion in the
sub-frame of the majority of MAN buses, most notably in the forward dash area
where a concealed windscreen washer, bottle and filled neck was found to leak
excess water, and that was causing rust. So we need to fix those, and that is
happening under this contract.
Number nine is Identity Solutions Australia Pty Limited for the provision of
Control-M Software licence for maintenance and support services. The ControlM scheduling software is the dominant batch task scheduling tool in the market
and is extensively used by key Council applications such as RIMS, Core Land,
EMC, Legato and the Contact Centre. The current contract allows for a
minimum of 250 licensed tasks. Council currently runs between about 160 and
200 tasks each night of the 250 licensed tasks that are available for performing
actions to ensure service levels are achieved.
The next one—and this is one that was asked about earlier—Cofely Thiess
Services. This is a central business district smart energy project. Council is
procuring an industry expert to contribute all capital and operating costs, and
bear all financial risks and other project risks associated with the design,
construction and operation of a district cooling system (DCS). The district
cooling system or other alternative system is a method of providing chilled
water from a large central chiller to a number of buildings for air conditioning.
The water can be chilled at night, reducing peak demand; it can be stored in
large thermal tanks and released into a large pipe network during the day for
distribution to individual buildings.
A DCS is expected to deliver a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, a
reduction of peak electricity demands, and economic stimulus to South-East
Queensland. Council expects to offer, or as part of the delivery contract, some
exclusivity rights in order to incentivise investment potentially creating a
revenue stream for Council and deliver the project.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR, your time has expired.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 24 -
311/2014-15
At that point, the LORD MAYOR was granted an extension of time on the motion of the DEPUTY MAYOR,
seconded by Councillor Ryan MURPHY.
Acting Chairman:
LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:
Oh, don't want to hear? Okay, Madam Chairman, the next one is the Hewitt
Associates Pty Limited trading as Aon Hewitt. This is a contract for the
provision of the biennial Your Voice employee engagement survey. One of the
key aims of the long-running survey is to measure how committed the staff feel
to their work at Council, and this has a direct impact clearly on the activity and
productivity within the organisation.
Provision of office supplies is the next one. That is just some stationery and
toiletry papers and the like. Contract number 13, J.J. Richards and Sons Pty
Limited, the collection and recycling of waste oil and oily water. Across its
operations, Council produces in excess of 156,400 litres of waste oil per year. It
is collected from nine sites on a monthly basis. In addition to waste oil, Council
produces approximately 475,500 litres of oily water which is collected from
seven sites on a quarterly basis.
The next one is the Solus Corporation Pty Limited, J Daniel Alexander Jack
Anderson trading as Lime Light Design Australia and Light Green Pty Limited.
This is about decorative lighting displays for the Story and Victoria bridges and
other Council assets. It is making sure that in some ways we follow up in
relation to the lighting that we've already produced in our city. People are very
much enjoying those light displays, and we've introduced it on City Hall
recently, and that is what that is about.
Number 15 is the EMC Global Holdings Pty Limited with Dimension Data Pty
Limited as the approved party. This is the provision of enterprise storage
infrastructure related products and services. It is part of our normal business.
Council has a strategy to progressively move away from the purchase of storage
and to move to a cloud service model, and it is expected that Council will have a
requirement for some time to continue purchasing storage and related services
and products.
The next one is Subloos Pty Limited; this is the collection and transportation of
dead animals. This arrangement will allow Council to continue its role in
maintaining Brisbane City's cleanliness and image by collecting animal cadavers
and transferring them to Council waste facilities. This arrangement also
encompasses the collection and transportation of animal cadavers from the
RSPCA and Council's animal shelters.
Hastings Deering is the next one—that is the supply and maintenance of
specialist mobile plant on a dry hire or purchase basis for quarries and asphalt
plants. This contract is the supply of a specialist mobile plant to meet the
operational requirements for Council at Bracalba, Mt Coot-tha and Pine
Mountain quarries and asphalt plants at Eagle Farm and Riverview—so all of
those sites.
The final one is Inala Wangarra Incorporated. This is a Stylin' Up Arts and
Cultural Community Youth Development Workshop and Performance program.
Stylin' Up is a nationally recognised significant event, award-winning, creative
arts and development program that provides opportunities for young people
from the south-west corridor to develop skills, tell stories, build confidence, lead
and inspire. The program aims to increase community awareness of an
engagement in the arts and cultural programs, as well as assist in developing
future skills and employment opportunities for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander young people, their families and the broader community.
Madam Chairman, the next item is that of the budget review. The
Administration continues to work hard around the Council's finances. During the
course of the year, Council officers have identified savings in a number of areas.
Some of those include a $230,000 administration cost with the Carbon Tax
removal that we have saved. There is a $1.5 million saving around the
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 25 Karawatha Forest Environmental Centre. There has been a $4 million additional
saving around Robinson Road Railway Crossing project. There has also been a
$4.4 million additional saving around Telegraph Road open level railway
crossing project.
We had a $1.85 million saving in land acquisition from the Bridgman Road
Stage 1 and Beckett Road widening, and also the Padstow and Warrigal Road
intersection upgrades that have been incorporated. Also, Council has received
some extra revenues at a State level. We got $402,000 from the Catchment and
Flood Risk Management plans. We have received $320,000 from the
maintenance and enhanced flood models. Telemetry gauges and warning
devices, we received $43,000, and DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)
compliant ferry terminals of a $477,000 contribution there.
Importantly in this budget review, we have also brought forward $8 million for
the purchase of properties as part of the Wynnum Road Stage 1 upgrade. So that
has been brought forward from 2016-17 into this 2014-15 year budget.
The first quarterly report, there is a number of aspects to that. If you go to the
ratios in terms of the particular area, if we look at the interest coverage where
we have a target of less than 10, that has come in at 5.92 per cent. With debt
servicing to total income, where we expect it to be less than 33 per cent, it has
come in at 13.16 per cent. Net debt to total income, where we hope and expect it
to be less than 150 per cent, it is currently at 107.9 per cent. Working capital,
where it has got to be more than one, it is currently 1.5; total assets to total
liabilities, where we hope it will be more than three, it is currently at 7.13, and
the average debt maturity, where we expect it to be less than 15 years, it is
currently at 13.99 years.
They are the headline areas, Madam Chairman, in relation to the first quarterly
report. Just to conclude, I am pleased to say that there are a number of projects
there that I mentioned previously in the budget review that we are seeing some
savings and that has been reflected, of course, in this quarterly report.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate; Councillor DICK.
Councillor DICK:
Thanks, Madam Acting Chair. I am going to touch on a few things and spend
most of my time on clause C and also I want to get through, if I can, the Second
Budget Review, and clause G, the Annual Operational Plan and Progress
Quarterly Financial Report for the period ended September 2014.
I will first start off by going through the Queensland Treasury Corporation. The
first thing I want to say is QTC is a finance company. The 2014 review isn’t a
report on whether Council is spending its money wisely; it's a report on how
risky or not QTC's huge borrowings are to this Council.
Councillor interjecting.
Councillor DICK:
On page one of the document, they make it perfectly clear that this Council has
a guaranteed revenue source as a government, and we are being able to gouge at
will into the pockets of Brisbane ratepayers. I draw your attention to page seven
If you look at the previous and forecast rates increases on page seven, you can
see that this LORD MAYOR has absolutely no hesitation in increasing rates to
pay for his toll tunnel debt misery.
The figures in the QTC report don't lie. We know back in 2011-12 this LNP
Council raked in around $769 million in Council rates. But this year, fast
forward, the budget set by the LNP, controlled by the LORD MAYOR and his
massive majority, will collect around $911 million. So that is an 18.4 per cent
increase in just four years. I think it is a realistic expectation that the community
ask, and the ratepayers that we serve in this place, what has the extra $142
million in rates revenue been spent on?
I think when you ask that question, and you go out to the community and you
ask people what has that extra money been spent on, they know the answers: it
hasn't been spent on them. It hasn't been spent on their suburbs. They know that
there's been cuts to services, cuts to maintenance, cuts to public transport, and
we know through report after report that we've even sold off the toll projects at
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 26 huge write-downs that were supposed to pay off this debt. Never any answers
about how we're going to pay off this debt.
The report also shows that the Council has written off a massive $1.246 billion
from the sale of Legacy Way and the Go Between Bridge. That is $1.246 billion
lost from ratepayers' asset base. I didn't catch that in the LORD MAYOR's
speech today. I didn't catch that on the website. I didn't catch that on any of the
App Team Quirk tweets or anything to do with that, and certainly I didn't see a
media release coming clean on the huge loss of Council assets. But maybe that
was an oversight. Maybe it was just one of those things, or perhaps the LORD
MAYOR doesn’t think it's important. Well, we know it is a very, very big deal.
The QTC report also shows that the Council still owes $432 million for the
Clem7 Tunnel, $252 million for the Go Between Bridge, and $891 million for
the Legacy Way Tunnel, even after we received the $400 million grant from the
Federal Government. The new owners of the toll roads, Queensland Motorways,
have predicted Council will only receive just $428 million from the sale of
Legacy Way and the Go Between Bridge, yet our toll road debts are still total
around $1.575 billion. So, even if we are to believe the LNP's inflated prediction
that we will get around $930 million, we know that ratepayers have suffered a
huge massive loss on these projects.
So, Madam Acting Chair, who is going to pay for these write-downs, losses and
debt? Well, we know the answer to that, and it will be ratepayers with everincreasing rate increases. You only need to turn to page seven to see how people
will continue to be slugged time and time again into the future. Page one of the
report also makes a bit of a curious statement, and I draw the Chamber's
attention to the first dot point about halfway down, where it says—and we know
the LORD MAYOR has gone pretty quiet on this since it was announced in the
budget, gone to ground—that with ever-increasing rate increases, we know that
the headline debt figure on page one, where it makes the curious statement that
we will transfer the debt of 85 per cent to QUU.
So we know that QUU is owned by 85 per cent of Council and we'll be
transferring our debt. Remember the big promise during the budget and the
budget speech, and it was all going to happen. Well, we know that we've stalled
on that. We know by reading through the report that we're still waiting and
seeing. Well, I don't think that's good enough. Instead of the Christmas lights
and all sorts of nonsense and great awards that this Council is winning, it would
be great if this LORD MAYOR and this Council could actually bring in
meaningful reports to this Council, update the Council Chamber, update what it
says.
We know that the QTC understands that the QUU has not yet fully considered
or agreed to the transaction. Well, fast forward from the budget six months ago.
The LORD MAYOR is not referring to that today. We are not having any
updated information. So why hasn't QUU taken some leadership on this? Why
haven’t we received information on this?
We know that the report shows that Council debt is sitting at around a massive
$2.614 billion, and let's always remember, Madam Acting Chair, this Council
was debt free back in 2010—debt free. Yet, under the LNP, the masters of debt,
the people who are addicted to debt—we get a lot of lectures, a lot of lectures,
from the LNP across all levels of government about being good economic
managers. Well, this Council does not fit into that model, and we know that. The
ratepayers are working this out every single day.
We know that the QUU board have not yet signed off on the deal, which I find
extremely curious, considering that we know that this Council has an 85 per cent
stake in it, and clearly has the influence to ensure that if this so-called deal is
proceeding, that we have seen some delays. I would like an explanation from the
LORD MAYOR about where we are exactly up with that; what is the status of
that; what is QUU doing?
We know if this deal proceeds, Council's debt does not reduce by one single
cent. We know all the deal does is move the Council debt in QUU to the QTC. I
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 27 certainly hope that this LORD MAYOR and this LNP Council aren't thinking
that they're going to pull wool over the eyes of the Brisbane ratepayer, because
we believe that this is nothing more than just a slick accounting trick—slick
accounting trick.
So the Council should really note the honesty in the QTC about the real
operating deficit in the last financial year. Once again we have seen a predicted
budget surplus of around $12 million turn into an $80 million deficit. So the
term 'operating deficit' has a more common place meaning. I believe we are now
genuinely borrowing to keep the lights on. That is what we have moved from—a
$12 million surplus to an $80 million deficit.
We know that we will get the normal spin from Councillor SIMMONDS, you
know, real dollars versus old dollars versus 1991. But what the LNP never
actually do is talk about today, here and now and the future. We will get a
lecture about the past, we will get the charts done up that are never tabled, never
actually provided—all the spin, but actually not dealing with the tough issues
and the real black and white evidence which shows that this Administration is
not handling the city's finances in any way, shape or form in a satisfactory
manner.
It is not acceptable for a Council with a guaranteed revenue supply that we
know are running now up an $80 million operating deficit in just one year.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor DICK, your time has expired.
312/2014-15
At that point, Councillor Milton DICK was granted an extension of time on the motion of Councillor Helen
ABRAHAMS, seconded by Councillor Victoria NEWTON.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor DICK.
Councillor DICK:
Look, thank you, Madam Acting Chair. In my research that we've done, I've
never actually seen this happen before. I certainly don't recall it happening under
Frank Sleeman, under Sallyanne Atkinson, under Jim Soorley, under Tim
Quinn, and I don't actually believe it happened up Campbell Newman.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Point of order, Madam Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order against you, Councillor DICK; Councillor SIMMONDS.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Will Councillor DICK take a question?
Councillor DICK:
Madam Chair, I am happy to do it at the end when I get through all of my—
Councillor SIMONDS:
Ohh! I was going to help you out, that's all.
Acting Chairman:
I think the answer is no at the moment. Councillor DICK.
Councillor DICK:
Sorry, there's a huge agenda, and I did flag that earlier—
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor DICK:
Well, you'll get your turn.
Acting Chairman:
Please continue, Councillor DICK.
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair. So, and on cue, I know that somehow
Councillor SIMMONDS will be ready and willing and able to somehow blame a
former Labor administration or a former leap in history about an $80 million
deficit.
Acting Chairman:
To the report, please.
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair. So the LORD MAYOR really, and Councillor
SIMMONDS, we know are embarrassed, and should be embarrassed
surrounding this QTC report. It shows just how deeply this Council is in debt to
the QTC. We have now the firm evidence that we have all known that this
Council's addiction to toll road and the decisions made has simply been nothing
more than a financial disaster. It also shows the proposed so-called debt deal
with Queensland Urban Utilities will not save the Council one single cent.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 28 We know in black and white that this Council is running a massive $80 million
operating deficit. But worse still, Madam Acting Chair, we know that this
LORD MAYOR is simply happy to sit back and relax, sit back in the
comfortable chair and not take action on these issues.
I just want to turn now to the Second Budget Review and also the Annual
Operating Plan Progress and Quarterly Financial Report. The thing that most
stares out to me is in the Second Budget Review where we're seeing
$1.479 million being cut from this year's financial budget in capital funding and
pushed out to the next financial year for the Brisbane Improvement Projects, or
the SCIPs (Suburban Centre Improvement Project).
It says in the report, movement from this year to meet project milestones. We
know what that means. We know that Councillor COOPER, who is not
particularly good across the detail and is fast becoming known as the Chairman
for bad news in this Administration—not allowed to give any good news
anymore—
Acting Chairman:
To the report, please.
Councillor DICK:
—that we are seeing more and more problems. So if Councillor COOPER or the
LORD MAYOR can give an explanation in some detail about that. We know
that these projects have been botched over the last couple of years and keep
going from bad to worse.
In the Operational Plan Progress and Quarterly Financial Report, the big
concern for me is once again we're seeing bus patronage. Bus patronage, we are
way behind on target for this time of year—way behind. Actually, 400,000
where we should be. We know that this LNP Council has no commitment to
public transport; their only commitment is to reduce services and cut services to
the tune of around $20 million. We know we've got an annual target of 80
million passengers, and we know that this report is showing that we're way
behind on where we should be.
But there's also delays on Council projects, particularly in the area of
$1.3 million in WaterSmart; $761,000 to improve ecological health and
liveability of waterways and we know that this Council and this city has had
some massive negative publicity and also reports into our waterways. The big
issue here is $702,000 in major drainage—expenditure on the major drainage
construction projects, and $479,000 to maintaining closed drains. So this is core
business with the Council—over $1 million where we should be.
We only need to listen to the damage that we saw across the city; we only need
to talk to our neighbours, our residents, who know that maintenance is behind on
where they should be. Some $298,000 in maintenance and rehabilitate open
drainage. Also, when it comes to dealing with, particularly in the lead-up to
storm season, where we're prone to floods, why this Council would allow this to
happen is beyond me—absolutely beyond me, particularly in light of the recent
disasters that our city has just gone through.
But we know one thing: when you ever read these reports, we always know we
get more revenue than we anticipate—in fines, penalties and fees. You can set
your watch by it. We are looking at around $11.1 million in guiding Brisbane's
development revenue from development assessment applications; almost
$622,000 in infringement licences and permit and search fee revenue, and
around $312,000 in city cemeteries.
We know that this Council, when it comes to raising fees, raising fines, getting
money off charges, is brilliant. It is one thing that you can't fault this LNP
Council for. When they set their mind to it, they will get those targets and then
some—and absolutely then some. So, Madam Acting Chair, sadly once again
we are seeing more and more projects behind on where they should be. We are
seeing more and more money being pushed out into the future, and it is not
surprising, but sadly for the ratepayers, they are the ones losing out from the bad
financial mismanagement leading now to more cuts to services.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor MURPHY.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 29 ADJOURNMENT:
313/2014-15
At that time, 3.55pm, it was resolved on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY, seconded by Councillor
Kim MARX, that the meeting adjourn for a period of 15 minutes, to commence only when all councillors had
vacated the Chamber and the doors locked.
Council stood adjourned at3.57pm.
UPON RESUMPTION:
Acting Chairman:
Further debate, Councillor ADAMS.
Councillor ADAMS:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair. I rise to speak on item A and item B just
briefly—she's not here. No one here to hear me. Just briefly, Madam Acting
Chair, on the leases that we've got to Chermside and District Senior Citizens and
to the YMCA. It is fantastic to see these community groups getting their leases
sorted, and particularly the one at Fitzgibbon that we have here. The Fitzgibbon
Community Centre was actually built in 2011 by the Urban Land Development
Authority, now Economic Development Queensland.
The centre has an office and multi-purpose spaces, a community kitchen and a
community hall, a fantastic opportunity for our senior centre to make sure that
they can look after the centre for themselves but also for other local community
groups as well. It was agreed with Council to transfer the ownership from
Economic Development Queensland to Council. Then we sought tenders in
August of last year for not-for-profit community organisations to lease and to
manage the day-to-day operations and maintenance of this facility.
It did take us a while, there was a few opportunities that we looked at and other
organisations working together, but when it came down to it, the successful
applicant was the Chermside and District Senior Citizens Centre. I think the
proposed lease here of 15 years for the community centre is a great outcome for
the group because the lease will contain conditions to ensure the community hall
is made available primarily for hire by community, not-for-profit, charitable
organisations and hiring rates will based around what the Council hiring rates
are as well.
A rapidly growing community out at Fitzgibbon. With this community hall,
pool, skate park all happening up there, we are making sure that this developed
area is being catered for with community infrastructure.
Item B, Madam Acting Chair, in front of us was the lease to the Young Men's
Christian Association of Brisbane, or the YMCA, who were assigned the lease
of Perry Park at Folkestone Street, Bowen Hills, since 2010. From the Strikers
Sport, Recreation and Welfare association. So the soccer club the Strikers who
had the lease there as well.
So the facility was actually developed since that time and funded from $4.75
million of the YMCA's money, $4 million from the Queensland Government,
$2.25 million from Brisbane City Council. Obviously to reflect the development
and the financial input from the YMCA, we have looked at a longer lease term
of 25 years to ensure that they really can get the benefits of the $11 million
facility development that they completed in 2012. That includes the multi-use
indoor courts, the gymnastics centre, the fitness gym, the cafe, the car parking.
It really is a wonderful community centre, does support the Strikers there as
well. It will also allow the YMCA, as the LORD MAYOR mentioned, to
appropriately depreciate the new assets at Perry Park. So it'll make it a lot more
viable for them as well. It's also proposed that the YMCA and the Strikers will
enter into agreement with the Brisbane Roar Football Club, so it can become the
home of soccer in Brisbane, which is very exciting. They will be looking at the
use of the playing fields and the support facilities for their administration,
training and playing needs going into the future.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 30 A lot of opportunities coming out of these leases. I thank the community groups
for taking on the responsibility of looking after, and in the case of YMCA doing
such a major development at this site, to make sure that our residents in
Brisbane City Council are catered for with their community infrastructure.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate, Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, Madam Chairman, I rise to speak on items C, D and F and G. I will start
very briefly with item D, the Queen Street Mall. I'll just make a few comments
about the lease we're entering into. I note that the attachment for this item
includes a fairly detailed lease which reflects our new arrangement for the mall
and for the space in the centre of the mall that is used for Jimmy's. I note that it
did open in time for the G20.
So I guess, though, the only thing that I've got a bit of an issue with is that the
lease itself is noting that Council will receive a 12.5 per cent of the gross sales
of the business which are in excess of $6.8 million per year. I note that that
could be good for Council but we don't really know. I note that if the business
earned $7 million a year, we would be making pretty much nothing. So I guess,
for me, I'm a little bit concerned about whether that offers the best value for
money in terms of that particular arrangement, in terms of such a significant site
in the city.
I note there is an annual permit fee as well but again, I just express some
concern, perhaps Councillor SIMMONDS will be telling us exactly how much
the gross profits of Jimmy's on the Mall are in his response. So we can
determine whether or not that represents value for money for our ratepayers for
such a significant site in the mall.
I would also like to speak on the credit review. I note that there are a number of
things of concern in the credit review as it's been put forward for discussion
today. I certainly note that Councillor SIMMONDS will stand up and claim that
it's all strong and the outlook's neutral and everything's great. But—
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Well, I'll get my crystal ball out and I will predict that there will be comments
along those lines. What I note, Madam Chairman, is that there are a number of
outstanding issues that this credit report hedges its bets around and that are a
concern for the ratepayers of the city. So firstly, I note—as did Councillor DICK
actually—that QUU has not agreed to the debt transaction which will help
Council reduce its debt on our books.
It's like moving it between columns, really, given we own 85 per cent of QUU
as well. But it is problematic that this measure which is supposed to help this
Council reduce its debt has not been addressed. I also note the very interesting
statement on page one that to date on limited project-related financial benefits
are reflected in BCC's (Brisbane City Council) credit metrics. Now this is after
the Council have been at pains to talk about their great projects, the value for
money they're getting from the city, the sale of our assets, the sale of our tolling
revenues, all those sorts of things. Yet our own financier has problems with how
we are describing the value we're getting from projects.
I also note—and I just make this point—that if this Council is the great financial
operators that they are, if this Council is in such good financial state, why on
earth did we have an operating deficit of $80 million last year? It is the largest
deficit since 2010 and it is very problematic that despite the major cuts that are
being made to basic services, the amount of staff that have been let go in this
Council over the last few years and the transformational projects that this
Council is so proud of, are not delivering the operational benefits that we should
be seeing.
So our debt is at a peak, we are in deficit at an operational level and this Quirk
Administration has been unable to get our financial under control. It's about to
get a lot worse. We note that Brisbane City Council, on page 3, is achieving a
balanced operating result by continuing to implement rate increases, tight
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 31 expense control and successful execution of transformational projects. But even
in light of what this report says, we are running a deficit in our budget. That is
not good enough.
We are also, this year, running our debt levels at 125 per cent and next year that
is forecast to be 87 per cent, well above the former treasurer, Peter Costello's
advice that these debt levels should run at about 60 per cent. So there are serious
problems both with the operational side of this Council's financial measures and
also the long-term debt position of this Council.
I note finally on page four, the massive red flag that this Council, week after
week, refuses to address. I quote, BCC may be required to contribute to the
State-sponsored BaT Tunnel, however, the amount and timing of whether the
project will proceed are currently unknown. Now this is a project that is pushing
ahead at all due speed. The LORD MAYOR was out again on the weekend with
the Premier, talking up this proposal.
We have no idea what the financial commitment of this Council will be, its
impact on our operational budgets and its impact on our debt levels. The fact
that we are not flagging this with our major financier is a problem. The fact that
it is not being included in the forward projections for this Council is a major
issue. I don't think this is good enough.
This report, in my view, is a bit of a BAND-AID over open heart surgery and
what we need to know here is the real state of what this Council's major project
borrowings are going to be. We don't know that and that is reflected in this
report before us today.
Finally, on the Annual Report Financial Plan and the Second Budget Review. I
think that the interesting thing with all of this is, what we see in all of these
papers that are brought forward today is the funny money management of
Councillor SIMMONDS, the LORD MAYOR and the way in which they are
absolutely slashing and burning through the basic services of this city. They are
failing to deliver on their commitments.
I note, again, right through this budget report there are under-spends, there are
cuts. They're described as savings but when you're not getting projects done out
in the suburbs, how you can be saving money on fleet services, which
presumably is some petrol savings, how on earth that is not being redeployed
into the next project on the list is beyond me. But there are massive problems
with the way in which this Administration is going about the ordinary business
of this Council.
It certainly does show up in places like the drainage of this city. Certainly we've
seen over past years and again this year, that 80 per cent of the drainage
expenditure for new projects in this city is being spent on the northside and only
20 per cent is being spent on the southside. On top of that major geographical
imbalance, we are finding that this Administration continues to cut the important
drainage projects that are needed in our city.
It is simply not good enough. Those projects are vital to ensure that our suburbs,
they don't have stormwater overflowing into their yards and in their houses, they
don't have sewage pipes being inundated by stormwater. We know that there are
major projects that need to be undertaken and we can see in this report that
they're not. There's been a $12.1 million under spend in drainage. Another $0.5
million in enclosed drain maintenance under spend.
It's just not good enough. $300,000 to maintain open drains that's under spent.
There are millions and millions of dollars where this Council is not delivering
on its budget announcements. Again we see, time after time, the LORD
MAYOR announce something and then when it comes to the actual deliver
through here, these projects are being cut. Now last time, Councillor
SIMMONDS stood up and say, oh look, this is just a position at a period in time.
It's not just a position at a period in time when it keeps happening over and over
again.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 32 Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON your time has expired. Further debate, Councillor
SIMMONDS.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. It's a pleasure to stand up and support.
I'm going to speak on items C, D, E, F and G if I get the opportunity to get
through them all. But firstly, to the most important item here, the—item C, the
QTC Credit Report. This is an outstanding result for this Council, it continues to
show this Administration's strong and responsible financial management.
So again, we have achieved a strong rating with a neutral outlook. We have
achieved this now for the last three years running and then the year before that,
we of course had a credit upgrade. So year on year, we are building on the
successful financial management of this Council. The first think that Councillor
DICK when he stood up did was he criticised QTC. He said, they're bankers,
they don't really care. They don't really care about the financial position and
whether Council is in a position to achieve what it wants to achieve.
Well it's like saying the Commonwealth Bank when they give you a home loan
don't care whether you have a job. They don't care whether you've got assets in
the form of a car, they don't care how much you're spending on your credit card.
Of course they do. In fact, they are the ones that care the most. They are the
ones that care the most, and it's the same with QTC.
If Council can't achieve its aims then we are not a good investment and that's
why QTC delivers these reports and are the most interested in how we are
performing financially. The first page is the key page to read in this report
because it highlights, very clearly, the three important things why—three
important reasons why QTC have faith in this Council and that our financial
position is going to improve.
It's an interesting and stark contrast between us and the Labor councillors
opposite. The first thing, of course, that they highlight, is the refinancing of the
QUU loan so that QUU are borrowing directly from QTC instead of us. This is
something that QTC describes, and I quote: “as forecast to materially improve
BCC's leverage position”. What does Labor think of it? Well they oppose it.
They oppose it flat out.
The next thing the QTC says is so important for the good financial management
of this Council, is the transformational and process enhancements coming about
as a part of BaSE. In fact, they describe this as saying that it will continue to
increase operating efficiencies and facilitate lower operating expenses. What do
Labor think of it? Well they oppose it. They oppose it again.
Then the third thing that the QTC thinks is the most important for ensuring
strong financial management of this Council is of course the leasing of the
tolling concessions for Legacy Way and Go Between Bridge. They describe it as
reducing construction, financial and operating risk. How do Labor describe it?
Well they oppose it.
So the three things that are most important for the strong financial management
of this Council are opposed by those opposite. Madam Chairman, I was thinking
of an analogy and I was watching last night on TV The Walking Dead midseries finale. Anyone who's familiar with this project know that it's characterised
by the zombies that wander around. They have to speak only in monotonic
syllable, like this.
It reminded me—I thought, this reminds me of how a Councillor DICK press
conference must go. You can just imagine it, the journos say to him, Councillor
DICK, do you support reducing debt? Err, no. Councillor DICK, do you support
the good financial management of Council? No. Councillor DICK, do you
support having 15-minute free parking? Err, no. See this is—
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
You can see, Madam Chairman—you can see, Madam Chairman, that
unfortunately while over there—
Acting Chairman:
Councillor SIMMONDS, can you come back to the report please?
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 33 Councillor SIMMONDS:
I certainly can, Madam Chairman. I could have plenty of examples but I
understand you don't want me to labour the point. But the point is this, that
again and again, they continue to oppose the very measures that are ensuring
this Council is sustainable. They talked a little bit about the operating deficit, I
wanted to ask Councillor DICK, and I note that he was afraid to take my
question, I note that he's afraid to even listen to my reply. But I wanted to help
him with his research.
Because he said, look, I just can't find anywhere where we've had this operating
deficit thing before. Soorley didn't do it, I'm sure it's never happened. Would it
surprise us, then, for you all to learn that four of their last five Labor budgets
had operating deficits?
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Wow, I'm shocked. Including one as high as an operating deficit of 7.8 per cent.
Wow. So not only have they done it, but they did it far better than anybody else.
As is often the case with these things.
The truth of the matter is—and it's quite clear in the report but they choose to
ignore it—is that this has come about due to one-off accountancy decisions
made by the Queensland Audit Office. They've chosen to reclassify some things
at the last minute. Up until then, we were on track to achieve a three per cent
operating surplus. A three per cent operating surplus. Because, as they note in
their own report, of one-off accounting treatments, that hasn't happened—we've
instead had a deficit position. But it affects only the balance sheet.
We're not spending any extra; it is simply that this expenditure's been classified
as operating expense instead of capital expense. Look, we will leave the
accountants to argue amongst themselves. But the important thing is that what
we are here talking about is a report that shows we are in a very strong financial
position.
Look, in relation to some of the other matters raised, they spoke about the
Legacy Way and Go Between Bridge, write-down. Well this has been done to
reflect the fact that there is now a 50-year lease over those tolling arrangements.
I would note though, as shocked as they are now that they've read the sentence
about it, that in fact this matter came through the Chamber in September.
So they didn't notice it then, they didn't bother to read the financial reports then
when it came to this Chamber. It was voted on, it was debated. But now they've
suddenly—
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Well you're only three or four months later, Councillor FLESSER. I'm pleased
that you've picked it up now that it was in there in black and white for you in a
single sentence as opposed to having to read a financial report. So welcome to it.
But these claims that Council is somehow disadvantaged by the leasing
arrangements is nonsensical. Because even on Councillor DICK's own
assumptions, what he fails to account for is the huge $650 million over the next
10 years that this Council was going to spend in operating those tunnels and that
bridge, that are now wiped off. They no longer are expenses that have to be
accounted for by this organisation.
So not only have we got the significant payments that will be received as part of
the leasing agreements that he himself as acknowledged, but we have now rid
ourselves of this $650 million expense that was required to upkeep these
organisations. In terms of the QUU loan, well they really don't get this. They
really don't get this, so let me try and simplify it as much as I can. I know we've
been talking about this for a couple of months.
Look, if they ever want an update, ask me a question. Feel free to in Finance
Committee, in this Chamber, because since we announced this there has not
been a single question on it. That's not true; we did during the budget debate,
Councillor FLESSER. But since then, there's been no request for an update. But
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 34 I can give you an update, it is progressing very well and QUU are in the process
of making this happen.
But what's important is that it's not shifting around from columns as those of you
will have you believe, we are reducing debt in the Council organisation. Our
debt will fall from over $2,100 per capita to approximately $1,400 per capita
this financial year. We will do that because QUU will finance their loans
through QTC instead of us. Real dollars will come from QUU to Council and we
will use that to pay back our loan borrowings.
We will have less debt in this organisation thanks to this Administration. That is
acknowledged by QTC themselves when they say that as a consequence, the
ratio of net debt to current revenue is expected to have peaked at 125 per cent in
financial year 2014, as we always said we would. It is then forecast to decline.
The peak—and I quote—the peak is lower and subsequent reduction in leverage
is higher than anticipated in the last credit review.
So there you have it. We have even exceeded QTC's expectations in how fast
and how much debt we would repay. So those opposite can't—as the LORD
MAYOR said, can't have their cake and eat it too. They can't oppose measures
to pay down debt and then claim that we should be paying down debt. You can't
have it. If you want us to pay down debt, which is what we are proposing, you
will support this arrangement—which you didn't in the budget debate but you'll
come around, you're entitled to change your mind.
Instead of criticising, come over and support it, Madam Chairman, and help us
achieve that and the strong financial outcome that it will lead to. In terms of the
BaT Tunnel, well all good things come to those who wait. That is an ongoing
discussion which is being had amongst the project team. I'll go onto, now, the
Second Budget Review.
So again, a very strong performance from this Council. A number of issues have
been dealt with as part of the Second Budget Review. We've finalised, of course,
the total G20 cost. The LORD MAYOR outlined previously that where we did
work with Federal and state governments that that money has been reimbursed. I
fact, there was less work attributed to the Federal Government because they
decided to hire less buses for a fewer period of time. So there was less revenue
because of that.
But that's—
Acting Chairman:
Councillor SIMMONDS, your time has expired.
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Okay, thank you.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate, Councillor FLESSER.
Councillor FLESSER:
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, Madam Chairman, I want to speak about the
QTC report only, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Councillor SIMMONDS has
gone to great lengths to try and find some positives out of this report, Madam
Chair. But I think we need to be honest about what it says. Don't just pick the
positive words, Madam Chair, be honest about what QTC are saying.
Contrary to what Councillor SIMMONDS says, Madam Chair, this is a
financing company. Certainly, they're after reduced risk for the money that they
lend to organisations like the Brisbane City Council, but what they look at for
this Council, Madam Chair, is our ability to raise revenue. We raise revenue
through rates, Madam Chair. Guaranteed rates, year after year after year.
Madam Chair, we know and QTC recognises that it doesn't matter how the
economy's going, this Council keeps collecting rates. Unlike the Federal and
state governments who are at risk when there's a downturn in the economy.
Their receipts from taxes drop, Madam Chair, that doesn't happen to Brisbane
City Council which keep upping the rates. Madam Chair, if people can't afford
to pay them, you know what? Those rates stay there and stay there and stay
there and if necessary we recover the money once the property is sold.
So, Madam Chair, economic downturns to not affect this Council in a negative
way. As a matter of fact, economic downturns affect this Council in a positive
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 35 way because we reduce the cost of our contracts, as the economy drops, Madam
Chair.
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor FLESSER:
So, Madam Chair, this report is not a glowing report on the finances of this
Council. Madam Chair, let's have a look at, as I said about the rates and as
Councillor DICK mentioned before, the massive increase in rates in the last four
years, Madam Chair. $769 million in 2011, up to $911 million this financial
year. Madam Chair, that's an 18.4 per cent increase in rates in just four short
years, Madam Chair. This is at a period of low inflation where growth has been
one or 1.5 per cent per year, but Madam Chair, this Council has upped rates by
18.4 per cent.
No wonder QTC are happy about giving money to us, Madam Chair, because
they know that we can keep increasing rates and it's quite clear that the LORD
MAYOR has no hesitation in doing that. That's been the record in the past.
When you look at the figures in the QTC report, you can see that that's clearly
what the priority is in the future.
So, Madam Chair, over the last four years, $142 million extra in rates have been
collected from ratepayers and as Councillor DICK said, well where's that $142
million spent on? All we see week after week is cuts; cuts to services, cuts to
maintenance, cuts to public transport and, Madam Chair, the write-downs that
this QTC report have exposed, Madam Chair, are massive.
These are write-downs to our tunnel assets. We all remember what, over the last
few years, when the LNP come to this Council with huge borrowings for
Council toll projects, Madam Chair. The answer is always, when we say, who's
going to pay for it? Well they say, well, no, the motorists are going to pay for it.
I remember the Go Between Bridge debate, Madam Chair, when the LORD
MAYOR at the time said that the Go Between Bridge was going to deliver a big
fat cheque for this Council.
Madam Chair, it hasn't delivered a big fat cheque at all. Madam Chair, we're
written off, according to the QTC, $1.246 billion from the asset base of the
ratepayers because of the Legacy Way Tunnel and the Go Between Bridge. So,
Madam Chair, Legacy Way Tunnel isn't even finished yet. Nobody's even
driving through it, yet this Council has written off $1.246 billion between it and
the Go Between Bridge.
So, Madam Chair, I think that that is a big deal. I think the ratepayers should be
made well aware of that. Especially when you consider how much money we
still owe on those two projects and also the Clem7 Tunnel project. So we still
owe $432 million for the Clem7 Tunnel, $252 million for Go Between Bridge,
$891 million for the Legacy Way Tunnel, that's even after the Federal
Government's contribution. Madam Chair, there's been more increases in debt
for the Legacy Way Tunnel since the QTC did their report.
So, Madam Chair, you look at those figures, the huge amount of money we still
owe in debt for those tunnel projects and you look at what we're expecting to
receive from the deal with Queensland Motorways, Madam Chair, this Council,
the LORD MAYOR's saying that we're going to get $428 million for the sale of
those—of the Go Between Bridge and Legacy Way. But the predictions from
Queensland Motorways, Madam Chair, $428 million, but the LORD MAYOR's
predicting $930 million. That is a lot less than the $1.246 billion that has been
taken away from the ratepayers' asset base, Madam Chair.
So, Madam Chair, just going onto the QUU deal, Councillor SIMMONDS
seems to think that if we move the money around on paper, somehow Brisbane's
ratepayers are suddenly going to be $1 billion less in debt, Madam Chair. That is
not the case. It's very curious that the Chairperson of Finance is quite happy to
just use Council's debt figure, Madam Chair. When he talks about former Labor
administrations, of course, he includes all the water debts as well.
But for some reason, he thinks that that 85 per cent of QUU that's owned by this
Council just doesn't matter. Madam Chair, that 85 per cent is owned by the
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 36 ratepayers of Brisbane. So if we're going to be talking about ratepayer debt,
Madam Chair, you must include the debt that QUU has whether it's with
Brisbane City Council of the QTC, it doesn't matter, it is still debt.
Madam Chair, just by moving the money around from QUU owing the money to
Council, to QUU owing the money to QTC, does not reduce the amount of debt
that Brisbane's ratepayers have by one single cent, Madam Chair. I think that
Councillor SIMMONDS needs to be honest about that. Ratepayers' debt is not
being reduced by one single cent as a result of this move to shift the debt around
to QUU.
Madam Chair, the QTC report shows that Council's debt is sitting at a massive
$2.614 billion. Madam Chair, that is a remarkable achievement. Because we
remember back in 2010, I remember the document Councillor SCHRINNER
released—and I've kept a copy of it, I'm sure he's very pleased about that—
where he was bragging about Council not having a single cent of debt. That was
as a result of the State government buying the Council's water assets, Madam
Chair.
So it went from zero in 2010, where Councillor SCHRINNER was saying, isn't
this fantastic? This is how Council should operate, to $2.614 billion in the last
financial year.
Councillors interjecting.
Councillor FLESSER:
Madam Chair, going onto the operating deficit. Madam Chair, Councillor
SCHRINNER says, oh look, it's no big deal, it was a one off. Madam Chair, $80
million, now he might want to give some excuses about this, accounting
arguments between Council and the auditors, Madam Chair. But to turn around
a $12 million operating profit into an $80 million deficit in one year is an
enormous change, Madam Chair. I think we need more of an explanation just
than Councillor SIMMONDS saying, oh there's some arguments over
accounting standards and how it should be treated.
So, Madam Chair, I think that when Councillor DICK said, it is the same as
borrowing to keep the lights on, Madam Chair, I think that's an inference that
ratepayers would understand, Madam Chair. That, according to the QTC, that's
exactly what happened last year. So, Madam Chair, that operating deficit of $80
million is something that I think that ratepayers should be concerned about. I
think we really do want some sort of assurances from the LORD MAYOR that
that's not going to happen again, because that is an enormous amount of money.
So, Madam Chair, the QTC report, contrary to what Councillor SIMMONDS
says about how fantastic it is, it talks about the credit ratings. Well, as I said,
sure, we'll just increase the rates. If there's an increase in interest rates, Madam
Chair, we'll just increase the rates we charge Brisbane's ratepayers. So the report
does just show how deeply this Council is in debt to the QTC. It shows that the
toll road decisions made by this Administration have been an absolute financial
disaster.
It shows that the QUU deal to move debt around is not going to save ratepayers
one single cent, Madam Chair. They are still going to have exactly the same
amount of debt. Madam Chair, it shows that Council embarrassingly ran up an
$80 million operating deficit last year. So, Madam Chair, things are not going
well for this Council. The QTC do not make any recommendations on whether
Council is spending its money wisely, Madam Chair. They don't make that, they
just want to make sure that Council has the ability to pay its debts.
Madam Chair, as we know, this LNP Administration's quite happy to increase
rates to make sure that debt repayments can be made. So, Madam Chair, there is
a bigger argument about this Council's finances. It's not about whether we can
finance the debt, Madam Chair, it's more about whether we are delivering value
for money for people's rate that they're paying this Council, Madam Chair. I
don't believe that's the case and I think this QTC report shows that as well.
Thank you.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate, Councillor McLACHLAN.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 37 Councillor McLACHLAN:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair. I rise briefly to speak to item B,
the lease to the YMCA of Perry Park and to thank the Lifestyle division for their
diligence and hard work in coming to a sensible agreement with the YMCA for
a longer term lease at Perry Park. I think this is a great development in allowing
greater flexibility in our lease operations. It does allow us, as Councillor
ADAMS said earlier, the opportunity for the YMCA to depreciate their now
considerable investment that's been made at that property.
I'm very pleased to see the sublease arrangements that have been made as a
consequence via the Strikers Football Club with the Roar Football Club. I'll pull
up Councillor ADAMS on just one point there. She will get lynched if she calls
it soccer. Football is what—is the term that they much prefer. Certainly in terms
of the Asian Cup coming up, this will be a facility that will see plenty of play
from the—by the teams that are coming here for the Asian Cup which we're
looking forward to.
As a consequence of this arrangement, the residents of Bowen Hills who I
represent in the ward of Hamilton will be looking forward to some considerable
uplift in the maintenance of the grounds and the surrounds. That's already started
to happen since the Roar have formed their agreement with the Strikers clubs. I
look forward to that relationship continuing to the benefit of the Bowen Hills
District.
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate, LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:
Well thanks very much, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, it's been
interesting to listen to the debate and to hear some of the points that have been
put forward. Particularly, there seems to be this view that, oh the fact that we
have a strong credit rating with a neutral outlook, that it doesn't matter. It doesn't
mean anything. Well, Madam Chairman, I'm afraid it does. It means that we are
in a very good position in terms of our finances in this city.
You've only got to look at the definitions, Madam Chairman, that apply to the
credit rating to know that it is a very meaningful outcome. So, are we weak?
Which is one of the definitions that Queensland Treasury Corporation have. No
we're not. Are we moderate? No, we're not moderate. Are we sound? No, we're
not sound either. We're in fact strong. Madam Chairman, there are not too many
other councils around Queensland that are in that position.
So on this issue of writing off certain debts in an accounting sense, writing down
the assets I think is the way it's termed, Madam Chairman, they are accounting
applications. The last time I looked, Clem7 was still there. The Go Between
Bridge was seeing traffic move across it. Madam Chairman, they are asset
classes that are there for a long time.
Now what it means is that in the same way that even our parks have an asset
value against them, Madam Chairman, the fact is that the assets are all still
there. So it is purely a—
Councillors interjecting.
LORD MAYOR:
Well it's an amount that we have as a citywide asset calculation. I think it's
around about the $18 billion or $19 billion of our valued assets in the city.
Madam Chairman, that's what it is. It's a figure, it doesn't actually change the
asset base that this city has. There are ratios. The one thing you could argue is
that if you write those assets down or whatever, that it weakens our position in
terms of the debt against assets.
But I just read out in the budget review that we've in fact improved our position.
If you look at net debt—well let's have a look at this one, total assets against
total liability. So we hope that they will be more than three and they're in fact
7.13. So, Madam Chairman, the reality is that it doesn't change the fact that the
assets are there.
Now, Councillor FLESSER talks about the fact that the debt doesn't change with
the arrangements with QUU. Well in fact they do, Councillor FLESSER. I
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 38 remember you standing here and Councillor DICK standing here to say that we
were profiteering from water, that we were ripping people off and we should
pay that money back. Well that money's not coming to us anymore. It's that
simple. That money does not come to us anymore.
There's no more of your so-called profiteering out of this equation. But does the
debt come down? You better believe it does. It absolutely does. The plan is that
that will come down over a two to three year period in instalments. So, Madam
Chairman, that's the basis of it. So I note that most of the discussion today has
centred around QTC. But again, as we have in the last two years, we've
remained strong with a neutral outlook and we remain—in despite of all of the
infrastructure that we have built in this city, we remain in a much stronger
position than most other local authorities throughout Queensland.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you, LORD MAYOR. I will now put items A and B.
Clauses A and B put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clauses A and B of the report of the
Establishment and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put item C.
Clause C put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause C of the report of the Establishment
and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Thereupon, the LORD MAYOR and Councillor Julian SIMMONDS immediately rose and called for a division,
which resulted in the motion being declared carried.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 18 -
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK,
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM.
NOES: 8 -
The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors
Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put item D.
Clause D put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause D of the report of the Establishment
and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Thereupon, the LORD MAYOR and Councillor Julian SIMMONDS immediately rose and called for a division,
which resulted in the motion being declared carried unanimously.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 26 -
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK,
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, and Norm WYNDHAM, and the Leader of
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 39 the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS,
Peter CUMMING,
Kim FLESSER,
Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON,
Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
NOES: Nil.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put item E.
Clause E put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause E of the report of the Establishment
and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Thereupon, the LORD MAYOR and Councillor Julian SIMMONDS immediately rose and called for a division,
which resulted in the motion being declared carried unanimously.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 26 -
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK,
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, and Norm WYNDHAM, and the Leader of
the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS,
Peter CUMMING,
Kim FLESSER,
Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON,
Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
NOES: Nil.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put item F.
Clause F put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause F of the report of the Establishment
and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Thereupon, Councillors Milton DICK and Victoria NEWTON immediately rose and called for a division, which
resulted in the motion being declared carried.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 18 -
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK,
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM.
NOES: 8 -
The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors
Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put item G.
Clause G put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause G of the report of the Establishment
and Coordination Committee was declared carried on the voices.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 40 Thereupon, Councillors Milton DICK and Andrew WINES immediately rose and called for a division, which
resulted in the motion being declared carried.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 18 -
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR, Councillor Graham QUIRK,
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM.
NOES: 8 -
The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors
Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
The report read as follows
ATTENDANCE:
The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor (Councillor Graham Quirk) (Chairman); Deputy Mayor (Councillor
Adrian Schrinner) (Deputy Chairman); and Councillors Krista Adams, Matthew Bourke, Amanda Cooper,
Peter Matic, David McLachlan and Julian Simmonds.
A
LEASE TO THE CHERMSIDE AND DISTRICT SENIOR CITIZENS
CENTRE INCORPORATED
112/445/444/825
314/2014-15
1.
The Divisional Manager, Brisbane Lifestyle, provided the information below.
2.
The Fitzgibbon Community Centre was built on 545 Roghan Road, Fitzgibbon, in 2011 by the
Queensland Government’s Urban Land Development Authority (now Economic Development
Queensland). The building is comprised of offices, a community kitchen, multi-purpose spaces and a
community hall.
3.
Council has agreed to the transfer of ownership of 545 Roghan Road from the Queensland
Government, which includes the Fitzgibbon Community Centre, pursuant to section 127 of the
Economic Development Act 2012. Council is awaiting the outcome of a request made to the Office of
State Revenue for ex-gratia relief from incurring transfer duty on this transaction. Economic
Development Queensland has indicated that they will consider paying the duty should the ex-gratia
relief request be unsuccessful. The transfer of the asset will occur once payment of the duty is
completed.
4.
Council sought Expressions of Interest in August 2013 from not-for-profit community organisations to
lease and manage the day to day operations and maintenance of this facility. The successful applicant
was The Chermside and District Senior Citizens Centre Incorporated.
5.
The Chermside and District Senior Citizens Centre Incorporated has a strong history of building
community relationships and cooperative partnerships, and has demonstrated experience in identifying
community needs and providing services.
6.
The lease is subject to the transfer of ownership of 545 Roghan Road from the Queensland Government
and will contain conditions to ensure that the community hall is made available primarily for hire by
community, not-for-profit, or charitable organisations, at hiring rates to be agreed by Council. The
proposed lease terms for the Chermside District Senior Citizens Centre Incorporated is set out in
Attachment B, submitted on file.
7.
The Divisional Manager, Brisbane Lifestyle, provided the following recommendation and the
Committee agreed.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 41 8.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL RESOLVE AS PER THE DRAFT RESOLUTION AS SET OUT IN
ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
Attachment A
Draft Resolution
TO ENTER INTO A LEASE WITH THE CHERMSIDE AND DISTRICT SENIOR CITIZENS
CENTRE INCORPORATED FOR 545 ROGHAN ROAD, FITZGIBBON
THAT IT BE RESOLVED THAT:
As:
(a)
Economic Development Queensland has indicated their intent to transfer land
described as Lot 999 on SP242271, Parish of Nundah, 545 Roghan Road, Fitzgibbon,
to Council pursuant to Section 127 of the Economic Development Act 2012 (the
transfer of the Land);
(b)
Upon transfer of the land, Council will become the registered proprietor of the land
upon trust for community purposes;
(c)
The Chermside and District Senior Citizens Centre Incorporated has requested to be
granted the lease over the whole of the land.
Then, subject to the transfer of the land, Council:
(a)
Approves entry into a Lease for 15 years with The Chermside and District Senior
Citizens Centre Incorporated for 545 Roghan Road, Fitzgibbon:
(i)
In accordance with the terms for lease as set out in Attachment B, submitted
on file; and
(ii)
Otherwise on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Divisional Manager,
Brisbane Lifestyle and the Chief Legal Counsel, Brisbane City Legal
Practice.
ADOPTED
B
LEASE TO THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF
BRISBANE
112/445/439/151
315/2014-15
9.
The Divisional Manager, Brisbane Lifestyle, provided the information below.
10.
The lease of Perry Park, 34 Folkestone Street, Bowen Hills, was assigned from the Strikers Sport,
Recreation and Welfare Association Limited (Strikers) to the Young Men’s Christian Association of
Brisbane (YMCA) in 2010. This lease expires on 1 July 2024.
11.
The YMCA has requested a longer lease term to ensure they are able to receive the benefits of their
recent facility development and are able to appropriately depreciate the new assets at Perry Park. The
YMCA will continue to sublease the playing fields and support facilities to the Strikers. It is also
proposed that the YMCA and the Strikers will enter into an agreement with the Brisbane Roar Football
Club Pty Ltd, for the use of the playing fields and support facilities for their administration, training
and playing needs. The lease terms for The Young Men’s Christian Association are set out in
Attachment B, submitted on file.
12.
The recent $11 million facility development by the YMCA, at Perry Park, was completed in 2012 and
includes:
multi-use indoor court
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 42 -
gymnastics centre
fitness gym
café
administration facilities
car parking
landscaping improvements.
13.
The facility development was funded from $4.75 million of YMCA sourced funds ($2.75 million from
the YMCA and $2 million from the Clem Jones Foundation), $4 million from the Queensland
Government, and $2.25 million from Brisbane City Council.
14.
Under the Economic Development Act 2012 and the Bowen Hills Priority Development Area
Development Scheme, a development application to reconfigure a lot may be required when leasing
parts of a lot for a period exceeding 10 years. The YMCA has requested a long-term lease and it will be
their responsibility to lodge a development application with the Minister for Economic Development
Queensland to reconfigure a lot.
15.
The Divisional Manager, Brisbane Lifestyle, therefore submits the following recommendation with
which the Committee agreed.
16.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL RESOLVE AS PER THE DRAFT RESOLUTION AS SET OUT IN
ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
Attachment A
Draft Resolution
TO ENTER INTO A LEASE WITH THE YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF
BRISBANE
THAT IT BE RESOLVED THAT:
As:
(a)
Council is the owner of Lots 135 to 136 on B123430, and Lots 137 to 138 on
SL11563, Parish of North Brisbane, Perry Park, 34 Folkestone Street, Bowen Hills,
which is the subject of a lease to the Young Men’s Christian Association of Brisbane;
(b)
The Young Men’s Christian Association of Brisbane has requested to be granted the
lease over Part of Lots 135 to 136 on B123430, and Lots 137 to 138 on SL11563,
Parish of North Brisbane, Perry Park, 34 Folkestone Street, Bowen Hills.
Then Council:
(a)
Approves entry into a lease for 25 years with the Young Men’s Christian Association
of Brisbane for part of Perry Park, 34 Folkestone Street, Bowen Hills:
(i)
In accordance with the terms for lease as set out in Attachment B, submitted
on file;
(ii)
Subject to the surrender of lease number 701712176; and
(iii)
Otherwise on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Divisional Manager,
Brisbane Lifestyle and the Chief Legal Counsel, Brisbane City Legal Practice.
(b)
Approves the Young Men’s Christian Association of Brisbane making an application
for Reconfiguring a Lot.
(c)
Consents to the Young Men’s Christian Association of Brisbane entering into a
sublease of part of the lease with Strikers Sport, Recreation and Welfare Association
Limited, subject to the form and content of the sublease being satisfactory to, and on
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 43 such other terms and conditions required by, the Divisional Manager, Brisbane
Lifestyle and the Chief Legal Counsel, Brisbane City Legal Practice.
ADOPTED
C
QUEENSLAND TREASURY CORPORATION
BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL 2014
CREDIT
REVIEW
OF
134/715/583/5
316/2014-15
17.
The Acting Divisional Manager, Organisational Services, provided the information below.
18.
As a condition of receiving ongoing approval from the State Government to borrow funds, Brisbane
City Council is required (and has agreed) to submit to an annual credit review of its financial position
by the Queensland Treasury Corporation.
19.
Queensland Treasury Corporation has recently completed its 2014 review and on the basis of this
review has again rated Council as Strong.
20.
Factors positively contributing to Council’s rating included:
strong balance sheet, moderate debt levels and high community equity;
stream of revenue from a large and diverse pool of rateable properties;
efforts made to move toward operating surpluses (based on Queensland Treasury
Corporation’s definitions); and
demonstrated capability to deliver core services and manage major infrastructure projects.
21.
The Strong rating category indicates a local government’s capacity to meet its financial commitments
in the short, medium and long-term.
22.
Council’s outlook is rated as Neutral, which remains unchanged from the 2013 review. This reflects
Council’s progress in the implementation of the transformational projects, tight control of the
expenditure program and its forecast operating position in 2014-15.
23.
Brisbane City Council acknowledges the findings of this report. The Strong rating underpins Council’s
decision to deliver key transformational projects, undertake sensible borrowing practices and a
commitment towards achieving greater efficiencies throughout Council.
24.
Based on its assessment, Queensland Treasury Corporation indicates that Council has the ability to
service its current debt.
25.
Queensland Treasury Corporation’s Credit Review findings are included for noting, as set out in
Attachment B, submitted on file.
26.
The Acting Divisional Manager, Organisational Services, therefore submits the following
recommendation with which the Committee agreed.
27.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL RESOLVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
Attachment A
Draft Resolution
TO ADOPT THE FINDINGS OF THE QUEENSLAND TREASURY CORPORATION
CREDIT REVIEW OF BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL 2014
THAT IT BE RESOLVED THAT:
As:
(a)
Council is required to submit to an annual credit review of its financial position by
the Queensland Treasury Corporation;
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 44 -
(b)
Queensland Treasury Corporation has recently completed its 2014 review, as set out
in Attachment B, submitted on file.
(a)
Council directs that the Queensland Treasury Corporation’s credit review findings be
noted, as set out in Attachment B, submitted on file.
Then:
ADOPTED
D
PERMIT TO OCCUPY AND USE PART OF THE QUEEN STREET MALL
112/445/444/852
317/2014-15
28.
The Divisional Manager, City Planning and Sustainability Division, provided the information below.
29.
The Queen Street Mall (QSM) is one of the most successful and iconic retail boulevards in Australia.
The civic, urban and retail environment is a result of its progressive design, such as its pedestrianisation
in 1982.
30.
Since its last design refresh in 1999/2000, the QSM has grown to accommodate 26 million visitors per
year and over 1,000 retailers. It is Brisbane’s premier economic and retail hub.
31.
With this in mind, the QSM is constantly under review by Council, owners of the retail space and the
residents of Brisbane alike, to ensure that it maintains its pre-eminent role as a functional and
progressive urban space.
32.
Key to this is ensuring that there is adequate open space to cater for pedestrians as well as a functional
model which encourages retail success (i.e. adequate sightlines).
33.
Council is undertaking a revitalisation of the QSM to provide more pedestrian space. This consists of
the demolition of the old Jimmy’s on the Mall and its consolidation into a new Jimmy’s on the Mall on
the former Café East site. It will also deliver a new Visitor Information Centre in the foyer of the
Regent Theatre and the demolition of the existing Visitor Information Centre.
34.
Construction and fit out of the new Jimmy’s on the Mall is now complete. Accordingly, approval is
now sought for the granting of a Permit to Occupy and use part of the QSM to Jimmy’s on the Mall Pty
Ltd to commence effective from 4 November 2014 at:
an Annual Permit Fee of $850,000 increased annually by reference to the upward movement
of the Consumer Price Index; and
a Percentage Permit Fee of 12.5 per cent of the gross sales of the new Jimmy’s on the Mall in
each Permit Year which are in excess of $6,800,000 increased annually by reference to the
upward movement of the Consumer Price Index.
35.
The Permit to Occupy and use part of the Queen Street Mall is set out in Attachment B, submitted on
file.
36.
The Divisional Manager, City Planning and Sustainability Division, therefore submits the following
recommendation with which the Committee agreed.
37.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL RESOLVES AS PER THE DRAFT RESOLUTION SET OUT IN
ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
Attachment A
Draft Resolution
TO APPROVE THE GRANTING OF A PERMIT TO OCCUPY AND USE PART OF THE
QUEEN STREET MALL TO JIMMY’S ON THE MALL PTY LTD
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 45 THAT IT BE RESOLVED THAT:
Council:
(a)
approves the granting of the Permit to Occupy and use part of the Queen Street Mall to
Jimmy’s on the Mall Pty Ltd for a period of 10 years commencing on 4 November 2014 on
such terms and conditions considered appropriate for Permits to Occupy parts of the Queen
Street Mall, subject to the final satisfaction of the Divisional Manager, City Planning and
Sustainability Division and the Chief Legal Counsel, Brisbane City Legal Practice; and
(b)
determines that the fees applicable to the Permit to Occupy granted to Jimmy’s on the Mall
Pty Ltd be fixed as follows:
(i)
an Annual Permit Fee of $850,000 to be increased annually by reference to the
upward movement of the Consumer Price Index for the term of the Permit to Occupy;
and
(ii)
a Percentage Permit Fee of 12.5 per cent of the gross sales of the new Jimmy’s on the
Mall in each Permit Year which are in excess of $6,800,000.00 to be increased
annually by reference to the upward movement of the Consumer Price Index for the
term of the Permit to Occupy.
ADOPTED
E
CONTRACTS AND TENDERING – REPORT TO COUNCIL
CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES FOR OCTOBER 2014
OF
109/695/586/2
318/2014-15
38.
The Chief Executive Officer provided the information below.
39.
Sections 238 and 239 of the City of Brisbane Act 2010 (“the Act”) provide that Council may delegate
some of its powers. Those powers include the power to enter into contracts under section 242 of the
Act.
40.
Council has previously delegated some powers to make, vary or discharge contracts for the
procurement of goods, services or works. Council made these delegations to the Establishment and
Coordination Committee and Chief Executive Officer.
41.
The City of Brisbane Regulation 2012 (“the Regulation”) was made pursuant to the Act. Section 227 in
Chapter 6 (Part 4) of the Regulation provides that: (1) Council must, as soon as practicable after
entering into a Contract under this chapter worth $200,000 or more (exclusive of GST), publish
relevant details of the Contract on Council’s website; (2) the relevant details must be published under
subsection (1) for a period of at least 12 months; (3) also, if a person asks Council to give relevant
details of a Contract, Council must allow the person to inspect the relevant details at Council’s public
office. ‘Relevant details’ is defined in section 227 Chapter 6 (Part 4) (4) as including: (a) the person
with whom Council has entered into the Contract; (b) the value of the Contract; and (c) the purpose of
the Contract (e.g. the particular goods or services to be supplied under the Contract).
42.
The Chief Executive Officer provided the following recommendation and the Committee agreed.
43.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE REPORT OF CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES
FOR OCTOBER 2014, AS SET OUT IN ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 46 Attachment A
City of Brisbane Regulation 2012 – Chapter 6 – Contracting
Details of Contracts Accepted by Delegates of Council for October 2014
Contract/Quote No. and
Successful Contractor/s including Tendered
Price and Value for Money (VFM) Index achieved
Delegate
BRISBANE INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Contract Ref: 191/900/441/6 and 191/900/441/7 CPO
Landfill Gas Industries Pty Ltd – $180,600
Cemetery Road, Upper Kedron – $107,940
Bacton Road, Chandler – $72,660
2. Contract No. 530187
Nature of
Arrangement
and Estimated
Maximum
Expenditure
Schedule
rates
$180,600
CEO
Golding Contractors Pty Ltd – $8,329,302*#
Achieved highest VFM of 816
Lump sum
$8,344,947
Contract/Quote Purpose
of Short Term Arrangement
for Landfill Gas Flaring and
Gas Field Management at
Two Closed Landfill Sites –
Cemetery Road, Upper
Kedron and Bacton Road,
Chandler
Shorncliffe Pier –
Construction Contractor
* Final tendered price after tender clarifications.
# Council made minor amendments to the design
drawings during final negotiations with the preferred
tenderer. The final tendered price increased by
$15,645, from $8,329,302 to $8,344,947.
Unsuccessful Tenders
and Quotes including VFM achieved
Prices
Tendered
Contract entered into without seeking Not applicable
competitive tenders from industry in
accordance with section 2.4 (Sole or
Select Sourcing) of the Contract Manual
pursuant to the City of Brisbane Act 2010.
These contracts are short term
arrangements for a period of up to eight
months to allow for continuation of
services while a long term strategy is
established.
Shortlisted offers not recommended
JF Hull Holdings
VFM: 779
$10,009,729*
Brady Marine and Civil
VFM: 700
$10,287,732*
Offers not shortlisted
Waterway Constructions
VFM: 510
$13,918,080*
McConnell Dowell
VFM: 385
$17,993,546*
Smithbridge Group
VFM: 378
$16,416,622*
Approval,
Start/End
Dates and
Term
Approved:
09.10.14
Start:
20.10.14
End:
19.03.15
Approved:
21.10.14
Start:
22.10.14
End:
Estimated
completion
within
52
weeks
Alternative offers not shortlisted
Golding Contractors (causeway)
VFM: 684
$7,754,060*
Brady Marine and Civil (driven steel $9,334,382*
tubes)
VFM: 675
3. Contract No. 530210
CPO
Waterway Constructions Pty Ltd – $726,424
Achieved highest VFM of 8.1
4. Contract No. 530264
Ordanga Properties Pty Ltd – $199,194
Achieved highest VFM of 39.79
5. Contract No. 530283
Schedule of
rates
Kingsford Smith Drive
Upgrade – Test Piling
Investigation
$726,424
EM City
Lump sum
Projects Office
$199,194
EM Field
Schedule
Asbestos Removal –
Kindergartens 2014/15
(Bardon Community
Kindergarten and Preschool;
Bellbowrie Kindergarten
and Pre-school;
Cannon Hill Kindergarten
and Community Preschool;
Carina Kindergarten and
Pre-school;
Acacia Ridge Kindergarten
and Pre-school)
of Stabilisation of the Upslope
McConnell Dowell (causeway)
VFM: 332
McConnell Dowell
VFM: 4.7
$17,772,820*
Smithbridge Group Pty Ltd
VFM: 4.1
$2,082,737
Brady Marine & Civil
(Alternative offer)
VFM: 3.6
$1,239,672
Brady Marine & Civil
VFM: 3.5
Enviro Site Services Pty Ltd
VFM: 26.15
$1,239,672
Hawley Constructions Pty Ltd
VFM: 25.9
$335,918
Redjak Pty Ltd
VFM: 12.52
$447,192
Approved:
10.10.14
Start:
Mid December
2014 (to be
confirmed with
individual
centres)
End:
Estimated
completion
within six
weeks
Elite Retaining Systems Pty Ltd
$214,450
Approved:
$1,674,095
$300,177
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
Approved:
23.10.14
Start:
24.10.14
End:
Estimated
completion
within 10
weeks
- 47 Contract/Quote No. and
Successful Contractor/s including Tendered
Price and Value for Money (VFM) Index achieved
Nature of
Contract/Quote Purpose
Unsuccessful Tenders
Prices
Arrangement
and Quotes including VFM achieved
Tendered
and Estimated
Maximum
Expenditure
Services Group rates
Batter at Stuartholme VFM: 40.7
Michael Reid Family Trust ATF Crosana Pty Ltd
Road, Bardon
– $200,383
$200,383
Brittwood Constructions Pty Ltd
$244,010
Achieved highest VFM of 41.9
VFM: 23.2
6. Contract No. A100015-50
Delegate
CPO
M&N Enterprises Pty Ltd trading as Playscape
Creations – $253,760
Achieved highest VFM of 38.1
Lump sum
$253,760
7. Contract No. CQ011-2014/2015
EM Field
Lump sum
Services Group
Piling and Concreting Australia (PCA) Pty Ltd –
$198,510
$198,510
Achieved highest VFM of 45.34
Supply and Installation of a Outdoor Escapes
Playground at Phil Denman VFM: 34.5
Park, Jamboree Heights
Sure-Play Pty Ltd
VFM: 34.4
$250,750
Design,
Supply
and Team Rock Anchors Pty Ltd
Installation of Micropiles in VFM: 37.60
Kelvin Grove Road, Kelvin
Grove
$172,872
$253,236
Approval,
Start/End
Dates and
Term
27.10.14
Start:
29.10.14
End:
Estimated
completion
within three
weeks
Approved:
23.10.14
Start:
17.11.14
End:
Estimated
completion
within 16
weeks
Approved:
23.10.14
Start:
17.11.14
End:
Estimated
completion
within three
weeks
BRISBANE LIFESTYLE
Nil
BRISBANE TRANSPORT
8. Contract Ref. 126/500/891/26
E&C
Volgren Pty Ltd – $2,500,000
Schedule
rates
$2,500,000
of Provision of Repairs for a
Total of up to 390 MAN
A69 Compressed Natural
Gas and Diesel Buses
Contract entered into without seeking Not applicable
competitive tenders from industry in
accordance with section 2.4 (Sole or
Select Sourcing) of the Contract Manual
pursuant to the City of Brisbane Act 2010.
As Volgren is the Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM) of the MAN bus
body and current Volvo bus body, it is
best able to achieve a cost effective
outcome as they are still producing these
bus body components.
Approved:
27.10.14
Start:
01.12.14
End:
(initial term)
30.11.15
Max. term:
Three years
CITY PLANNING & SUSTAINABILITY
Nil
OFFICE OF THE LORD MAYOR & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Nil
ORGANISATIONAL SERVICES
9. Contract No. 006164-000
CPO
Identity Solutions Australia Pty Ltd – $109,500
10. Contract No. 510161
Cofely Thiess Services*
Highest total weighted evaluation score: 77.5
*An unincorporated joint venture/consortium
between Cofely Australia Pty Ltd and Thiess
Services Pty Ltd.
Lump sum
$109,500
E&C
Development
Contract
Provision of Control-M
Software Licence,
Maintenance and Support
Services
Central Business District
(CBD) Smart Energy
Project – Development
Contract
Contract
exempt
from
seeking Not applicable
competitive tenders or quotes in
accordance with Exemption 6 of Council’s
Annual Procurement Policy and
Contracting Plan for extension of
Information
and
Communications
Technology Maintenance and Support
Arrangements.
The software has been assessed as
continuing to meet Council’s value for
money requirements and approaching the
market for an alternative product is not in
Council’s best interest.
Shortlisted offers not recommended
Not applicable
Dalkia/Veolia
Total weighted evaluation score: 75.5
(Advised at Stage Two of the process
that it has been merged into its parent
company Veolia)
Not
shortlisted
negotiations
for
commercial
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
Approved:
28.10.14
Start:
04.11.14
End:
(initial term)
03.11.15
Max. term:
Three years
Approved:
02.09.14
Start:
09.09.14
End:
08.09.15 (with
a one year
extension of
time option)
- 48 Contract/Quote No. and
Successful Contractor/s including Tendered
Price and Value for Money (VFM) Index achieved
Delegate
Nature of
Arrangement
and Estimated
Maximum
Expenditure
Contract/Quote Purpose
Unsuccessful Tenders
and Quotes including VFM achieved
Prices
Tendered
Approval,
Start/End
Dates and
Term
Brookfield Co-gen Australia
Total weighted evaluation score: 64.5
Withdrew from the process
Cogent Energy
(Withdrew from the process after Stage
1)
11. Contract No. 510056
CPO
Hewitt Associates Pty Ltd trading as Aon Hewitt
– $188,360*
Achieved highest VFM of 43.39
Preferred
Employee Engagement
supplier
Survey
arrangement –
schedule of rates
Shortlisted offers not recommended
IBM (Kenexa)
VFM: 36.58
$200,214*
$285,000
Insync
VFM: 35.46
$191,000*
ORIMA
VFM: 28.45
$223,350*
*Tendered price represents the agreed fixed price
for the first three years (core survey in years one
and three). Each core survey includes end to end
costs (set up, design, survey administration and
fieldwork, analysis, reporting and consultancy).
12. Contract No. 510172
Offers not shortlisted
CEO
Stationery Items
United Office Choice Pty Ltd – $803,103*
Achieved highest VFM of 110.8
Roy Morgan
VFM: 30.39
$163,936*
Onetest
VFM: 20.49
$163,895*
Preferred
Provision of Office Supplies
supplier
arrangements –
Stationery Items
schedule of rates
Staples Australia Pty Limited
$6,200,000
VFM: 109.1
$852,294*
Lyreco Pty Ltd
VFM: 91.1
$801,311*
Complete Office Supplies Pty Ltd
VFM: 90.0
$999,541*
Envelopes
Envelopes
United Office Choice Pty Ltd – $137,473*
Achieved VFM of 647.4
Staples Australia Pty Limited
VFM: 654.5
$142,088*
Lyreco Pty Ltd
VFM: 337.0
$216,624*
Complete Office Supplies Pty Ltd
VFM: 634.9
$141,749*
Toilet Paper and Industrial Wipes
Toilet Paper and Industrial Wipes
Staples Australia Pty Limited – $303,883*
Achieved highest VFM of 306.0
Complete Office Supplies Pty Ltd
VFM: 303.3
$296,729*
*Tendered price represents estimated annual
volume.
United Office Choice Pty Ltd
VFM: 251.3
$354,098*
13. Contract No. 510171
J.J. Richards & Sons Pty Ltd – $57,312*
Achieved highest VFM of 146
Approved:
02.10.14
Start:
03.11.14
End:
(initial term)
02.11.17
Max. term:
Five years
CPO
Preferred
supplier
arrangement –
schedule of rates
Lyreco Pty Ltd
VFM: 250.4
Collection and Recycling of Transpacific Industries Pty Ltd
Waste Oil and Oily Water VFM: 65
Oleology Pty Ltd
VFM: 5
Approved:
28.09.14
Start:
01.10.14
End:
(initial term)
02.11.17
Max. term:
Five years
$291,566*
$65,195*
$95,550*
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
Approved:
23.10.14
Start:
27.10.14
End:
- 49 Contract/Quote No. and
Successful Contractor/s including Tendered
Price and Value for Money (VFM) Index achieved
Delegate
*Tendered price represents estimated annual use.
14. Contract No. 510175
Solus Corporation Pty Ltd – $29,555*
Achieved highest VFM of 28.8
Light Green Pty Ltd – $31,930*
Achieved VFM of 27.6
Nature of
Arrangement
and Estimated
Maximum
Expenditure
$290,000
Contract/Quote Purpose
Unsuccessful Tenders
and Quotes including VFM achieved
Prices
Tendered
Panel
DMX Design and
arrangement – Programming for
schedule of rates Decorative Lighting
Displays for the Story and
$150,000
Victoria Bridges and other
Council Assets
32 Hundred Lighting Pty Ltd
(Non-conforming offer)
Not applicable
Preferred
supplier
arrangement –
schedule of rates
IQ3 Pty Ltd
VFM: 55.77
$12,490,000*
Data#3 Pty Ltd
VFM: 52.89
$12,329,000*
J Daniel Alexander Jack Anderson T/A Lime
Light Design Australia – $104,280*
Achieved VFM of 7.4
Approval,
Start/End
Dates and
Term
(initial term)
26.10.17
Max. term:
Five years
Approved:
23.10.14
Start:
23.10.14
End:
(initial term)
22.10.15
Max. term:
Five years
*Price represents submitted price for comprehensive
DMX design and programming for decorative
lighting displays for the Story and Victoria Bridges
and other Council assets per annum.
15. Contract No. 510192
CEO
EMC Global Holdings Pty Ltd with Dimension
Data Pty Ltd as the Approved Party –
$11,907,000*
Achieved highest VFM of 69.48
$12,500,000
*Final tendered price is the estimated spend over a
five year period for EMC products and related
services.
16. Contract No. 520035
CPO
Subloo’s Pty Ltd – $191,450*
Achieved highest VFM of 83.8
*Tendered price is a basket of goods based on
historical service volumes and tendered pricing.
17. Contract No. 100052-000
Provision of Enterprise
Storage Infrastructure,
Related Products and
Services
E&C
Hastings Deering (Australia) Limited
Preferred
Collection and
supplier
Transportation of Dead
arrangement – Animals
schedule of rates
Shortlisted offers not recommended
Vetwaste Pty Ltd
VFM: 60.7
$194,000*
$1,680,000
Brisbane Livestock Control
VFM: 45.7
$311,200*
Schedule of
rates
$1,850,000
Supply and Maintenance of
Specialist Mobile Plant on a
Dry Hire or Purchase Basis
for Quarries and Asphalt
Plants
Contract entered into without seeking Not applicable
competitive tenders or quotes from
industry in accordance with section 2.4
(Sole or Select Sourcing) of the Contract
Manual pursuant to the City of Brisbane
Act 2010.
This is an extension of the current
contract for the ongoing supply and
maintenance of this equipment for
quarries and asphalt plants for a period of
up to six months.
18. Contract Ref. CA/820265
Inala Wangarra Incorporated – $300,000
E&C
During the extension term an open
market tender will be released with the
view to finalising a longer term
arrangement.
Fees paid on a Stylin’ UP Arts and Cultural Contract exempt from tendering or Not applicable
milestone basis Community Youth
quoting in accordance with the exemption
Development Workshop
from Contract Manual process for Social
$300,000
and Performance Program Procurement under Schedule A of
Council’s Annual Procurement Policy and
Contracting Plan.
Inala Wangarra is a not-for-profit
community organisation that facilitates
and delivers a variety of sporting,
recreational, cultural and arts programs
for the Indigenous and Torres Strait
Islander community.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
Approved:
28.10.14
Start:
01.11.14
End:
(initial term)
26.10.17
Max. term:
Five years
Approved:
16.10.14
Start:
01.01.15
End:
(initial term)
15.10.19
Max. term:
Seven years
Approved:
27.10.14
Start:
04.01.15
End:
(initial term)
03.04.15
Max. term:
Six months
Approved:
20.10.14
Start:
01.12.14
End:
After the
completion of
the final
program
Max. term:
Three years
- 50 -
ADOPTED
F
2014-15 BUDGET – SECOND REVIEW
134/135/86/174
319/2014-15
44.
The Acting Divisional Manager, Organisational Services provided the information below.
45.
Section 162(2) of City of Brisbane Regulation 2012 requires that Council’s budget may only be
amended during the course of the year, by a resolution of Council.
46.
The Second Budget Review has been prepared and considers:
(a) emerging issues requiring funding, additional revenue and expenditure for 2014-18
(b) requests to carryover project funding from 2014-15 to future years and bring forward project
funding to 2014-15 and other forward year budget adjustments, as detailed in Part B of
Attachment B, submitted on file.
47.
The 2014-15 Budget – Second Review Report and Recommendations is set out in Attachment B,
submitted on file. It recommends amendments to the approved budget for 2014-18.
48.
Part A of Attachment B, submitted on file, details a summary of changes by program for 2014-15. Part
B of Attachment B, submitted on file, details changes of services by program excluding overheads for
2014-18.
49.
The Acting Divisional Manager, Organisational Services provided the following recommendation and
the Committee agrees.
50.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL RESOLVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
Attachment A
Draft Resolution
TO PROPOSE THE ADOPTION OF THE AMENDED BUDGET
THAT IT BE RESOLVED THAT:
COUNCIL ADOPTS the amended budget allocations for the operations and the projects for the
services provided by Council for 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 in accordance with the
Budgeted Financial Statements and the recommendations, as set out in Attachment B, submitted on
file.
ADOPTED
G
ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN PROGRESS AND QUARTERLY
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 2014
134/695/317/459
320/2014-15
51.
The Acting Divisional Manager, Organisational Services, provided the information below.
52.
The City of Brisbane Regulation 2012, Sections 196(2) and (3), state that the Chief Executive Officer
must present financial reports to Council at least quarterly. The reports are to state the progress that has
been made in relation to Council’s budget.
53.
The Annual Operational Plan Progress and Quarterly Financial Report for the period ended September
2014 is set out in Attachment B, submitted on file. It separately identifies and reports the financial
results of Brisbane City Council, Brisbane City Council Core Services (i.e. Council excluding business
units) and Brisbane City Council Business Units. The written commentaries provide explanation of the
figures.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 51 -
54.
Section 166(3), City of Brisbane Regulation 2012, states that the Chief Executive Officer must present
a written assessment of Council’s progress towards implementing the annual operational plan to
Council at least quarterly.
55.
The previous financial report for the period ended 30 June 2014 was presented to Council on 21
October 2014. The current report relates to the period ended 26 September 2014.
56.
The Acting Divisional Manager, Organisational Services provided the following recommendation and
the Committee agrees.
57.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL RESOLVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ATTACHMENT A, hereunder.
Attachment A
Draft Resolution
TO ADOPT THE ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN PROGRESS AND QUARTERLY
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDING SEPTEMBER 2014
THAT IT BE RESOLVED THAT:
As:
(a)
Section 196 (2) and (3) of the City of Brisbane Regulation 2012, requires that the
Chief Executive Officer present financial reports to Council at least quarterly.
(b)
Section 166 (3) of the City of Brisbane Regulation 2012 states that the Chief
Executive Officer must present a written assessment of Council’s progress towards
implementing the annual operational plan to Council at least quarterly.
(a)
Council directs that the Annual Operational Plan Progress and Quarterly Financial
Report for the period ending September 2014, as set out in Attachment B, be noted as
submitted on file.
Then:
ADOPTED
INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee, moved,
seconded by Councillor Ian McKENZIE, that the report of the meeting of that Committee held on
25 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
DEPUTY MAYOR.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order, Councillor JOHNSTON.
Seriatim for debate and voting - Clauses B and C
At that time Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON rose and requested that Clause B, PETITION – SPEED LIMIT
ISSUES – GRACEVILLE AVENUE, GRACEVILLE, and Clause C, PETITIONS – PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
AROUND CORINDA STATE SCHOOL be taken seriatim for debating and voting purposes.
Debate on Clauses A and D
Acting Chairman:
Okay, DEPUTY MAYOR. You don't want to say anything. Debate on items A
and D? No debate on items A and D? I will now put items A and D.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 52 Clauses A and D put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clauses A and D of the report of the
Infrastructure Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Debate on Clause B
Acting Chairman:
I will now move to item B. DEPUTY MAYOR, did you want to say anything on
item B.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, Madam Chairman. I think it's very sad that the Chairman of Infrastructure
does not want to speak on a petition that's been put forward in this place to
discuss road safety on Graceville Avenue at Graceville. For those who don't
know this road, it is a major east-west connector over the Pamphlett Bridge,
joining the eastern suburb of Tennyson with Graceville. In my ward, there are
only, essentially, two ways to go east-west and that's either Graceville Avenue
and King Arthur Terrace or Sherwood Road.
As a result, what would otherwise be an ordinary district road is a very busy
thoroughfare. Residents are extremely concerned about the volume of speed—
sorry, about the speed and the volume of traffic using Graceville Avenue. At a
public meeting earlier in the year, I was asked to undertake a petition and to
seek Council's support to reduce the speed limit from 60 kilometres to 50
kilometres.
Unfortunately, this matter has been sitting in Councillor SCHRINNER's in tray
for many, many months and he has failed either to heed my concerns directly to
him or the residents' concerns themselves in the petition. It is very unfortunate
that this Council is not proposing to reduce the speed limit on Graceville
Avenue from 60 kilometres an hour to 50 kilometres an hour as mentioned by—
as desired by the petitioners.
Now Graceville Avenue is a district access road. It is true that typically, but not
always, district access roads have a speed limit of 60 kilometres an hour.
However, there is flexibility under the manual uniform of traffic control devices
to allow other speeds when certain conditions are met. We have seen in this
place certainly action by this Council to allow changes based on those specific
circumstances.
So what I will note for this report, before I get into that, is that a traffic survey
was undertaken in June last year. The survey found that more than 9000 vehicles
a day are using Graceville Avenue and significant amounts of traffic, 15 to 20
per cent of traffic is travelling above 60 kilometres per hour. Now we all know
that getting police to take action on our roads is a very difficult thing to do. I
certainly send requests through to my police and ask them and they do in some
cases.
But reducing the speed limit would improve safety. The crash records really are
unclear. It doesn't say in here whether there are any crashes. I know there have
been on the corner of Erroll Street and Graceville Avenue a car crashed into a
fence just a couple of years ago and caused significant damage. There is a very
big problem here and this Council has failed to even carry out a formal review
of the speed limit.
So let me say, we've got nearly 10,000 vehicles a day, almost 20 per cent of
those are going higher than the speed limit and we have a road that services
homes with hundreds of driveways, it is already traffic calmed, there is a local
shopping centre on it, it leads to parks and schools. This is a road, more than any
other, that should be 50 kilometres an hour. We have seen that there are
significant benefits to safety when you reduce the speed limit.
We've seen just a presentation just two weeks ago in this place about the number
of lives that can be saved and the reductions in accidents when speed limits are
reduced. The residents in this area are very concerned about the traffic volumes
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 53 and traffic speeds and this will be a very important safety measure. I'm very
disappointed the Councillor SCHRINNER failed to respond to my emails to
him. I go back to my advice to him in August—August, seeking a change to this
petition.
For almost three months, he didn't bother to respond until I alerted the CEO that
he had failed to do so. Then, interestingly enough, I get a complaint saying I'm
holding it up—
Acting Chairman:
To the report, Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, I am, Madam Chairman. I'm speaking about paragraph 16 which relates to
whether or not I indicate—I support the petition. Now, Madam Chairman, I've
been very clear in my views to Councillor SCHRINNER about this matter, he
failed to respond to me at all. Not just, I don't agree with you, Councillor
JOHNSTON. He just did nothing. The DEPUTY MAYOR of this city did not
respond to 80 Graceville residents—it's not me, it's the residents.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, speak to the report.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Who are seeking—I am, Madam Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
No, you are not, Councillor JOHNSTON. Otherwise I would not be bringing
you back to it. Speak to the report or I'll sit you down.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Madam Chairman, I refer you to the fact that it says I've been consulted and
have not indicated if I support or do not support the recommendation.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, do not argue with me. You are not speaking to the
report. Confine your remarks to the report at hand or I will sit you down.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
I table, Madam Chairman, all my correspondence relating to my position on this
petition which has been ignored by the DEPUTY MAYOR. Madam Chairman,
because this petition response does not address the residents' concerns, I flag I
have the following amendment.
MOTION FOR AMENDMENT TO CLAUSE B:
321/2014-15
It was moved by Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON, seconded by Councillor Milton DICK that Clause B,
PETITION – SPEED LIMIT ISSUES – GRACEVILLE AVENUE, GRACEVILLE, of the report be amended
in paragraph 17 so that the Preferred option is deleted and replaced with the following words:
“The preferred option of Council is to reduce the speed limit on Graceville Avenue from 60km/h to 50km/h
taking into account other speed limit reductions around the city.”
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, it is clear that the
DEPUTY MAYOR has failed to respond to the residents' concerns with respect
to this petition and Council has essentially not even undertaken an investigation
into a reduction on the speed limit. That is very clear in paragraph 15. I think it
is appalling when you certainly look at how this Council has addressed its
request for speed limit reductions around the city in other parts and recently in
this Chamber in July we certainly say that Council were prepared to bend over
backwards to look at speed reductions in Teneriffe, which is in, I believe,
Councillor HOWARD's ward.
I note that there are just a few paragraphs in this response, but I certainly have a
copy of the very fulsome petition response that was done by Council in that
case. In that case, the residents were seeking a reduction in the speed limit from
50 kilometres to 30 kilometres an hour. This Council agreed it would conduct a
review, it agreed it would survey, it agreed to an investigation. Madam
Chairman, it is very clear that there are very big discrepancies the way the
residents in Graceville have been treated and the way they are treated in other
suburbs in this city when it comes to speed reductions.
I do not think that should be the case. I note, specifically, that the manual of
uniform traffic control devices only recommends certain speeds and in certain
circumstances it specifically notes that lower speeds can be implemented. That
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 54 is where you have situations like local access streets that have lower speeds,
where traffic calming has already been installed, where there is traffic for local
shopping centres, and where you have a high number of pedestrians on the street
and where you have facilities near entertainment and sporting complexes that
generate pedestrian activity.
Now these are the exact circumstances that we have in Graceville. Graceville
Avenue supports sporting fields, it supports scouts, it supports canoeing, it
supports major parklands, and it supports a local shopping centre, gymnasiums
and parks immediately off Graceville Avenue. It has numerous small side streets
that come onto it. It is traffic calmed and it has all the criteria that are needed to
allow a reduction in the speed limit from 60 to 50 kilometres an hour.
More importantly my concern is that these residents are being short-changed by
the DEPUTY MAYOR's failure to actually properly investigate this matter.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes?
Acting Chairman:
There is nothing about the DEPUTY MAYOR in this amendment. This is about
reducing the speed from 60 kilometres to 50 kilometres. Confine your remarks
to the amendment or I will sit you down.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Okay. I note that you're not allowed to mention any other—
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, to the amendment.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair. Righto but, Madam Acting Chairman, what I
do note is over in Teneriffe where you have a similar number of vehicles per
day, 11,000 vehicles per day using the road, traffic surveys were undertaken,
pedestrian refuges are going to be installed. They're considering zebra crossings
and they're considering a reduction from 50 to 30. Now that's a non-standard
treatment in that part of the city for a district access road. This Council has
given enormous consideration to changes in that part of the CBD—sorry in that
part of the city—in my view because it is an LNP ward.
In this case, we have seen that this Council—
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, Councillor JOHNSTON, you're making references that
are not contained within the amendment. Resume your seat.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
What?
Acting Chairman:
Resume your seat. I have asked you repeatedly to speak to the amendment. You
have defied my direction which is an act of disorder. Resume your seat.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Acting Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order, Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
The amendment specifically says taking into account speed limit reductions
around the city and that's what I'm talking about.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, you were talking about LNP wards and imputing
motive. You have defied my direction to speak to the amendment. Resume your
seat.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Acting Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order, Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
I refer you to the rules which say if you believe that I have imputed motive you
should ask me to withdraw it. Telling me to sit down is not the appropriate
response under the rules of procedure.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, Councillor JOHNSTON—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
If you believe I've done that, you should ask me to withdraw it.
Acting Chairman:
—when I speak under the rules of procedure you need to be quiet and I gave you
multiple directions to confine your remarks to the report. That is why you have
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 55 been sat down because you have not confined your remarks to the report. Any
further speakers on the amendment? DEPUTY MAYOR?
DEPUTY MAYOR:
Yes, Madam Acting Chairman, just very briefly. It's disappointing that this
amendment has come through because it's in direct contravention of the
recommendations of the Council officers who investigated this matter. I didn't—
Councillor interjecting.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor CUMMING.
DEPUTY MAYOR:
—cook up this recommendation myself; I didn't cook up the report that has
come through. That came from TPS. I think it's extremely offensive that there's
a suggestion that there's somehow some kind of political favouritism or
interference here. It is disgraceful and once again one of the reasons why
Councillor JOHNSTON is an extremely ineffective local councillor. She can't
get anything done for her residents because she plays these stupid games again
and again. She is convinced that—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order, Madam Acting Chairman.
Acting Chairman:
Point of order against you, DEPUTY MAYOR.
DEPUTY MAYOR:
—convinced that the world is against her.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Madam Acting Chairman, in line with your previous rulings the DEPUTY
MAYOR has just said that I'm playing stupid political games which is an
adverse reflection on me. It is an adverse reflection on my motives and I would
ask that you ask him to withdraw it.
Acting Chairman:
DEPUTY MAYOR.
DEPUTY MAYOR:
I'll withdraw the word stupid—
Acting Chairman:
Order.
DEPUTY MAYOR:
—and say that there are political games being played. The reality is as I said
very clearly; this report in front of us came from a recommendation from the
Council officers in TPS who are qualified to do their job. They see many, many
issues like this right across the city and they have to assess them based on their
own technical expertise. As I said I didn't come up with this recommendation
contrary to what Councillor JOHNSTON wants everyone to believe.
I will not be supporting this amendment because I believe that we should
support the recommendation of the Council officers.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put the amendment.
Amendment put:
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the amendment to Clause B of the report of the
Infrastructure Committee was declared lost on the voices.
Thereupon, Councillors Nicole JOHNSTON and Milton DICK immediately rose and called for a division,
which resulted in the motion being declared lost.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 8 -
The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors
Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
NOES: 17 -
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 56 Acting Chairman:
We now go back to the original item, substantive item B on the report. Any
further debate? No further debate?
Acting Chairman:
I will put item B on the Infrastructure report.
Clause B put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause B of the report of the Infrastructure
Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Thereupon, Councillors Nicole JOHNSTON and Milton DICK immediately rose and called for a division,
which resulted in the motion being declared carried.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 17 -
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM.
NOES: 8 -
The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors
Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
Debate on Clause C
Acting Chairman:
Item C on the Infrastructure Committee report, DEPUTY MAYOR? Nothing?
Further debate?
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Hello.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, I rise to speak on item C which is an issue about pedestrian safety around
Corinda State School. This is the second petition that has come from Corinda
State School regarding road safety around their school. The school is outraged
by Council's inaction dealing with a precinct that carries some 2600 children
every single day to and from school. This precinct services both Corinda State
School and Corinda High School.
Several years ago I brought a petition to this place calling for improvements to
pedestrian refuges. That's what we're talking about here—a few thousand dollars
to install some pedestrian refuges on the key roads leading to Corinda School.
This Council at that stage did exactly what they're proposing today. That is they
will list it for future consideration. Now let me be clear. This Administration has
failed to action those requests.
I am extremely concerned by comments by the DEPUTY MAYOR saying that
I'm failing to get things done for my residents when, Madam Acting Chairman,
the LORD MAYOR of this city is personally responsible for the allocation of
funds for these sorts of projects under the budget. It is his failure as the LORD
MAYOR of this city to allocate funds out to important road safety projects near
our schools that is letting down parents. We've seen recommendations today
about improving safety at the school gate and these types of important initiatives
to help children cross the road safely are vital.
Now earlier this year we saw one of the nearest misses to a dead child that you
will ever see at the intersection of Oxley Road and Cliveden Avenue because a
child had a green walk signal but a car did not have a red light arrow. As a result
there was a near miss between a child and a car turning from Cliveden Avenue
into Oxley Road. Both Councillor DICK and I have lobbied very strongly to
have this intersection upgraded and to be controlled by traffic signals. Both of us
have already been told that this matter has been listed for future consideration.
Now that's not good enough.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 57 About five years ago we listed the refuges. Now earlier this year we've listed the
pedestrian improvements at Oxley Road and Cliveden Avenue. Unfortunately
the response by the DEPUTY MAYOR today in presenting this motion is that
all we do is relist them. There's no action. They're not going to be delivered.
They're not going to be funded. They're going to go on the waiting list, on the
never never list and they are not going to get done. I have over 50 intersection
and pedestrian safety upgrades waiting to be funded by this LORD MAYOR.
They are in the priorities, they are in my budget submission every year and yet
the LORD MAYOR personally fails to fund them.
That is not good enough in my view. The residents and the parents of Corinda
State School and Corinda High School want action.
MOTION FOR AMENDMENT TO CLAUSE C:
322/2014-15
It was moved by Councillor Nicole JOHNSTON, seconded by Councillor Milton DICK that Clause CPETITIONS – PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AROUND CORINDA STATE SCHOOL, of the report be amended
in paragraph 35 so that the Preferred option is deleted and replaced with the following words:
“In recognition of the safety risk to children, Council’s preferred option is to prioritise:
construction of the two pedestrian refuge facilities at the requested locations; and
installation of a green turn arrow as part of the intersection upgrade of Oxley Road and Cliveden
Avenue;
as part of the 2015-16 budget.”
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, to the amendment or Councillor DICK to the
amendment.
Councillor DICK:
Look just very briefly the amendment is self-explanatory. I too have been
meeting with a number of parents even though Corinda State School is not in
my ward, Cliveden Avenue shares a border with Tennyson ward and Richlands
ward. A number of residents who live in the estate immediately in the vicinity
between Oxley Road and Cliveden Avenue continuously raise with me the issue
of safety in and around the school. Obviously the choke point of Oxley Road
and Cliveden Avenue is a critical intersection I think not only for the southwest
of Brisbane, but one of the most highly and important upgrades required at that
intersection to help traffic flow, so that we don't see any more accidents in and
around this centre.
Madam Acting Chair, I would ask the councillors to take action now. That is
very clearly the message from residents who have signed the petition, from
parents at that school, from organisations such as the Neighbourhood Watch
group nearby who have been working with me to support improvements there. I
think this is straightforward and I do ask the councillors across the political
divide tonight to join so that we can see some improvements at this dangerous
intersection.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate on the amendment? I will put the amendment. Those in—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Point of order. I didn't do this last time either summing up on the amendment.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON, do you want to speak?
Councillor JOHNSTON:
I did. Thank you. Madam Acting Chairman, look I just rise to thank Councillor
DICK for supporting this motion because we do share—
Councillor interjecting.
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, thank you. We do share a common boundary which is Cliveden Avenue.
It's very disappointing that the third councillor in this school catchment who also
shares a common boundary with Councillor DICK and I—that is Councillor
BOURKE—is failing to support one of his local schools in this important safety
initiative. I'm very disappointed if the LNP Administration simply votes this
down. They won't have spoken to it. They won't have justified their refusal to do
it. They are simply restating a position put to the public almost five years ago
that they'll list it for future consideration but that time is now.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 58 There has been so much inaction from this LORD MAYOR for the past few
years with respect to funding local projects, road safety projects and the time to
fix this is now. Corinda State School is an Active Travel School. They've
worked really hard to put safety improvements around the school gate with a
new managed drop-off and pick-up zone. The school P&C, through their
president Nicole Reichmann, has worked so hard this year and they are not
being supported by this LORD MAYOR and by this Administration.
I know that the school knows who's doing the work behind the scenes. I've got
no problem at all with my position but I would say to you, Madam Acting
Chairman, and all councillors in this place, the way this Council needs to deal
with these road safety issues is by prioritising funding. Sitting these projects on
the never never list is not good enough. They've already been listed for future
consideration and the response today to the petition is to say we'll relist it for
future consideration. That's not a proper response.
That is not a response that demonstrates to our school communities that the
safety of children, that is 2600 children every day in the morning and every day
in the afternoon, all the cars that are associated with that, all the conflicts, the
buses, and yet this Council will not prioritise this important and very low cost
safety upgrade. What we are talking about here are two pedestrian refuges and a
green turn arrow. That's it. We're not talking about a $600 million road or a $1.5
million tunnel. We're talking about two pedestrian refuges, maybe $60,000, and
a green turn arrow.
It is not big bikkies but it can make a world of difference to the safety of
children in this precinct. I urge all councillors to support this amendment. It
should be funded as a priority in next year's budget. That is the appropriate
response today and I note that the LNP has failed to even speak to the motion
today. I certainly hope they're not just planning to vote it down because that is a
slap in the face to the residents who voted for this LORD MAYOR, and expect
him to act fairly in our city to ensure that important road safety projects are
funded. I urge all councillors to support this amendment.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put the amendment.
Thereupon, Councillors Nicole JOHNSTON and Milton DICK immediately rose and called for a division,
which resulted in the motion being declared lost.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 8 -
The Leader of the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors
Helen ABRAHAMS, Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Steve GRIFFITHS,
Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and Nicole JOHNSTON.
NOES: 17 -
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES and Norm WYNDHAM.
Acting Chairman:
I will now move back to item C of the report. DEPUTY MAYOR did you have
any right of reply?
Clause C put
Upon being submitted to the meeting the motion for the adoption of Clause C of the report of the Infrastructure
Committee was declared carried on the voices.
The report read as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Deputy Mayor, Councillor Adrian Schrinner (Chairman), Councillor Ian McKenzie (Deputy Chairman), and
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 59 Councillors Milton Dick, Victoria Newton and Norm Wyndham.
APOLOGY:
Councillor Margaret De Wit.
A
COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ARTERIAL ROAD IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM UPDATE
323/2014-15
1.
Stephen McGrath, Planned Incident Management Manager, Congestion Reduction Unit, Brisbane
Infrastructure Division, attended the meeting to provide a presentation on the Arterial Road
Improvement Program Update. He provided the information below.
2.
The objectives of this program are:
to improve network performance by reducing the travel time for vehicles, improving
reliability, safety and road user experience, and
to identify low cost/high impact solutions by getting the best out of the existing network.
3.
An evaluation of recently completed projects from the 2013-14 Financial Year’s Program indicated
that:
right-turn pocket – Ipswich Road at Venner Road had seen a three second (1.9 per cent)
reduction in the PM peak travel duration and a six second (4.8 per cent) reduction in the offpeak travel duration
in the Bowen Bridge Road trap lane, at the Airport Link on-ramp, it was noticed that there was
a five second (5.4 per cent) saving of travel time at AM peak, a one second (1.5 per cent)
saving at off-peak and a five second (6.9 per cent) saving at PM peak
on the O’Keefe Street and Logan Road roundabout, it was seen that immediately following the
installation, the travel times in the AM peak inbound dropped by 94 seconds (20.4 per cent)
from Cavendish Road to Ipswich Road and by 24 seconds (12.8 per cent) from Logan Road to
Deshon Street
this has now settled down to a reduction in travel times of 44 seconds (9.5 per cent) from
Cavendish Road to Ipswich Road and 5 seconds (2.7 per cent) from Logan Road to Deshon
Street
in the Airport Link scissor lane, the AM peak travel time has been reduced by 62 seconds
(25.9 per cent).
4.
The projects completed from 2014-15 Financial Year Program include the following locations:
Gowan Road at Stretton College
Kelvin Grove Road T3 to T2
Mains Street at Turton Street, and
Coonan Street (currently in progress).
5.
The upcoming projects for the 2014-15 Financial Year second quarter include the following locations:
Gowan Road at Beenleigh Road left lane extension, and
Cavendish Road at Creek Road left lane extension.
6.
The upcoming projects for the 2014-15 Financial Year third quarter include the following locations:
Stanley Road at Creek Road - extend the right-turn on Stanley Road
Ashgrove Avenue and Enoggera Road - extend the right-turn on Ashgrove Avenue east-bound
Logan Road and Logan Street - extend the right turn on Logan Road south-bound
Compton Road and Persse Road - extend the left-turn on Compton Road, and
Creek Road and Tristania Way – extend the right-turn lane on Creek Road
7.
The future direction and projects include:
continue the delivery of remaining projects in program
continue corridor studies of suburban roads
undertake general area based reviews and
continue to seek feedback and suggestions
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 60 8.
Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr McGrath for his
informative presentation.
9.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
B
PETITION – SPEED
GRACEVILLE
LIMIT
ISSUES
–
GRACEVILLE
AVENUE,
CA14/437491
324/2014-15
10.
A petition requesting Council reduce the speed limit on Graceville Avenue, Graceville, from 60km/h to
50km/h, was presented and received at the meeting of Council held on 3 June 2014, by Councillor
Nicole Johnston.
11.
The Branch Manager, Transport Planning and Strategy, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, provided the
following information.
12.
The petition contains 79 signatures.
13.
Speed limits throughout Brisbane are set in accordance with the Queensland Government’s Department
of Transport and Main Roads guidelines. These guidelines consider a number of important factors such
as the function of the road, road geometry, adjacent land usage, crash history, traffic speeds, and traffic
volumes. These guidelines ensure speed limits Queensland-wide are consistent, and genuinely reflect
the speed at which it is considered safe to travel along a road.
14.
Graceville Avenue is classified as a District Access Route in the Brisbane City Plan 2014. These types
of roads typically have a speed limit of 60km/h or higher, and carry between 3,000 and 15,000 vehicles
per day. In this case, Graceville Avenue provides for the movement of people and goods within and
through Graceville, and is considered an important link between Oxley Road and King Arthur Terrace
which also have 60km/h speed limits.
15.
A traffic survey was undertaken on Graceville Avenue over the seven day period, between 12 and
18 June 2013. This survey found that on average, 9,000 vehicles per day use Graceville Avenue. Eighty
five per cent of traffic was recorded travelling at or below 60km/h. A preliminary assessment in 2013
involving a review of this traffic survey data and the Queensland Government’s crash records, did not
suggest a change in the speed limit was required for Graceville Avenue. A formal speed limit review
was therefore not carried out for Graceville Avenue.
Consultation
16.
The Councillor for Tennyson Ward, Councillor Nicole Johnston, has been consulted and has not
indicated if she supports or does not support the recommendation.
Preferred option
17.
It is the preferred option of Council, to retain the existing speed limit, as a preliminary speed limit
review in 2013 did not identify a need to undertake a formal speed limit review for Graceville Avenue.
18.
The Branch Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees, with Councillors Milton Dick
and Victoria Newton voting against the motion.
19.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PREFERRED
OPTION ABOVE AND OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 61 -
C
PETITIONS – PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AROUND CORINDA STATE
SCHOOL
CA14/685962 and CA14/730660
325/2014-15
20.
Council received two petitions, CA14/685962 was presented and received at the meeting of Council on
19 August 2014 by Councillor Nicole Johnston and CA14/730660 was presented and received at the
meeting of Council on 2 September 2014 by Councillor Steve Griffiths on behalf of Councillor Nicole
Johnston.
21.
The Manager, Transport Planning and Strategy Branch, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, provided the
following information.
22.
The two petitions contain a total of 217 signatures.
23.
The petitioners have requested Council to:
install listed pedestrian crossing facilities on Pratten Street, near the intersection of Deniven
Street and at the intersection with Cliveden Avenue, Corinda; and
upgrade the existing intersection of Cliveden Avenue and Oxley Road to include a green
right-turn arrow for motorists to turn right onto Oxley Road in a north-bound direction
24.
During the morning and afternoon school periods, it has been reported that students have been
observed to cross between queued cars waiting to turn onto Cliveden Avenue from Pratten Street. The
signatories have raised safety concerns with school students performing this crossing action and believe
the installation of pedestrian facilities will alleviate this safety issue by providing students a safe place
to cross Pratten Street.
25.
The requested locations for pedestrian crossing facilities are currently listed for future budget
consideration in line with city-wide priorities for this type of work.
26.
A pedestrian and vehicle count was conducted on Pratten Street and revealed a low volume of students
crossed at Pratten Street during the morning (7am to 9am) and afternoon (2pm to 4pm) periods. The
pedestrian count was conducted on Thursday, 18 September 2014. During these times, a total of 25
pedestrians (10 children) were found to cross in the morning period and 38 pedestrians (21 children)
during the afternoon period.
27.
Council’s Congestion Reduction Unit has also investigated the request for a green-turn arrow on
Cliveden Avenue, turning right into Oxley Road, north-bound.
28.
No crashes have been reported to the Queensland Police Service involving traffic exiting from
Cliveden Avenue or involving Cliveden Avenue right turning traffic versus through traffic in the past
five years.
29.
While the installation of a green turn arrow on Cliveden Avenue into Oxley Road north-bound would
provide safer right-turn access for motorists and some additional safety for pedestrians, this would have
major capacity and congestion impacts, particularly on Oxley Road inbound and Cliveden Avenue
east-bound queues. An increase in cycle time could also possibly be required to facilitate this option
which would mean further delays to all road users (including pedestrians).
30.
An intersection capacity increase by widening Oxley Road to provide two through lanes in each
direction, as well as separate right turn pockets, would help address the significant queuing issue and
facilitate the provision of right turn arrow signals for the side roads. This intersection has been listed
for further consideration for widening although a detailed design has not been undertaken.
31.
It is considered that the current intersection layout provides the best balance of competing intersection
demands. Any changes outside of a major upgrade would have the potential to increase travel times for
motorists heading north, particularly during peak hour.
32.
The installation of a green right turn arrow signals with increased intersection capacity is the preferred
option. This would have the best outcome because it would minimise adverse congestion impacts,
however, it requires major road works and property resumption. Although some land is set aside on the
north-western side of the intersection, resumption is likely to be required, at least on the south-western
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 62 approach. Further detailed investigation is also required to determine the extent of resumption and need
for any possible utilities relocations.
Funding
33.
Both the design of a future intersection upgrade and the pedestrian facilities are currently listed for
funding in a future Council budget in line with city-wide priorities.
Consultation
34.
The proposed intersection modification is located on a border road between Richlands and Tennyson
wards.
The Councillor for Tennyson Ward, Councillor Nicole Johnston, has been consulted and does not
support the recommendation.
In relation to the intersection modification, the Councillor for Richlands Ward, Councillor Milton Dick,
has been consulted and does not support the recommendation.
Preferred option
35.
It is the preferred option of Council that pedestrian crossing facilities at the requested locations are
currently listed for funding in a future Council budget in line with other similar city-wide priorities.
Further, that Council has listed the intersection of Oxley Road and Cliveden Avenue for a future
intersection upgrade. The design on the future intersection upgrade will consider the provision of green
turn arrows on the intersection approaches
36.
The Branch Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees, with Councillors Milton Dick
and Victoria Newton voting against the motion.
37.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PREFERRED
OPTION ABOVE AND OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
D
PETITION – INTERSECTION ISSUES – MOLLOY ROAD AND RICHMOND
ROAD, MORNINGSIDE
CA14/875282
326/2014-15
38.
A petition requesting Council to construct a roundabout at the intersection of Molloy Road and
Richmond Road, Morningside, was presented and received at the meeting of Council on 21 October
2014 by Councillor Shayne Sutton.
39.
The Branch Manager, Transport Planning and Strategy, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, provided the
following information.
40.
The petition contains 14 signatures.
41.
A preliminary assessment of the intersection was carried out by Council’s Transport Planning and
Strategy Branch in 2013. This assessment found the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of
Richmond Road and Molloy Road would not help improve pedestrian safety, access to or from the
Cannon Hill State School and St Oliver Plunkett Catholic School, nor reduce congestion and delays on
Molloy Road and Richmond Road.
42.
However the preliminary assessment did find that alternative upgrades, such as the construction of
traffic signals, may be beneficial to improve pedestrian access to and from the Cannon Hill State
School and St Oliver Plunkett Catholic School, reduce congestion and delays and improve safety
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 63 43.
To ensure available resources are directed to intersection upgrades that offer the greatest benefit with
respect to safety and amenity, and to the wider community, it is recommended that this location is
listed and prioritised so funding for detailed investigation and design work can be considered relative to
the priorities of similar projects across Brisbane.
Funding
44.
It is recommended that funding is provided in the future, relative to the priorities of similar projects
across Brisbane.
Consultation
45.
The Councillor for Morningside Ward, Councillor Shayne Sutton, has been consulted and supports the
recommendation.
Preferred option
46.
It is the preferred option of Council, to list and prioritise the location so funding for detailed
investigation and design work can be considered relative to the priorities of similar projects across
Brisbane.
47.
The Branch Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.
48.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PREFERRED
OPTION ABOVE AND OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE
Councillor Peter MATIC, Chairman of the Public and Active Transport Committee, moved, seconded by
Councillor Steven HUANG that the report of that Committee held on 25 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor MATIC any debate? Councillor ADAMS.
Councillor ADAMS:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair, and I rise to say thank you to the Public and
Active Transport Committee on the delivery of this Klumpp Road Bikeway. It
has been a long time coming. This was actually first in the budget four years
ago. However there was a little thing called a flood in 2011 and unfortunately
and the delivery of this bikeway has actually been postponed within the budget,
because of obviously the very urgent works that we needed to do in other parts
of Brisbane to make sure that we recovered properly from that incident.
So this is a very important bikeway connection in my ward and I have to say it's
one of those difficult ones that we have been tackling over the last few years. It's
easy just to connect to long streets. This one is actually through Mimosa Creek
which has been a little bit more tricky than they thought it was going to be, so
there is quite a culvert crossing to get across the creek. It's interesting. It's one
that actually was supposed to be done in line with the Park and Ride on Klumpp
Road that was delivered in about 2011 as well.
It's been very unfortunate that it's taken this time because a lot of people, a lot of
ladies in their high heels have been crossing over the logs to get across the creek
to get to the Park and Ride where the buses are. There were actually temporary
logs put there for people to crossover when it was a bit wet and mushy. But the
beautiful new three metre wide shared pathway and the culvert crossing makes it
a lot easier to get through. I went for a walk through there the other day with my
environment group and it looks absolutely fantastic.
They are very excited to learn about the animal furniture that you now put in
culvert crossings. It's something that they didn't know about but of course we do
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 64 now as business as usual as well. The most important part is this connects two
primary schools to not only Klumpp Road but the very important community
infrastructure at Klumpp Road which is the Hibiscus Gardens swimming pool,
the State Netball Centre, the PCYC, the squash courts and of course the Park
and Ride. So without having to walk along Logan Road and down Klumpp Road
which are very, very busy roads, particularly during those school hours of pickup and drop-off and peak hours, they can now go through a lovely bush setting
to get there.
There is also lighting for the evenings when it gets a bit dark early in winter
with the solar panelling on the ground so that people can get through if they're
coming from the bus a bit later in the evenings when they're getting home from
work. It is a fantastic project. I know it was delayed but I'm very grateful for it
being delivered now and thank you very much Councillor MATIC and all the
team that worked on this project. I recommend it to the Chamber.
Acting Chairman:
Any further debate? I will now put the report.
Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Public and Active
Transport Committee was declared carried on the voices.
The report read as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Councillor Peter Matic (Chairman), Councillor Steven Huang (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors
Steve Griffiths, Nicole Johnston, Kim Marx and Ryan Murphy.
A
COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – ACTIVE COMMUNITIES KLUMPP
ROAD BIKEWAY
327/2014-15
1.
Graham Nell, Program Director, Project Management, City Projects Office, Brisbane Infrastructure
Division, attended the meeting to provide a presentation on the Active Communities Klumpp Road
Bikeway. He provided the information below.
2.
The Klumpp Road Bikeway consists of:
construction of approximately 380 metres of three metre-wide shared pathway from the
TransLink Park ‘n’ Ride facility on Klumpp Road to the existing Roly Chapman Reserve
bikeway
construction of a culvert crossing Mimosa Creek
provision of a connection to the Mount Gravatt Police Citizens Youth Club
installation of lighting to improve safety
landscaping and revegetation works
installation of way-finding signage.
3.
An aerial image depicting the new shared use concrete path was shown.
4.
Klumpp Road Bikeway is one of the Wishart Active Communities Projects. Active Communities aim
to provide improved and safer access for pedestrians, cyclists and local school students to recreational
precincts, public transport, schools, commercial and retail precincts. This project achieved the above
aim.
5.
The construction of this bikeway commenced in late May 2014 and was completed in September 2014.
6.
A close-up image of the completed bikeway was displayed.
7.
Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr Nell for his
informative presentation.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 65 8.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT
COMMITTEE
Councillor Amanda COOPER, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment
Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Vicki HOWARD, that the report of the meeting of that Committee
held on 25 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor COOPER.
Councillor COOPER:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair. Madam Acting Chair, at committee last week
we had an application at 50 Freda Street in Upper Mount Gravatt in the Wishart
ward. So under the close watchful eye of Councillor ADAMS this one has been
put forward to Council. It's an application for 12 storeys and 52 units, 12 of
these are one bedroom units, 36 are two bedroom units and there are four three
bedroom units proposed. There is also some short-term accommodation, a
restaurant and convention centre. The site under the Mount Gravatt Corridor
Neighbourhood Plan is designated Major Centre MP2 and within the Upper
Mount Gravatt core precinct.
I think there is currently on the site a one storey shop and restaurant but
certainly this is a proposal that will completely transform that particular
location. It's an application for a preliminary approval to carry out building work
and a Material Change of Use. It proposes as part of the hotel to offer 101
rooms, an internet lounge, a conference centre and convention centre. It is
proposed to be 12 storeys, will have 134 car spaces, 64 of those for residents,
nine for visitors and 61 for the hotel and non-residential uses.
The local councillor is very well aware of this site. It is not impacted by either
creek or river flooding, however it does experience overland flow issues. There
have been specific conditions put in place to respond to those issues on that site.
It triggered the highest level of assessment and was lodged on 14 March 2014 so
it was assessed against City Plan 2000. It's a site that is very well located in
terms of access to public transport. Approximately 100 metres from the city
express bus stop at the Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road, 350 metres from Garden
City Shopping Centre and 600 metres from the busway.
The officers issued the applicant with an information request on 29 April asking
for greater pedestrian and street activation. They sought the land dedication is
required under the Neighbourhood Plan to be detailed, further information about
stormwater management and lawful point of discharge, for more deep planting
on the site and how refuse will be collected. The applicant responded to
Council's request on 10 August with a number of changes including a greater
activation to the street.
Indeed, we saw at committee last week about how many changes had been made
to really transform what was initially perhaps not the most beautiful of buildings
to a really good outcome. I know that Councillor ADAMS was very pleased
with the final outcome. So there's been a movement of building forward to be in
line with the street as well as changes to that internet lounge to offer greater
activation at the ground plane. The application went out for formal notification
from 12 August to 4 September. There were no submissions received to this
application, neither formal submissions nor informal submissions.
The site under the Neighbourhood Plan allows for 15 storeys for sites that are
2500 square metres or greater. This site is 2465 square metres so 35 square
metres less than the site that is required for the Neighbourhood Plan to allow the
15 storeys. So there's a maximum building height proposed for 10 storeys for
sites of this size. Council officers supported this site having an additional two
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 66 storeys due to a number of performance solutions including that the site is a
large corner site capable of supporting this outcome.
The design means that the bulk and scale of the proposed building will be
recessed behind the podium, the street frontage was designed to ensure street
activation and the setbacks were in line with the Neighbourhood Plan. The site
is very, as I said earlier, very well supported in terms of public transport access,
the height and scale is in keeping with the intent of the precinct, as it's set a
maximum height of 15 storeys. The application was also referred to the
Department of State Development and Infrastructure Planning for referral to the
Department of Transport Main Roads with advice being there was support for
the project subject to conditions.
There is—one of the conditions is a one metre widening—well, is the provision
for the one metre to Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road to achieve a five metre width
for a subtropical boulevard. Councillor HOWARD was almost quite envious in
discussion about that proposed boulevard in discussions last week. So there have
been a number of changes to the initial application. I want to thank the local
councillor for her support and certainly her excellent feedback along the way,
and thank the Council officers for the work that they have done in conjunction
with the applicant to get such a great outcome.
This is a $22 million project so a great investment in our city so it's not just
happening in the CBD. It is certainly happening in our suburbs very much along
our transport corridors which are in line with the work that we have discussed
for many years about how our city will transform. So this is a development that
will deliver a lot of jobs on the site, as well as continuing to deliver on the
Neighbourhood Plan that we prepared in consultation with the community. I'd
like to thank the officers who worked on the application. It is a great outcome
and I was so pleased to see this come to committee and be supported
unanimously. Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you Councillor COOPER. Further debate? Councillor ADAMS.
Councillor ADAMS:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chair, and I'll just stand to reiterate Councillor
COOPER's words on the fantastic outcome we've had on this site at Upper
Mount Gravatt. It was very important to get this building right because it has
been the first one that we've seen of this size come from the Mount Gravatt
Corridor Neighbourhood Plan. As you can see from those submissions I think it
makes it very clear that people are very accepting that we've been through the
process of the Neighbourhood Plan and they know what they are to expect in
this area. It is a principal regional activity centre.
The site itself is a large site and it is on the Brisbane urban corridor so very good
express buses as Councillor COOPER said, very close to public transport. Very
close to the best Westfield shopping centre in Brisbane and the southern
hemisphere now as well I might say. Garden City has really outdone itself and
this is going to be a fantastic addition to the area. Of course too it is very close
to what we used to call the Skateway but which is now bingo.
I'm sure there are a lot of people that when they're looking to downsize in the
Upper Mount Gravatt area will see the opportunities to downsize to a unit where
all they have to do is step out the front door and they're at bingo every Tuesday
and Thursday which I'm sure will be very attractive as well. The first go at the
application I suppose you can put it, the first time around, it wasn't as attractive
as it is now. It was definitely a bit boxy and didn't cater for those aspects that we
really did want to see in the Neighbourhood Plan which was the boulevarding,
the activation at the street site, making sure that there was oversight in the
activation so you could see from inside out as well, because it could get dark
down Freda Street when it was just the shops.
I do think that's going to be the case with this building as well but the team
worked very hard with the applicants to make sure that what we see today in this
approval is a much better outcome for the amenity, for the area, for the visual
amenity of the building and for the street activation as well. As I said, as the first
building I think that's very important. This will be a catalyst project. I hope it
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 67 encourages other developers to come and invest in Upper Mount Gravatt
because I more than welcome investment in Upper Mount Gravatt. That's what
we like to see.
Thank you very much to Councillor COOPER and the officers on this
development application.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you. Further debate? Councillor COOPER? I will now put the report.
Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Neighbourhood Planning
and Development Assessment Committee was declared carried on the voices.
Thereupon, Councillors Ryan MURPHY and Kim MARX immediately rose and called for a division, which
resulted in the motion being declared carried unanimously.
The voting was as follows:
AYES: 24 -
DEPUTY MAYOR,
Councillor
Adrian SCHRINNER,
and
Councillors
Krista ADAMS,
Matthew BOURKE,
Amanda COOPER,
Vicki HOWARD,
Steven HUANG, Fiona KING, Geraldine KNAPP, Kim MARX, Peter MATIC,
Ian McKENZIE, David McLACHLAN, Ryan MURPHY, Angela OWEN-TAYLOR,
Julian SIMMONDS, Andrew WINES, and Norm WYNDHAM, and the Leader of
the OPPOSITION, Councillor Milton DICK, and Councillors Helen ABRAHAMS,
Peter CUMMING, Kim FLESSER, Victoria NEWTON, Shayne SUTTON and
Nicole JOHNSTON.
NOES: Nil.
The report as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Councillor Amanda Cooper (Chairman), Councillor Vicki Howard (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Helen
Abrahams, Geraldine Knapp, Shayne Sutton and Andrew Wines.
A
DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION (DISTRIBUTER-RETAILER) UNDER
SUSTAINABLE PLANNING ACT 2009: PROPOSED CENTRE ACTIVITY –
MULTI-UNIT DWELLING (52 UNITS), SHORT-TERM ACCOMMODATION
(101 UNITS), RESTAURANT AND CONVENTION CENTRE - 50 FREDA
STREET, UPPER MT GRAVATT – THE SOUTHSIDE UNIT TRUST
A003828620
328/2014-15
1.
The Acting Team Manager, Development Assessment, Planning Services East, reports that a
development application (distributer-retailer) has been submitted on 7 March 2014 by Reel Planning
Pty Ltd, on behalf of The Southside Unit Trust, as follows:
Development aspects:
Carry out building work (preliminary approval)
Material change of use (development permit)
General description of proposal:
Centre activity:
multi-unit dwelling (52 units)
short-term accommodation (101 units)
restaurant
convention centre
The Southside Unit Trust
50 Freda Street, Upper Mount Gravatt
Lot 3 on RP815296, Parish of Bulimba
2,465 square metres.
Land in the ownership of:
Address of the site:
Described as:
Containing an area of:
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 68 2.
This impact-assessable application was properly made on 14 March 2014 for a 12-storey building
consisting of 52 residential units (12 one bedroom, 36 two bedroom and four three bedroom units), 101
short-term accommodation rooms, a ground-floor restaurant and convention centre in four podium
levels and an eight-storey tower. The development has a gross floor area (GFA) of 9,725 square metres.
There has been 134 car parking spaces provided over two basement levels, this includes 64 for
residents, nine for visitors and 61 short-term accommodation spaces.
3.
This application is over land currently included in the multi-purpose centre – Major Centre (MP2)
designation under the Brisbane City Plan 2000 (City Plan). The proposal is within the Upper Mount
Gravatt Core Precinct of the Mount Gravatt Corridor Neighbourhood Plan (MGCNP). This site is
currently used as a one-storey shop and restaurants.
4.
The proposed height and GFA of the development meets the performance solution and planning intent
of the Upper Mount Gravatt Core Precinct of the MGCNP in that it provides a high-density urban form
that takes advantage of the high-frequency public transport in the area, including express bus stops on
Logan Road and at the Upper Mount Gravatt South East Busway Station. The proposal is also in close
proximity to a high number of retail and commercial developments and provides strong pedestrian
linkages to these through the existing transport network, reducing the reliance of car travel for future
residents.
5.
Access from Freda Street is proposed for this site through one driveway cross-over and a road
dedication for footpath widening and any future road dedication to Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road has been
conditioned as part of this development.
6.
Minor city street streetscape are conditioned to be completed as part of this development, enhancing the
pedestrian environment of the surrounding area through increased vegetation, footpath space and
personal safety.
7.
Council’s FloodWise Property Report indicates that there is an overland-flow path on the property and
appropriate conditions have been included to address this flow path. The site did not flood in the
January 2011 Brisbane River flood.
8.
The proposal generally complies with relevant provisions of Brisbane City Plan 2000, including the
Desired Environmental Outcomes, the Mt Gravatt Corridor Neighbourhood Plan – Upper Mount
Gravatt Core Precinct, Centre Amenity and Performance Code and Centre Design Code.
9.
The application was subject to public notification between 12 August and 4 September 2014 and no
submissions were received.
10.
The application was referred to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning
(State-controlled road) who advised in a letter dated 11 September 2014 that they support the proposal
subject to conditions.
11.
The Acting Team Manager advises that relevant reports have been obtained to address the assessment
criteria and decision process prescribed by the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 outlining appropriate
developmental requirements.
12.
The Councillor for Wishart Ward, Councillor Krista Adams, supports the proposal.
13.
It is recommended that the application be approved, subject to the approved plans and conditions
included in the Development Approval Package submitted on file and marked Attachment A. The
Committee agrees unanimously.
14.
RECOMMENDATION:
(i)
That it be and is hereby resolved that whereas—
(a)
A development application (distributor-retailer) was properly made on 14 March
2014 to the Council pursuant to section 260 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, as
follows:
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 69 Development aspects:
General
description
proposal:
Land in the ownership of:
Address of the site:
Described as:
Containing an area of:
(b)
Carry out building work (preliminary approval)
Material change of use (development permit)
of
Centre activity:
multi-unit dwelling (52 units)
short-term accommodation (101 units)
restaurant
convention centre
The Southside Unit Trust
50 Freda Street, Upper Mount Gravatt
Lot 3 on RP815296, Parish of Bulimba
2,465 square metres.
The Council is required to assess the application pursuant to Part 7A (Distributor
retailer) and Section 314 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, and decide the
application under section 324 of the Act;
the Council—
(ii)
(c)
Upon consideration of the application and those matters set forth in sections 314 and
324 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 relevant to the application considers that:
i.
the site is within the urban footprint of the South East Queensland Regional
Plan 2009-2031, and the use is consistent with an urban activity;
ii.
the proposal is consistent with the Brisbane City Plan 2000;
iii.
the proposal advances the intent and development principles of the Mount
Gravatt Corridor Neighbourhood Plan, in particular the Upper Mount
Gravatt Core Precinct;
iv.
the proposal will not create adverse amenity impacts on the surrounding
area; and
v.
the development can be accommodated within the existing essential
infrastructure networks.
(d)
Accordingly considers that were the development to accord with Council’s
development conditions imposed on the development, it would be appropriate that the
proposed development be approved on the subject land;
(e)
Considers that a Brisbane City Council Infrastructure Charges Notice should be
issued for the development pursuant to the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 and
Brisbane Adopted Infrastructure Charges Resolution (Number Four) 2014, for the
transport, community purposes and stormwater trunk infrastructure networks; and
Whereas the Council determines as in (i) hereof, THE COUNCIL APPROVES THE
DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION referred to above and subject to the conditions in the
Development Approval Package submitted on file and marked Attachment A, and directs that:
(a)
the applicant be advised of the decision;
(b)
the applicant be given the Infrastructure Charges Notices for community purposes, stormwater
and transport;
(c)
the Central SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority be advised of the decision;
(d)
the Councillor for Wishart Ward, Councillor Krista Adams, be advised of the decision; and
(e)
the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning be advised of the decision.
ADOPTED
ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
Councillor Matthew BOURKE, Chairman of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee, moved,
seconded by Councillor Fiona KING, that the report of the meeting of that Committee held on 25 November
2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor BOURKE.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 70 Councillor BOURKE:
Thanks very much, Madam Acting Chairman, just before I move to the formal
report before us, I just want to make some comments about a few items relating
to my portfolio, Madam Acting Chairman. I've already spoken at length about
Frew Park and the opening on the weekend. What I didn't say was I should just
encourage every councillor to encourage their residents to go down and make
use of the wonderful facility that's there. It really is a standout park, a standout
playground. For those councillors in the Chamber who have children, take them
along, let them have a play. It includes all abilities, toddler play as well as that
challenging play for older kids in the community as well,
Madam Acting Chairman. It would be remiss of me not to mention the storm
event which happened last Thursday and the impact that that's had on our parks
and open spaces across the city. Starting off, Madam Acting Chairman, with
South Bank, significant damage was actually sustained at South Bank during the
course of the event. It was right in the track line of the storm cell, Madam
Acting Chairman. We actually implemented the emergency evacuation plan to
get people out of the parklands immediately after that event went through.
There was debris everywhere; trees, awnings, tables and chairs from restaurants,
as well as damage to some of the infrastructure like the piazzas, some signage,
as well as other items, Madam Acting Chairman. I just want to take the
opportunity to say thank you very much to all the staff at South Bank who in
what was probably not the best of circumstances, managed to keep their heads
and make sure that the public was safe during the process of getting them out of
the parklands, but also in the following days to make sure that South Bank was
reopened very, very quickly for the public to enjoy.
Madam Acting Chairman, turning to the rest of the city, there was probably
about in excess of 5,000 street and park trees across the city that had been
damaged. Madam Acting Chairman, it's a significant amount of jobs that are out
there for our Urban Amenities crews and Asset Services and other contractors to
get to. We're estimating that there's more than 1,000 odd trees that will have to
be removed so they've either come over completely, Madam Acting Chairman,
or the damage to them is so significant that we will have to remove those trees.
That means that there are 18 parks which are currently closed or impacted. That
number was up to about 28 on Sunday or Saturday straight after the event,
Madam Acting Chairman. It's a tribute to the hard work of our Urban Amenities
and Field Services officers that we now only have 18 parks which are impacted
or damaged, with a number of parks having reopened, Madam Acting Chairman.
Some of the high profile parks that are damaged and remain closed are parts of
the City Botanic Gardens, Madam Acting Chairman. It's sad to say that a
number of the older trees and some of the elements in the City Botanic Gardens
have sustained massive damage, including a couple of the figs in the original Fig
Avenue which are over 100 years old. On top of that Davies Park in West End,
has significant damage to a number of the fig trees. It is probably known for its
fig trees as a feature of that particular park.
There's a significant amount of damage that's been done to those, as well as
Orleigh Park, Madam Acting Chairman, which also has significant damage to
the fig trees. Asset Services and Urban Amenities are obviously working very
hard to make sure that we're taking the appropriate action and not removing
trees that need to be removed but removing branches, removing the foliage that's
been damaged and making an assessment of the strength and the structural
integrity of the tree once that work's been done.
Madam Acting Chairman, all of this work is being done obviously as fast as
possible but also taking into account public safety. I would just encourage and
remind all councillors to encourage their residents not to go into a park that has
fallen trees or has damaged trees in it and to take appropriate safety precautions,
Madam Acting Chairman.
Turning very quickly to one last thing, New Farm Park on the weekend, I had
the pleasure of joining Councillor HOWARD and the LORD MAYOR at New
Farm Park to plant 10 trees, one tree for each decade of New Farm Park's
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 71 existence as a park. We celebrated the hundredth anniversary of New Farm
Park. Councillor WINES was there as well, Madam Acting Chairman,
representatives of the community. It was a great day enjoyed by everyone, a
good tribute and somewhat fitting after having lost some trees during the week
to be planting some new trees down in New Farm Park.
Madam Acting Chairman, a number of items on the Agenda before us;
committee presentation about 25,000 Street Lights Program. Madam Acting
Chairman, this is a great program supported for a Federal Government grant
which has facilitated the replacement of 25,900 street lights across the city. So
we've replaced more streetlights than we anticipated to do and cheaper, Madam
Acting Chairman, than we projected to do. We actually made a saving on the
project budget on this particular item and it of course is delivering us a $5000
saving on our light bills each year as well, Madam Acting Chairman. So a
winning all round when it comes to the 25,000 Street Light Project.
The Federal Government is very happy with our delivery of this project, Madam
Acting Chairman. Quite a detailed presentation was provided, talking through
how we did the work, Madam Acting Chairman, and obviously the benefits to
Council. I'll leave discussion about the petitions to the Chamber.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? Councillor NEWTON.
Councillor NEWTON:
Yes thanks, Madam Acting Chair. I rise to speak briefly on item C of this report
which is to formally name or possibly even rename a pathway between Sandgate
and Shorncliffe, Madam Acting Chair. Madam Acting Chair, this item has
arisen as a result of some meetings I've been having with the Sandgate and
District Historical Society. We've been having some discussions about—well
previously discussions around naming some parks, which was successfully done
over the last few years including Herb Holz and Clem Masters and more
recently been looking at pathways to name.
We successfully named a little pathway in Sandgate after the Banyard family.
While in those discussions with the Sandgate and District Historical Society I
said to them, do you know what, that Lovers’ Walk that we have down on the
beachfront there. Everyone calls it Lovers’ Walk but there's no sign and there's
no indication of any formal name of this particular way. Now, Madam Acting
Chair, this is a cute little pathway that is really a popular link on the beachfront
that runs from the historical Baptist church that was built in the late 1800s and it
heads underneath the escarpment all the way through to the current site of the
Shorncliffe Pier, Madam Acting Chair, so it's quite an historic area to walk
through.
Now rumour has it or information provided by the Historical Society states that
it's believed that that walk was originally names Dover's Walk in honour of one
of the early Sandgate town Council town engineers. Now back in those days for
some reason it was more affordable for printing houses—or perhaps just the
facilities weren't available in Brisbane at that time—printing houses would come
out from London. They'd send out photographers, they'd take photographs of
these historic, beautiful sites around the new colony I suppose, and head back to
England, and produce some postcards for tourists because it was a really popular
spot for people to have respite by the sea, Madam Acting Chair.
Now I don't know whether it was deliberate or whether it was a joke or what
happened but somehow Dover's Walk became Lovers’ Walk during the printing
process, Madam Acting Chair. Ever since then it's been known as Lovers’ Walk.
Now perhaps it's because if you look at some of the early photos you see people
in beautiful Edwardian attire walking with a parasol perhaps in hand along this
pathway. It has been a popular spot for people to walk and perhaps enjoy one
another's company in conversation along this beautiful walkway.
Madam Chair, I'm so excited that—maybe it's taken 100 years for us to get there
but we're finally formally today naming this walk Lovers’ Walk. I just wanted to
pay tribute to Pam Verney from the Sandgate and District Historical Society for
her wonderful assistance and extensive research to assist us with this
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 72 application, and thank the 200 approximate petitioners for supporting this
proposal.
I'm anticipating this'll be a unanimous vote this afternoon in the Chamber. I'm
excited to see it finally happen after 100 years.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? Councillor BOURKE.
Councillor BOURKE:
Look very, very quickly, Madam Chairman, it was remiss of me and I thought I
was running out of time not to mention petition B which relates to Northey
Street City Farm. There's a petition of over 1,000 residents about the status of
Northey Street City Farm. The Chamber will be well aware about the situation
relating to Northey Street and the need for Council to go in and do testing on the
soil.
We've been working very hard with Northey Street Community Farm to make
sure that we provide a safe environment where they can continue conduct and
operate their operations in the manner which they do under their organic status
and so on and such forth. We've been working with them, Queensland Health
and the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to make sure we
meet our regulatory obligations, but also that the City Farm can continue to
undertake its work.
Madam Chairman, it's my pleasure to announce to the Chamber this afternoon
that Northey Street City Farm will be back operational to open to the public this
weekend. We'll be pulling down the fences and allowing the public in. It has
been a lot of hard work not only from Council officers but from members of the
City Farm to raise the garden beds, seal the pathways and undertake all of the
other necessary work.
It has been quite challenging. There has been moments when obviously issues
have arisen, but we've been able to work through all of those issues and Council
has provided a significant amount of support in the form of materials and goods
to help support and continue the operation of Northey Street down there.
There's been no more vocal advocate of Northey Street City Farm than the local
councillor, Councillor HOWARD, who has been constantly working with the
Council officers and myself and Northey Street City Farm to make sure that we
got this through to a satisfactory outcome that will see the farm continue for
many years into the future.
So can I just say thank you very much to Northey Street for their patience
around this. Thank you very much to Councillor HOWARD for your advocacy
and the work that you've done to keep the community informed. I think it's a
great outcome, and I look forward to visiting the farm once they're back open
and operational.
Just to close, Madam Chairman, I think Councillor NEWTON has just claimed
the world's oldest case of Photoshopping, the changing of Dover's Walk to
Lover's Walk. So look, I'm more than happy to support that petition and naming
of Lover's Walk down there in Shorncliffe for Councillor NEWTON.
Acting Chairman:
I will now put the report.
Upon being submitted to the Chamber by the Chairman, the motion for the adoption of the report of the
Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee was declared carried on the voices.
The report as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Councillor Matthew Bourke (Chairman), Councillor Fiona King (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors Peter
Cumming, Kim Flesser, Geraldine Knapp and Ryan Murphy.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 73 -
A
COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – 25,000 STREET LIGHTS RETROFIT
PROJECT
329/2014-15
1.
Paul Brisbane, Senior Program Officer - Carbon Management, Energy Efficiency, Natural
Environment, Water and Sustainability Branch, City Planning and Sustainability Division, attended the
meeting to provide an update on the 25,000 Street Lights Retrofit Project. He provided the information
below.
2.
Council has approximately 110,000 street lights, which includes 60,000 mercury-vapour lights, which
are inefficient and are used for ‘white’ light on minor roads. A trial of 32 watt efficient options for
minor roads was conducted between 2008 and 2011, and approved by Energex.
3.
The project scope is to replace at least 25,000 mercury-vapour lights on minor roads. This commenced
in early 2013 and will be completed by March 2015. The total project cost is up to 10 million dollars
and the Australian Government will pay 50 per cent of the project costs.
4.
A table showing the target and outcomes was shown.
5.
Strong relationships, good communication, excellent partnership with Energex and continuous
improvement throughout the project were the success factors of the project. Considered project design
made delivery more effective.
6.
Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr Brisbane for his
informative presentation.
7.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
B
PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL ENSURE THAT THE NORTHEY
STREET CITY FARM ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED CONTINUES
OPERATING ON ITS CURRENT SITE
CA14/621041
330/2014-15
8.
A petition requesting Council ensure that the Northey Street City Farm Association Incorporated
continues operating on its current site was presented to the Council meeting held on 29 July 2014, by
Councillor Vicki Howard.
9.
The Divisional Manager, Brisbane Lifestyle Division, supplied the following information.
10.
A petition was received from the members and supporters of the Northey Street City Farm Association
Incorporated (NSCF), requesting that Council ensure that NSCF continues to operate on its current site
at 54 Northey Street, Windsor. The petition contains 1,087 signatures.
11.
A community garden has been located on the NSCF site since the mid 1990s. A licence was granted to
NSCF in 2002 and they have held tenure over the site since that time.
12.
On 20 June 2014, Council temporarily closed the NSCF due to the discovery of demolition waste on
the site. Following the temporary closure of the site, Council undertook a number of site inspections to
determine the extent of waste materials present at the site.
13.
Queensland Health has assessed the results of the site inspection and has determined that NSCF can
continue to operate from the site, following the implementation of a number of safety measures. These
safety measures include: raising of garden beds, the implementation of appropriate dust mitigation
strategies, and the implementation of good hygiene practices.
14.
NSCF is implementing an operational management plan that has been endorsed by Council to address
these measures.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 74 -
15.
Council is committed to ensuring that the NSCF continues to operate on its current site. This includes
Council providing materials to directly assist the NSCF address the required safety measures.
Consultation
16.
Councillor Vicki Howard, Councillor for Central Ward, has been consulted and supports the
recommendation.
17.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT COUNCIL SUPPORTS THE REOPENING
OF THE NORTHEY STREET CITY FARM ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED AT 54
NORTHEY STREET, WINDSOR, as soon as the operational management plan prepared by the
Northey Street City Farm, in line with Queensland Health and the Department of Environment and
Heritage Protection advice, is implemented.
ADOPTED
C
PETITIONS – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL FORMALLY NAME THE
FORESHORE BIKEWAY/PATHWAY BETWEEN CLIFF STREET AND
MOORA PARK, SHORNCLIFFE, AS ‘LOVERS WALK’
CA14/719508 and CA14/736971
331/2014-15
18.
The Acting Executive Manager, Field Services Group, Brisbane Infrastructure Division, supplied the
following information.
19.
Two petitions were presented to the Council meeting held on 26 August 2014, by Councillor Victoria
Newton.
20.
Two petitions, one with 120 signatures and one with 71 signatures, have been presented to Council to
support the formal naming of the foreshore pathway from Cliff Street to Moora Park as ‘Lovers Walk’.
21.
The section of parkland between Cliff Street and Moora Park consists of a highly used
bikeway/pathway along the foreshore. The parkland is a long narrow strip of land along the foreshore
of Moreton Bay.
22.
The Sandgate Historical Society has provided support to name the section of bikeway/pathway at Cliff
Street, Sandgate as ‘Lovers Walk’.
23.
According to information from the Sandgate Historical Society, the origin of the name came about
between 1910 and 1920. An English company came to Queensland and took photographs around
Brisbane to make postcards. Dover’s Walk was one of the photographs. As a joke, young men in the
company covered up part of the ‘D’ to make it an ‘L’ and the cards came out from England as Lover’s
Walk. It has been called by that name ever since.
Funding
24.
Signage will be funded from Council’s Asset Services’ recurrent budget.
Consultation
25.
Councillor Victoria Newton, Councillor for Deagon Ward, has been consulted and supports the
recommendation below.
Customer impact
26.
Formally renaming the pathway and installing signage will provide identity and history to Sandgate
locals and visitors.
27.
The Acting Executive Manager therefore recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 75 -
28.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT COUNCIL WILL FORMALLY NAME THE
FORESHORE BIKEWAY/PATHWAY FROM CLIFF STREET TO MOORA PARK,
SHORNCLIFFE AS ‘LOVERS WALK’ AND WILL PROVIDE A NAMING SIGN.
ADOPTED
D
PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF ADDITIONAL
LIGHTING IN THE DOG OFF-LEASH AREA WITHIN PERRIN PARK,
TOOWONG
CA14/781364
332/2014-15
29.
A petition requesting the installation of additional lighting in the dog off-leash area within Perrin Park,
Toowong, was received during the Winter Recess 2014.
30.
The Acting Executive Manager, Field Services Group, Brisbane Infrastructure Division supplied the
following information.
31.
The petition contains 49 signatures.
32.
The petitioners state that the current solar lighting is inadequate and poses a public safety risk,
especially when approaching the off-leash area, exercising their dogs within the area and as they leave.
Considering the area is positioned away from houses and there is little or no casual surveillance. The
petitioners are concerned about safety.
33.
Council’s Asset Services advises that a lighting project that was previously planned has now been
implemented. This project included the installation of a wooden light pole and two flood lights pointed
towards opposite ends of the area to maximise coverage. The post has been installed beside the eastern
fence adjacent to the shade structure, and all work has now been completed.
Funding
34.
Additional lighting was funded from Council’s Asset Services West recurrent maintenance budget.
Consultation
35.
Councillor Julian Simmonds, Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward, has been consulted and supports the
recommendation below.
Customer impact
36.
The installation of the new lighting has enhanced the usability of the dog off-leash facility for all dog
owners within Toowong and the surrounding suburbs, by allowing the facility to be utilised after
daylight hours.
37.
The Acting Executive Manager recommends as follows and the Committee agrees.
38.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT THE PETITIONERS BE ADVISED THAT THE NEED FOR NEW LIGHTING HAD
BEEN DISCUSSED PRIOR TO THEIR PETITION AND A DECISION WAS MADE BY
COUNCIL THROUGH CONSULTATION WITH COUNCILLOR SIMMONDS TO INSTALL
ADDITIONAL LIGHTING. This project included the installation of a wooden light pole and two
flood lights pointed towards opposite ends of the area to maximise coverage. The post has been
installed beside the eastern fence adjacent to the shade structure, and all work has now been completed.
ADOPTED
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 76 -
FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE
Councillor David McLACHLAN, Chairman of the Field Services Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor
Norm WYNDHAM, that the report of that Committee held on 25 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor McLACHLAN?
Councillor McLACHLAN:
Thank you very much, Madam Acting Chairman. I just want to follow up on a
couple of items that have been previously mentioned, in particular the
sustainability awards. So Brisbane is Australia's most sustainable city and now
on top of it being Australia's new world city, it's now the most sustainable city
so that is a great outcome.
But more importantly—and we don't go into these awards to get awards. It's nice
when the hard work that is being done by Council officers in particular is
recognised, and I think that's what came through in the award that was received
by Keep Australia Beautiful—but the contribution for the elements that made up
the submission that was made to Keep Australia Beautiful and which was
judged as most successful, did come from across the Council.
There were Community Action and Partnerships, Water Conservation,
Environmental Innovation and Protection, Litter Prevention, our great Resource
Recovery and Waste Management team and our new app, the Street Lights that
Councillor BOURKE has just mentioned there in Energy Innovation, Heritage
and Culture and our Young Legends as well.
So we were able to put in a very comprehensive submission in each of the areas
that is judged by Keep Australia Beautiful and that we took out two of those
awards plus the overarching award was a very good outcome for Brisbane. I'd
like to thank all the officers involved in making that submission, and they
should be justly proud of what they've been able to achieve.
Madam Chairman, before us item A, this was a committee presentation on the
Creek Road Bridge completion. This had previously come in to the Council
during the course of the project. It was a project that was completed on time and
within budget, and has provided a great outcome to the residents in that area.
I was pleased to go onsite at one stage with our Councillor SCHRINNER, the
local councillor, DEPUTY MAYOR, to have a look at the project during its
construction, and I'm pleased that I did because when you go and look at it now
all you see is a bitumen road surface. It's very hard looking at what is a road to
comprehend what's actually beneath the surface which has gone into this project
which was a relatively complex and demanding engineering feat.
Again, to the points I made earlier, a project of which our Council team and the
contractors should be justly proud. This is a good outcome. This did take a piece
of infrastructure that it was at the end of its useful life, an existing timber bridge
that had been constructed in the late 1920s, a single lane timber bridge which is
clearly out of date with the requirements for our modern city. This is now a
piece of infrastructure that will stand the test of time for at least another 100
years.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Chair.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? DEPUTY MAYOR.
DEPUTY MAYOR:
Just briefly, Madam Chairman, I also wanted to talk on the Creed Road Bridge
project; a good local project that demonstrates the Administration's commitment
to asset maintenance and ensuring that we don't get ourselves into the situation
where City Hall fell down virtually and needed to be refurbished at great
expense.
Shorncliffe Pier, once again, wasn't invested in in the way it should. This
particular bridge was an 80 year old plus wooden bridge and thousands of
motorists drove across it every day without even realising it was there.
So there's more than 35,000 vehicles a day that use Creek Road including many
trucks, and that bridge certainly stood the test of time over many years. What
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 77 we've been able to achieve through this bridge project is not only the
replacement of a bridge, but we've been able to achieve improved flood
immunity, the road surface was lifted up.
We've also been able to achieve a future-proofed outcome which allows for the
widening of Creek Road. The old bridge was only two lanes wide with a
separate pedestrian walkway bridge tacked on the side. This bridge is actually
four lanes wide with a separate dedicated pedestrian cycle access along the side.
So as traffic continues to grow in the future this bridge will be there and it won't
need to be modified in any way or upgraded. The road can be upgraded and
extra lanes put in place just because that capacity's been built into the bridge.
So great outcome for the local community. It's one of those projects that because
it's replacing an existing asset it probably doesn't get a lot of attention, but it's
really important and I commend the project team and Councillor McLACHLAN
for doing such a great job.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? I will now put the report. Nothing further Councillor
McLACHLAN? I'll now put the report.
Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Field Services Committee
was declared carried on the voices.
The report read as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Councillor David McLachlan (Chairman), Councillor Norm Wyndham (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors
Peter Cumming, Nicole Johnston, Kim Marx and Ian McKenzie.
A
COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – CREEK ROAD BRIDGE COMPLETION
UPDATE
333/2014-15
1.
Shane MacLeod, Manager, Construction Branch, Field Services Group, Brisbane Infrastructure
Division, attended the meeting to provide an update on Creek Road Bridge Completion Update. He
provided the information below.
2.
The existing timber bridge was originally constructed around 1927 as a single-lane timber structure
with a pedestrian footpath. At an unknown time it was widened to a two-lane timber structure with no
pedestrian footpath. It was in a very poor structural condition with low flood immunity and its end of
life was estimated to be May 2014. Hence a decision was made to construct a new bridge.
3.
This is a single span concrete bridge with four lanes and a footpath. The overall bridge structure is
17.5 metres wide and 18.4 metres long, with the total length of the work area being 170 metres.
4.
Twenty eight pre-cast deck units weighing approximately 18 tonnes each were used with 10 bored
concrete piles, 900 millimetres in diameter and 12 to 15 metres in depth.
5.
More than 500 tonnes each of concrete and asphalt were used for the construction of this bridge.
6.
A video depicting the entire construction process of the bridge was shown.
7.
An image of the completed bridge was displayed. The construction of this bridge was completed within
less than 12 months from start to finish – from December 2013 to October 2014. The bridge opened for
traffic on 11 October 2014, two weeks ahead of schedule. Its total budgeted and actual cost was $3.6
million. There were no significant public complaints, no safety incidents on site and the project team
had a very good relationship with the neighbouring residents through each project stage.
8.
Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Mr MacLeod for his
informative presentation.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 78 9.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
BRISBANE LIFESTYLE COMMITTEE
Councillor Krista ADAMS, Chairman of the Brisbane Lifestyle Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor
Andrew WINES, that the report of that Committee held on 25 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor ADAMS?
Councillor ADAMS:
Thank you. Before I get to the substantive report I'd just like to say tomorrow—
just quietly since it's so late in the evening—is our last Cost of Crime
Demonstration pop-up in the Post Office Square in the CBD. So this is a pop-up
event that's happened across many, many places this year. New Farm Park,
Blackwood Street, Station Road at Indooroopilly, the Lake Parklands, Luxworth
Place at Moorooka, Wynnum Wading Pool, Arthur Davis Park at Sandgate,
Rocks Riverside, Boundary Street at West End, all had big events where we
were trying to make people realise that vandalism and graffiti is not a victimless
crime.
It costs a lot of money; $3 million plus in Brisbane City Council to clean up and
it was about making that awareness of people as they travel through the places
that they pass day in day out or maybe go to on the weekend. What it does
actually cost if they see some graffiti and maybe to think about reporting to
either Crime Stoppers or to Brisbane City Council.
So we've had a fantastic response to rallying the effort to get everybody to help
us keep the city clean and green, and as I said, it was done in—excuse me—
partnership with the Crime Stoppers—I just had a blank there, Madam Chair,
sorry—it was done in partnership with the Crime Stoppers, and they've done a
fantastic job and will be rolling out a new campaign next year. Keep your eyes
and ears open.
They've got a bit of a different focus next year, but I have to say this year we
have seen our 15 crews remove more than 91,800 square metres of graffiti
which is an absolute outstanding effort, and I thank the people of Brisbane that
are reporting it in because we can't actually have eyes everywhere, so the more
we know about it the faster we get it off. I've spoken in this place many, many
times about how fast—the rapid removal is the best way to deal with our graffiti
in the city.
I also have a very exciting announcement about the museum on top of what the
LORD MAYOR was saying earlier this evening with the Golden Age of
Hollywood which is an absolutely spectacular exhibition. It is much larger than
you would imagine, but truly when you are seeing Debbie Reynolds' yellow
dress from Singing in the Rain, Fred Astaire's outfit from when he was dancing
on the ceiling or Judy Garland's outfit from Easter Parade, it really is absolutely
an amazing exhibition.
Then you can go and watch the movies because they're going to link it in with
the costumes that are up there as well. Therefore it is no wonder that the
museum won the bronze medal in the heritage and cultural tourism category at
the 2014 Queensland Tourism Awards on Friday night. I think that is an
outstanding effort.
The Director of the Museum of Brisbane, Peter Denham, tells me in discussion
with Queensland Tourism Industry it is very, very unusual for a first time
entrant to even be shortlisted on this let alone actually get a place. So this is an
excellent outcome for the entire team, and for the board that have worked so
hard over the last 18 months since they've been set up, to really make sure that
they are a tourism destination spot. I think we will see people voting with their
feet when they're coming through the exhibition that we've got up there as well.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 79 Many thanks to the team that put that application together, congratulations, a
bronze medal in their first year at the cultural tourism category at the Tourism
Awards is a fantastic effort from the team upstairs.
Please advertise it in your e-newsletters for your residents to come in and
experience the Golden Age of Hollywood. If they come into the movies on the
weekend they can also ring in the Shingle Inn and book a hamper to go up and
watch the movies as well. So it can be a lovely outing for the afternoon.
To the report from last week, it was a request from Councillor NEWTON and
Councillor GRIFFITHS to talk about the Council cab review and where we were
going forward with our Council cabs because it has been out to procurement this
year. We will be finalising that in the next few weeks, but what we did discuss
with our presentation last week, that we had a look at our services, where we
were delivering, what was being used and what wasn't being used, and there's
plenty of runs that aren't being used by our seniors.
But there are definitely plenty of suburbs too that needed a bit of an upgrade
around the Council cab runs that were offered to them on a weekly, fortnightly
or monthly basis.
So as we know, over 60s, pension card holders or people with mobility needs
can access it from a $1 to a $3 for one-way trip. It operates over 184 suburbs.
We currently service 43 shopping centres and there is 500 different services on
offer.
So this is in contrast. When Personalised Public Transport was actually
established in 2005 there were no TransLink services and that's where they were
focused on. What we've done now is really expand that as well and make sure
that it is an easy and accessible way for people to access their local community
shops, the ones that actually have the services of their doctors and their banks
and their grocery shopping that they need to do.
As we all know, if you work closely with your Council cabs and you're familiar
with your shopping centres we have that added bonus of sometimes getting your
groceries delivered to the door, as well if you've done your shopping in the
morning as you get to know your Council cab operators with our locals that use
them.
We know from our demographic information that we've got a lot of suburbs that
have greater needs than others when it comes to Council cabs, and so we do
really try and focus around the areas where the seniors are most prevalent. Sixty
plus is the age group that is growing the fastest of any age demographic, and
obviously like the rest of the world, the ageing population is something we
really do need to plan for.
So we identified three suburbs with very high concentrations of seniors: The
Gap, Inala and Wynnum. The 10 suburbs that recorded the highest number of
passengers between 2013 and 2014 was The Gap, Bald Hills, Kenmore,
Algester, Holland Park West, Sunnybank Hills, Acacia Ridge, Morningside,
Brighton and Zillmere.
We also reviewed that there was some 10 suburbs that actually recorded no
passenger bookings for Council cabs, but that's okay because we only pay for
the Council cab trips that we use, so they can still be there as an offering and we
can monitor on whether they are being used or not.
So what we have come out with our review is that there is going to be an extra
14 suburbs that are included in the Council cab services with our new
procurement, successful tenderer for procurement. I can't tell you right now
exactly where these cabs are going to be going, what shopping centres. That's
something that we're doing in negotiations with the tenderer, but the suburbs that
we will be focusing on are Bellbowrie, Moggill, Anstead, Pinjarra Hills and
Pullenvale.
We've got Council cab services through Carole Park, Inala and Richlands that
will be changing some of their shopping centres they go to. Of course
somewhere that has been crying out for a while for some extra services—I did
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 80 hear you Councillor CUMMING and it was confirmed—Wynnum, Wynnum
West, Wynnum North, Lota, Manly and Manly West as well.
We had two new cab services this year with Chandler and we trialled that one
and we found that it was definitely used and we keep that on, and Capalaba
West as well.
So improvements to existing cab services: Taigum, Chapel Hill, Long Pocket,
Toowong, Taringa, Indooroopilly, Fig Tree Pocket, Sherwood, Graceville and
Chelmer. We also will see Oxley will have a change of service too from the
Oxley shops to Woolworths, because of course as shops change as well—it was
an example at Taigum. They want to go to the Rogan Road shops instead of to
the shops that they were going to. So we are also catering for where our seniors
like to shop and do their socialising.
There is, most importantly, no changes to the current fare structure for Council
cabs and PPT. It will remain at $1 to $3 per one-way trip depending on your
distance and if you're doing the PPT or the actual cab as well. We will be
working on a communication strategy next year that I'm happy to work with
local councillors to make sure that all of your eligible residents who can use
Council cabs know exactly that they're out there and how they can use them to
their best advantage.
It is all part of that service that we make sure we are an accessible and inclusive
city and I recommend the report to the Chamber.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? Nothing further Councillor ADAMS? I will put the report.
Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the report of the Brisbane Lifestyle
Committee was declared carried on the voices.
The report read as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Councillor Krista Adams (Chairman), Councillor Andrew Wines (Deputy Chairman), and Councillors
Steve Griffiths, Vicki Howard, Steven Huang and Victoria Newton.
A
COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – COUNCIL CABS AND PERSONALISED
PUBLIC TRANSPORT REVIEW AND PROCUREMENT
334/2014-15
1.
Vanessa Fabre, Manager, Inclusive Communities, Connected Communities, Brisbane Lifestyle
Division, attended the meeting to provide an update on the Council Cabs and Personalised Public
Transport (PPT) review and procurement. She provided the information below.
2.
The purpose of the presentation was to provide the outcomes of a review undertaken for the Council
Cabs and the PPT services to inform the procurement process as the contracts for these services expire
in December 2014.
3.
Council currently has three contractors for Council Cabs. These include two community transport
providers being St John Ambulance and Transit Care; and a commercial provider being Black and
White Cabs.
4.
Council Cabs provide a door-to-door service with a cost of between one to three dollars per trip. Oneway or return journeys are offered with access to retail, finance and support services at shopping
centres. Council Cabs operates in 184 suburbs, servicing 43 shopping centres. More than 48,000
passenger trip bookings were made in 2013-14.
5.
PPT was established in 2005 and connects residents in areas with no TransLink services to a transport
hub (bus or train). The fare is one dollar per one-way trip. There were 27,124 passenger trips provided
in 2013-14.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 81 6.
The purpose of the Council Cabs and PPT services review was to inform the preparation of the
procurement process for extending the current services beyond December 2014. The review assessed
various aspects of each service including: current delivery, service needs, areas requiring enhanced
services and the fare structure.
7.
The service review identified three suburbs with a high concentration of seniors that have lower
numbers of Council Cabs services (two or less services) compared with other suburbs. This information
provided recommendations for additional services in Inala and Wynnum.
8.
The review outcomes included the improvements due to higher demands for services in the areas with
high proportions of seniors and people with disability.
9.
14 suburbs will receive an additional Council Cabs service, including Bellbowrie, Moggill, Anstead,
Pinjarra Hills and Pullenvale, will have an additional service to Kenmore Village Shopping Centre as
Bellbowrie Shops are not meeting all customer needs. The current Council Cabs service to Bellbowrie
Shops will remain an option for residents of these suburbs. Carole Park, Inala and Richlands will
receive a fortnightly service to Mt Ommaney Shopping Centre. Residents currently receive this service
monthly and will now be offered the service fortnightly. Wynnum, Wynnum West, Wynnum North,
Lota, Manly and Manly West will receive an additional service to Wynnum West Plaza Shopping
Centre and Wynnum Village Shops to operate twice a week.
10.
Two suburbs will receive a new Council Cabs service. Chandler, which was trialled earlier this year
with a Council Cabs service to Carindale Shopping Centre once a week, will now be included in the
service program. Capalaba West residents requested a service and will receive a Council Cabs service
once a week to Carindale Shopping Centre commencing 1 January 2015.
11.
Eleven suburbs will receive improvements to their existing Council Cabs service. Taigum will have a
change of service from Taigum Shopping Centre to Roghan Road Shops. Council received requests
from service users to go to shops in the area with an alternate supermarket. Chapel Hill, Long Pocket,
Toowong, Taringa, Indooroopilly, Fig Tree Pocket, Sherwood, Graceville and Chelmer will have a
change of service to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre on a Tuesday (changed from a Saturday) to
increase patronage. Oxley will have a change of service from Oxley Shops to Woolworths Oxley as
feedback from service users indicated that Oxley Shops are currently under-resourced.
12.
There will be no changes to the current fare structure for either service.
13.
A communication plan will be developed to increase the use of Council Cabs in lower patronage areas.
14.
There were no recommended changes to the PPT service as service improvements were made in
October 2013 following the TransLink review of bus routes.
15.
Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Ms Fabre for her
informative presentation.
16.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Councillor Julian SIMMONDS, Chairman of the Finance, Economic Development and Administration
Committee, moved, seconded by Councillor Ryan MURPHY, that the report of that Committee held on
25 November 2014, be adopted.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor SIMMONDS?
Councillor SIMMONDS:
Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Just before I speak briefly about
Christmas, I just wanted to take the opportunity to outline to the Chamber some
of the things that Council is doing in the digital space, particularly around open
data.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 82 So we've spoken previously about this Administration's efforts to make sure that
Brisbane is a digital city. We want our share of the $20 trillion global digital
economy, and as part of that we've rolled our free Wi-Fi and programs like
CoderDojo. But another important part of it is also our open data initiatives and
how we are using that to support local IT and the digital industry.
So since 2011 we've been progressively releasing datasets. This year alone
we've released a range of datasets including public drinking fountain locations,
loading zone locations, parking area locations, public events, library items
borrowed and CityGlider routes.
We've also added a large database to the data store about the location of all our
park facilities and the assets within them, which has been picked up by some
budding app developers and was part of the GovHack competition.
So of course all the data is free, it's published under a common licence so it can
be reused and republished freely, and developers retain all of their own
ownership over their intellectual property and Brisbane City Council doesn't
retain any rights over their data.
But what it's about is bolstering this commitment to an open and transparent
administration and also allowing the datasets that we hold to be leveraged by
some very smart local app developers.
To bolster our efforts, we've recently implemented a Council-wide guideline for
Council officers around open data, so this will enable Council to broaden our
initiatives, open data initiatives, by identifying and making more datasets
available for use by digital entrepreneurs.
The guidelines clearly articulate this Administration's view that the default
setting for all Council data is that it is public resource that can be made public
unless there are very genuine legislative reasons to the contrary.
So this policy will enable all Council officers organisation-wide as one council
to be proactive in this space and to identify data that can potentially be available
to Brisbane residents. It also invests in the existing Council officers the role of
digital champions to ensure that within their respective areas of the organisation
they are using their existing roles to identify those viable data sources.
Finally it puts a strong emphasis on the interaction we have with the IT industry.
So a big part of the data store is not just putting our data up there but also
providing a mechanism for the local IT industry to request data.
I took the opportunity at our recent IT breakfast where we had over 300 industry
participants to highlight this to them, and a great example of where this has
worked is a local entrepreneur. He's actually one of the budding entrepreneurs,
Grant Peter Cable of Peter Cable Architecture, and what he's been able to do is
identify planning data that he requested from Council, Council provided that and
he's built that into a practical application that can be used to help architects and
builders create better planning outcomes.
So I'd encourage all councillors to visit Brisbane's data store which is
www.data.brisbane.qld.gov.au. Jump onto that and encourage any local IT or
app minded people to jump onto there and have a look at some of the data that's
available as part of our open data initiative.
Madam Chairman, of course we had the presentation last week to the Committee
about the Christmas program. It's going to be a very successful Christmas
program again this year. We've got a lot of the favourites coming back including
the light program on City Hall, but we've also combined that with brand new
initiatives, particularly incorporating Southbank. So we've got new Disney
movies showing in Streets Beach and that will be one example of a brand new
event which will be great to get along to.
There'll be over 200 free events for people as part of the Christmas program
over the next month in the lead up to Christmas, so I'd encourage all councillors
to promote it and get their residents involved. Thank you.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? I will now put the report.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 83 -
Upon being submitted to the Chamber, the motion for the adoption of the Finance, Economic Development and
Administration Committee was declared carried on the voices.
The report read as follows
ATTENDANCE:
Councillor Julian Simmonds (Chairman), Councillor Angela Owen-Taylor (Deputy Chairman); and Councillors
Kim Flesser, Fiona King, Ryan Murphy and Shayne Sutton.
A
COMMITTEE PRESENTATION – CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY
335/2014-15
1.
Michelle Lee, General Manager, Precinct Development, Brisbane Marketing, attended the meeting to
provide a presentation on the 2014 Christmas in the City program. She provided the information below.
2.
In 2014, the CBD and South Bank will unite to host an extensive four-week festive entertainment
program. This will be the first time that the two precincts have collaborated to create a unified
Christmas look and feel across the city and provide visitors with a seamless Christmas experience on
both sides of the river.
3.
Building on the success of 2013, the CBD will again roll out its highly successful events program
featuring the Myer Christmas Parade and Pantomime and the Gold Lotto City Hall Light Spectacular.
Complementing these events will be a full suite of family-focused Christmas activities at South Bank.
4.
Some of the statistics and benefits regarding the 2013 program included:
$46 million total economic value to the CBD, equating to $3.8 million each day
8,000 attendees at the lighting of the Brisbane City Christmas Tree
200,000 attendees at the Myer Christmas Parade and Pantomime, a 42 per cent increase on
2012
120,000 attendees at the Gold Lotto City Hall Light Spectacular
4.93 per cent year-on-year increase for the month of December for Queen Street Mall
shopping centre traffic.
5.
The Wonder of Christmas will be the theme for the 2014 program. There will be beautiful hero
illustrations that reflect both the city and South Bank through a whimsical, story-book feel. The key
objective is to demonstrate the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child.
6.
The program will include music and entertainment such as:
parades and shows
concerts and performances
Christmas carols
The City Sounds Christmas Up Late
outdoor cinema
live screenings
Christmas fireworks.
The shopping and dining experiences will include retail promotions and in-store events, Christmas
markets and festive feasts.
7.
Several of the key events in the CBD are:
Queen Street Mall Christmas launch on Thursday 20 November 2014
Lighting of the Brisbane City Christmas Tree in King George Square on Friday
28 November 2014
Myer Christmas Parade and Pantomime in the CBD from Friday 12 December 2014 to Sunday
21 December 2014
Gold Lotto City Hall Light Spectacular at City Hall from Friday 12 December 2014 to
Wednesday 24 December 2014
IGA Lord Mayor’s Carols in The City at River Stage on Saturday 13 December 2014.
8.
Several of the key events at South Bank are:
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 84 -
Christmas Cinema Series at Streets Beach from Wednesday 17 December to Tuesday
23 December 2014
Christmas Fireworks Spectacular viewing along Clem Jones Promenade on 17, 19, 20 and
21 December 2014
South Bank Christmas Markets along Stanley Street Plaza on Friday 12 December 2014 to
Monday 23 December 2014
Christmas concert and live screenings in The Courier-Mail Piazza on assorted dates
throughout December 2014
NYE Fireworks Spectacular viewing along Clem Jones Promenade on Wednesday
31 December 2014.
9.
Examples of the advertising and media for the program were displayed. The presenter explained that
the target audience for the campaign are CBD workers, suburban residents and people that live within a
two-hour drive of Brisbane.
10.
The 2014 advertising and media campaign for Christmas in the City includes some new approaches,
such as incorporating more dynamic, flexible and cost effective digital outdoor advertising. The
introduction of advertising using the rail system broadens the scope of reach beyond the CBD as there
are 3.5 million monthly commuter trips, 177,000 daily trips. The use of office media will allow for a
dynamic countdown that will immediately follow G20 shifting the focus towards the festive season.
The print component of the campaign will focus on South East Queensland with some advertising in
northern New South Wales.
11.
The partnerships for the program are with Myer, Gold Lotto, Channel Nine, 97.3fm and the Queensland
Ballet.
12.
Following a number of questions from the Committee, the Chairman thanked Ms Lee for her
informative presentation.
13.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT COUNCIL NOTE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE ABOVE REPORT.
ADOPTED
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS:
Acting Chairman:
Councillors are there any petitions? Councillor KING?
Councillor KING:
Thank you, Madam Chair. I have two petitions, one is for basketball court line
markings and the other one is anti-fluoride in the water.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON?
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, I rise to table a petition from residents of Chelmer and surrounding suburbs
regarding Council's decision not to renew a lease at the Western Districts
Community and Sporting Club.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor DICK?
Councillor DICK:
Thank you, Madam Acting Chairman. I table a petition tonight regarding
chickens in townhouses.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor MATIC?
Councillor MATIC:
Madam Acting Chairman, I table a petition requesting a review of speed limits
and signage on Little Cribb Street.
Acting Chairman:
Thank you. Councillor MURPHY could I have a motion for the receipt of
petitions please?
336/2014-15
It was resolved on the motion of Councillor Ryan MURPHY, seconded by Councillor Victoria NEWTON, that
the petitions as presented be received and referred to the Committee concerned for consideration and report.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 85 The petitions were summarised as follows:
File No.
Councillor
Topic
CA14/996261
Fiona King
CA14/996315
Fiona King
CA14/996380
Nicole Johnston
CA14/996471
Milton Dick
CA14/963094
Peter Matic
Requesting that Council replace the incorrect line markings
with correct official line-markings when normal maintenance is
due to occur at all Council-owned outdoor basketball courts
Requesting that Council cease adding fluoride to the water
supply
Requesting that Council reconsider its recent decision to not
renew the lease on 55 Queenscroft Street, Chelmer, formally
held by Western Districts Community and Sporting Club
Requesting that chickens not be permitted in multi-unit
dwellings
Requesting that Council review the speed limit and signage on
Little Cribb Street, Milton
GENERAL BUSINESS:
Acting Chairman:
Councillors are there any statements required as a result of a Councillor Conduct
Review Panel order? There being no councillors on their feet wishing to speak, I
now move to general business. Councillors are there any matters of General
Business? There being no matters of General Business—
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, yes, yes, hello.
Acting Chairman:
Councillor JOHNSTON?
Councillor JOHNSTON:
Yes, very briefly, Madam Chairman, I just wanted to raise two items, (1) the
storm and (2) very quickly the parking review announced by the LORD
MAYOR today.
Firstly—I'll be very brief—the storm has hit Tennyson Ward very hard. A lot of
my residents have had their homes affected. We've had seven schools that have
had to be closed, some of which are now reopened, and there's been major
damage to both private and public property in our parks.
I know that there are some—there are a lot of people who are working very hard
to get our suburbs back up and running, and I've been speaking to the Council
crews wherever I see them out and about in my ward.
I was delighted that the LORD MAYOR took up my recommendation to
establish a program to assist vulnerable and elderly residents, and I think that is
a very good initiative of this Council. I'm fine with the LORD MAYOR taking
credit for it, but what I would like to note is that certainly that this is something
that we should be doing. It should be a standard part of our agenda.
Finally, on the parking review, the decision of the LORD MAYOR to simply
table this report without engaging in any proper debate in this place about the
recommendation, demonstrates the lack of transparency and responsibility being
exercised by this Council Administration.
There are 55 recommendations in this report and almost immediately the LORD
MAYOR has simply said we will adopt them all. There are very significant
impacts in those recommendations, and I am extremely disappointed about the
knee-jerk reaction of this Administration without allowing even a week to
consider the impacts, and secondly, to have a proper debate in this Chamber.
The decision today by the LORD MAYOR simply to table that document is
really quite shoddy in my view. I certainly believe there should have been a
proper debate in this Chamber, and the result is that we have had a dictatorial
approach to the way in which parking changes will happen in this city.
There's been a unilateral executive decision made without due reference to this
Council Chamber and the full Council to debate the merits of the review and the
implications of the recommendation.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 86 That is poor governance, that is poor planning, and it is letting down the
residents of this city when we do not have full proper debate with time to reflect,
time to ensure the decisions are right.
From what I can see there are some lost opportunities in this review and there
are some very concerning aspects to the recommendations. It is short-sighted of
this LORD MAYOR as a knee-jerk reaction to say they will be simply accepted,
and then pathetically, to try and claim that it's personal criticism of people who
participated in the review.
That is just pathetic and it is wrong. I believe there should have been a proper
debate in this Chamber, and the fact that there has not been one is short-sighted.
As a result though, it is very clear that the LORD MAYOR has personally
decided that this is the approach, and that the LNP councillors will absolutely
own this decision because they could not bring it in here for debate by all
councillors in this place.
That is poor planning, poor governance and it is not the way that we operate in
democratic societies, and the ratepayers of Brisbane are the big losers because
this Administration does not want detailed debate and proper consideration of
the big issues affecting our city.
Acting Chairman:
Further debate? General business? I declare the meeting closed.
QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:
(Questions of which due notice has been given are printed as supplied and are not edited)
Submitted by Councillor Victoria Newton (received on 27 November 2014)
Q1.
Please advise the names of each member of Council’s TransApex Board and list how many meetings
each member has attended in the past 12 months?
Q2.
Please advise the dates on which each TransApex Board Member was appointed to the board by
Council?
Q3.
Please advise the amount of annual remuneration and expenses paid by Council to the chairperson of
the TransApex Board?
Q4.
Please advise the amount of annual remuneration and expenses paid by Council to committee members
of the TransApex Board?
Q5.
Please advise which division of Council contains the secretariat or office support for the TransApex
Board?
Q6.
Please advise which division of Council maintains the minutes and records of TransApex Board
meetings?
Q7.
Please advise the following information concerning any outstanding claims to the NDRRA/ QRA
following damage caused by the January 2011 Floods?
PROJECT
Q8.
AMOUNT IN OUTSTANDING CLAIM
$
$
A number of projects were postponed or cancelled to enable Brisbane City Council to undertake repairs
following the January 2011 floods. Please advise which projects which were postponed have not yet
had funding reinstated:
PROJECT
FUNDING NEEDED TO UNDERTAKE PROJECT
$
$
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 87 Q9.
Please provide a breakdown of the following expenditure for the Bushland Acquisition Fund:
FINANCIAL
YEAR
AMOUNT
COLLECTED
AMOUNT
SPENT ON
ACQUISITION
OF NEW
BUSHLAND
AMOUNT SPENT
ON
MAINTENANCE
AMOUNT SPENT
ON OTHER
(ADVISE WHAT
SPENT ON)
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN
GIVEN:
(Answers to questions of which due notice has been given are printed as supplied and are not edited)
Submitted by Councillor Victoria Newton (from meeting on 25 November 2014)
Q1.
Please advise how much Council will be paying in membership or subscription fees to the Local
Government Association of Queensland this financial year?
A1.
Council will pay an LGAQ Annual Membership subscription of $374,146.30, an online subscription of
$122,043.90 and a Council Leader subscription of $193.60.
Submitted by Councillor Nicole Johnston (from meeting on 25 November 2014)
Q1.
Will Councillor Adams please advise how many fines were issued by CARS officers over the G20 long
weekend and provide a breakdown of the total by description of the top five types of fines?
A1.
There were 402 infringements (including warning infringements) issued across the whole of Brisbane
by CARS staff over the G20 weekend (14, 15 and 16 November).
The top five types of fines were:
1.
61 infringements issued for the offence ‘Contrary to official traffic sign bus zone’
2.
56 infringements issued for the offence ‘Contrary to official traffic sign clearway between
times’
3.
48 infringements issued for the offence ‘Stopping on a road with a yellow edge line’
4.
43 infringements issued for the offence ‘Parking in metered space without inserting payment’
5.
31 infringements issued for the offence ‘Contrary to official traffic sign no stopping authorised
vehicles excepted’.
Q2.
Will Councillor Adams please advise the total value of fines issued by CARS officers over the G20
long weekend?
A2.
$58,169.
Q3.
Will Councillor Adams please advise the number of jobs attended by CARS officers over the G20 long
weekend?
A3.
544.
Submitted by Councillor Victoria Newton (from meeting on 25 November 2014)
Q1.
Can you please provide the total figure for all of the speakers fees and associated costs for the
international speakers who attended the G20 Global Café.
A1.
$25,000 for speakers fees and $288,000 for associated costs.
Q2.
Can you please provide the total figure for all of the speakers fees and associated costs for the domestic
speakers who attended the G20 Global Café.
A2.
Nil for speakers fees and $95,000 for associated costs.
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]
- 88 Q3.
Can you please provide the total figure for all of the appearance fees and associated costs for the
moderators who attended the G20 Global Café.
A3.
$40,000 for speakers fees and $16,000 for associated costs.
Q4.
Can you please advise how many full price tickets were sold for the G20 Global Café
A4.
2,292 people attended this event. A breakdown between full price and discounted tickets is not
immediately available within a timeframe that accords with the Meetings Local Law 2001.
Q5.
Can you please advise how many discount tickets were sold for the G20 Global Café.
A5.
2,292 people attended this event. A breakdown between full price and discounted tickets is not
immediately available within a timeframe that accords with the Meetings Local Law 2001.
RISING OF COUNCIL:
6.19pm.
PRESENTED:
and CONFIRMED
CHAIRMAN
Council officers in attendance:
James Withers (Senior Council and Committee Officer)
Jo Camamile (Council and Committee Officer)
Shivaji Solao (Council and Committee Officer)
Billy Peers (Personal Support Officer to the Lord Mayor and Council Orderly)
[4455 (Ordinary) Meeting – 2 December 2014]