Michael Yeates
PTA 7 Marston Avenue Indooroopilly 4068 07 3371 9355


Public Transport Alliance Contact ::Michael Yeates

A couple of issues ...

1. I sent the following to our local councillors seeking a response ... If you have similar experiences where builders are taking liberties, please let us know ... If/when I receive responses, I'll pass them on ...

This morning at 7.30 (Friday 31 October 2003), concrete trucks were blocking the westbound direction of Indooroopilly Road and the footpath (by parking at an angle rather than parallel to the kerb on the road!!) outside THAT development ... near the corner with Heroes Avenue... and the builders vehicles are back parking on both footpaths ...! When I came back around 8.45 on the 411 bus, I could see from Gailey Road that the traffic was still being blocked ...! Clearly there was no authorised traffic control, just a builder walking out and illegally requiring the traffic to stop ...!

This is Council effectively subsidising and supporting the increasing arrogance of the building industry which is increasingly being allowed to thumb its collective nose at authorities which simply cannot be bothered to enforce the requirements including the law AND at the expectation that residents and others will not be unduly impeded or threatened.

A similar problem is ocurring in Graham Street in Jane's ward where the builders have closed the footpath completely ... presumably with Council permission but with ZERO consultation or consideration of the local residents and others) ... and as there is effectively no footpath on the other side, people have to walk on the road...! It was reported to me that delivery trucks were/are being parked outside ie beside the builders vehicles parked outside the fenced footpath so even a car could not get through ...

And this morning, at just after 7am, we were the recipients of the excessive noise of tree fellers and/or stump grinders (or something very similar) ... another assault on residents by the contractors and permitted, indeed supported and encouraged, ie endorsed, by Council and its officers.

2. With IRONY about to be relocated, I am increasingly concerned at the extreme level of difficulty facing people who want to keep but modify their "character" houses ... as compared with the apparent ease that Council facilitates, if not encourages, removal of similar and in some cases even "better" houses .....! I was reminded of this when I noted a public notice seeking approval to add a deck ... ! Same fees ... same costs of consultants ... hardly an incentive to keeping the housing...! The contrast is illustrated by the example of two houses in Central Avenue, one where permission to raise it slightly was agreed by neighbours but refused by BCC, the other where the owner wants to remove ia house was GRANTED (possibly despite objections from neighbours and/or nearby residents) ... and both within view of each other in a "character" precinct....!

3. Our local MLA, Ronan Lee has a "poster" showing him and a couple other people looking over the plans for the upgrade of Indooroopilly station. Interesting and indicative of the Queensland Transport view of consultation (now rebranded as "community engagement" presumably a bit like engaging in warfare??) that those of us who put in hours at workshops etc have NEVER been shown anything since that time ...! Also interesting is the Liberal Party campaign for Park'n'Ride at Indooroopilly ... , esp as over Saturday and Sunday afternoons, never have so many large 4WDs and BMWs etc been parked along Lambert Road ... even a very late model Bentley ...! BUT, if these are people who would use the train more often if there was more parking provided by a Park'n'Roide, then they would also contribute that much more traffic eg 3-400 or more cars in the hour or so the area is congested now ... without them ...!

4. Irrespective of that, it seems highly likely that BC will continue to refuse to provide a pedestrian crossing phase across Coonan Street at the bottom of Station Road ... and if that is the case, then that shopping centre will have both a lift and a set of stairs stuck on the footpath in front of the Newsagency ... ! If you have a look at how big the stair + lift is ... eg at the busway stations and Citytrain stations ... irrespective of the design ... one has to ask why several million dollars is to be spent because BCC won't permit a pedestrian crossing across Coonan Street ... which most times in busy periods is congested already ... Might make it worse for motorists? Perhaps ... but why make it even more worse for pedestrians and cyclists ... "the "good guys" of QT and BCC transport policy and plans? The last time I saw the concepts (during the consultation), the Lambert Road side provided a set of stairs nearly three storeys high ...! So people will probably choose to clog up the lifts ...! Time for Ronan Lee to "consult" ? Yep! Time for Allan Pidgeon to consult more widely? Yep!

5. The house removal and 'small lot housing' saga continues ... latest are 9 and 11 Saunders Street Indooroopilly ...

6. The "six pack" behind the token oldie without a tree in the yard can be seen now at the UQ bus stop in Lambert Road ... the latest "trend" in BCC urban design and character protection ...

7. Also I noticed a week or two ago that the site in Lambert Road (above) had services being installed on the footpath so the whole width of the footpath was closed by a barrier over night ... so much for pedestrians ... this surely must require approval of BCC ... and if it does, should the applicant for that approval be required to provide a "safe" detour along the edge of the road until the footpath is re-opened?

Being the period before both state and local elections, it is a good time to seek evidence of the effectiveness of the various "Have your Say" and "Your city, Your say" (BCC) and "Community Engagement" ( state) consultative mechanisms ... much praised by the respective leaders ...but rather less effective in terms of influencing actual decisions ... viz "the fence" at St Lucia golf course and the character "protection" of BCC and the lack of any forward planning by the state eg the approval of the BCC bridge to St Lucia and the failure to provide even consultation, let alone, disabled access at Indooroopilly station...!

The big trees are going, the character housing is going, the traffic is increasing ... and still there is no transport and traffic plan for Indooroopilly ... at least not one that "the community" is allowed to see ... but for the developers, it is a different story ... have a look at how much wider Coonan Street is to become at Westminster Street and the new Coles shopping complex ... and imagine whether the Transport Minister was serious about no new road bridges across the river if Coonan Street is being widened to 6 lanes or more and there is no plan available to the public ... perhaps another unplanned tunnel?!?!?!?

Feel free to add ... or post comments.

Michael Yeates