Monthly Archives: June 2019

Update on planned burns for Macleay Island: 11-14 June 2019


June 11, 2019

Redland City Council – along with the Macleay Island Rural Fire Brigade – is intending to undertake hazard reduction burns at six Macleay Island locations from Tuesday 11 June to Friday 14 June, depending on weather conditions throughout the period.

Weather conditions have made it difficult to establish fires in the two locations that were to be burned today. These two locations will now be burned later in the week:
• Cow Bay Conservation Area (77–95 Beelong Street), Macleay Is
• 15-25 Kardinia Street, Macleay Is – approx. one hectare in size

Crews have now moved to the site at 16-18 Benowa Street, Macleay Island, where they will attempt a planned burn this afternoon.

As previously indication, these three locations will follow throughout the week (weather permitting):
• 1-25 Balaka Street, Macleay Is
• 14 Kestrel Street, Macleay Is
• 28-34 Southsea Terrace, Macleay Is

Preparation of the sites is being undertaken in the leading up to the burns, including clearing around significant logs and trees. Crews will be staying on the island throughout the period to mop-up after each burn and ensure the sites are completely extinguished.

Traffic management plans will be in place for each site along with traffic control.

All attempts will be made to limit any smoke hazards from the work. Stay safe in smoky conditions by following these tips from Queensland Health.

These planned burns are necessary to reduce the volume of forest litter fuel – which will assist with hazard reduction – and provide conditions essential for native regeneration.

If you require further details of the planned burn, phone Council on 3829 8999.

Council repeats calls for State to implement concealed leaks policy


June 5, 2019

Redland City Council today voted to repeat its continued requests for the State Government to introduce a concealed leaks policy to refund residents for the costs of the State’s bulk water lost through a concealed leak.

Mayor Karen Williams said today’s decision would also investigate allowing local charities and not for profit organisations that use higher quantities of water to access Council’s concealed leaks policy.

“Council has had a concealed leaks policy in place for a number of years that refunds the Council paid component of a water bill when there has been a concealed leak,” Cr Williams said.

“However, the majority of residents’ water bills are made up of State Government bulk water costs, so it makes sense for the State to have a policy that would allow a portion of the money paid to the State for bulk water to also be refunded to residents.

“Council has already paid the State for the bulk water so it makes sense for this money to go back to residents if there has been a proven concealed leak.

“In January last year Council wrote to the State to request they implement such a policy, but they elected not to.

“Today we have repeated that request and I will be writing to the State Government on behalf of the community.”

Cr Williams said Councillors also moved an amendment in today’s General Meeting asking officers to investigate extending the concealed leaks policy to larger charities and not for profit organisations.

“Currently our concealed leaks policy only applies to non-residential users that use less than 100 kilolitres a year,” Cr Williams said.

“This means local charities using more water because they are helping more people are unable to access the policy.

“Councillors today asked officers to explore options to expand the policy to assist those charities in our community helping those most vulnerable, with a report to come to a future General Meeting for decision.”

Taiwan visit presents positive international opportunities


June 5, 2019

Redlands Coast businesses were on the global smart cities stage as part of a Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) delegation to Taiwan led by Redland City Mayor Karen Williams.

Cr Williams tabled a report into the 2019 Smart Cities Mayoral Summit at today’s General Meeting.

Cr Williams said the summit, which was attended at no cost to ratepayers, had also opened the door for local businesses to pitch as part of a Go Smart initiative.

“This summit was invaluable in putting Redlands Coast on the global stage and showing the world what our businesses are capable of,” she said.

“There was not only a great deal of interest while in Taipei, but equally when we returned home, with several conversations and a Redlands Coast Go Smart pitch following.

“The opportunities explored both during and following the summit have been focussed on exploring smart cities applications to overcoming some of our local challenges in transport, aged care and alternative energy.”

Cr Williams said the Taiwan summit attracted the leading smart cities minds from across the world, putting the spotlight firmly on Queensland and Redlands Coast.

“The Smart Cities Mayoral Summit and Expo attracts business leaders, policy-makers, industry experts, and stakeholders from around the world – this year attracting more than 1700 delegates, 10,000 visitors and 2000 international buyers, as well as a further 337 vendors,” Cr Williams said.

“This year’s LGAQ Smart Cities Delegation was the largest Trade and Investment Queensland (TIQ) has ever supported from Queensland, with mayors, councillors and businesses from across the state representing their communities and industry sectors.

“This overseas mission was a collaboration between LGAQ, TIQ and Austrade, with the three tiers of government working together and giving delegates the opportunity to network in new markets and make business contacts they wouldn’t normally be able to access.”

During the visit, LGAQ signed a statement of intent for their members to participate in the Taipei Government’s Global Organisation of Smart Cities initiative (Go SMART initiative).

“GO SMART is designed to provide a platform for cities and regions to exchange knowledge and initiate collaborations with other Smart City stakeholders and test new concepts,” Cr Williams said.

“The objective of this initiative is to stimulate smart city solutions and open cross-border markets.”

Cr Williams said the five-day visit sent a strong message of Redlands Coast’s interest in smart city solutions with nine delegates from Redlands Coast, including seven local businesses.

“Meeting key stakeholders in the market has opened the door for further relations and partnerships and will potentially bring enormous flow-on benefits not only for individual businesses, but the wider Redlands Coast economy,” she said.

“It’s early days, but the summit has already started bearing fruit, with some genuine interest in what our businesses are doing, showing that Redlands Coast has the potential to kick goals on the global innovation and smart cities stage.”

Redlands Coast family honoured in McMillan Road land naming


June 5, 2019

A local family’s long association with farming on Redlands Coast will be acknowledged after Council agreed today to name an area of urban habitat in Alexandra Hills after the family.

The 9415 sq m property, located at 61 McMillan Road, will be named ‘Wehr Urban Habitat’ in accordance with Council’s Park Naming Guidelines.

Mayor Karen Williams said while the land had been locally referred to as ‘Fruit Tree park’, the name had never been formally approved or attached to the property.

“With the adoption of the new City Plan in October last year, the property has a zoning of ‘Conservation’,” she said.

“Under Council’s Conservation Land Management Strategy and, based on the property’s features, the land should have the addendum of ‘urban habitat’ in its name.

“In renaming the property, Council acknowledges the Wehr family’s history with the land and how the Redlands Coast community and landscape has evolved.”

Division 8 Councillor Tracey Huges said community support in 2016 had instigated the request for a name to be formally adopted.

“The Wehr family is held in high regard by the community, and their association with Redlands Coast is representative of this area and our history,” she said.

“Three generations of the family settled on the land from the 1960s, and continue to live on Redlands Coast.

“Given their long tradition of farming on and preserving this land, the fact that the property will bear the family’s name and be termed ‘urban habitat’ is a fitting tribute to them.”

Cr Williams said an appropriate sign displaying the new name would soon be installed on the site.

BACKGROUND

The Wehr family migrated from Germany in 1959 and purchased 10 acres of scrub land on McMillan Road, Alexandra Hills.

The family farmed part of the land, producing strawberries, passionfruit, cucumbers, pumpkin and other small crops.

Farming ended on the property in 1976 and, two years later, the land was sub-divided into five lots, one of which was sold to a member of the Wehr family, who lived on the property preserving the surrounding bushland and raising a family at the residence.

Council acquired the property in 2010; and it is being managed as a Conservation Reserve – Urban Habitat due to its environmental values.

Cleveland Scouts rebuild as Council renews their long term lease


June 5, 2019

Cleveland Scouts can look forward to a new chapter after Redland City Council today approved a new 30-year lease to continue to occupy their current site of operation.

Mayor Karen Williams said Scouts Qld had a significant history at the 8089 m2 site on the corner of Bainbridge and Gordon streets, Ormiston, having first erected a club room in 1922.

“It was this 75 year old main building – where Scouts, Cubs, Joeys and Venturers regularly met – that was tragically destroyed in a fire last March,” Cr Williams said.

“What followed was a groundswell of support.

“Council made a donation and the community rallied around to help with fundraising, offering goods and services.

“It made me truly proud to be part of this wonderful Redlands Coast community.”

Councillor for Division 1 Wendy Boglary said Scouts Qld was starting to rebuild a bigger and better main building to serve both the Cleveland group and the wider Scouting community as an event and meeting place.

“The long-term lease will provide them with peace of mind about their significant capital investment,” she said.

“I have seen plans for the new building and it will be a really exciting addition.

“The Scout Association is extraordinarily community-minded, giving other community groups access to their dens.

“In a wonderful example of inclusiveness, they have considered these community uses when designing the new building on the Cleveland Scouts site in Ormiston.

“I thank the Scouts and applaud them for their strength of spirit throughout this ordeal.

“The community have walked with them and we all look forward to the opening of their new building.”

New public art banners bring Libby Harward exhibition outdoors


June 4, 2019

The latest temporary art banners in Redland City Council’s public art program have been revealed today, with works by artist Libby Harward installed as part of Quandamooka Festival and NAIDOC Week 2019 celebrations.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the pieces were an extension of Already Occupied: Libby Harward, on display at Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland from 30 June – 1 September 2019, and would take the exhibition to a wider audience.

“Libby Harward is a Quandamooka artist and descendent of the Ngugi people from Mulgumpin (Moreton Island) who employs humour, language and stunning imagery to spark conversations about Country and her connection to it,” Cr Williams said.

“Her Already Occupied: Libby Harward series shares a thought-provoking message with the community.

“By taking some of these works to three very prominent outdoor locations, we hope they will be seen by many more people and reach new audiences.”

The works Ngugi Bajara (Footprint) – Mulgumpin, Ngugi Bambara (Pathway) – Mulgumpin and Ganngalanji – Re-calling will be featured across three installations – two in Cleveland and one on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah).

Cr Williams said the public art banners provided a connection between North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) and the mainland during the Quandamooka Festival and upcoming NAIDOC celebrations.

“These installations are the latest in our Creative Arts Redlands’ Public Art Program, and we are proud to share Libby’s artworks, and these visual representations of her experiences, with all on Redlands Coast.

“It is wonderful to see them presented on the mainland and on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) as part of the Quandamooka Festival program.”

Libby Harward began her career as a solo street artist under the pseudonym ‘Mz Murri Cod’ in 2003, continuing, through her personal art practice, to deepen her connection with her Indigenous culture.

Already Occupied is an ongoing art project by Harward which asserts Aboriginal sovereignty through temporary installations on Country.

Where to see the banners:

• Ngugi Bajara (Footprint) – Mulgumpin (detail) 2018: Harold Walker Jetty, Dunwich, North Stradbroke Island
• Ngugi Bambara (Pathway) – Mulgumpin (detail) 2018: exterior, Council Administration Building, Middle Street, Cleveland (next to Redland Art Gallery main entrance)
• Ganngalanji – Re-calling (detail) 2018: Redland Performing Arts Centre (exterior facing Shore Street), Cleveland

For details on Already Occupied: Libby Harward and other Redland Art Gallery events and exhibitions visit the Redland Art Gallery website.

Quandamooka artists to create iconic township place markers on Minjerribah


June 3, 2019

Belinda Close and Delvene Cockatoo-Collins have been announced as the artists tasked with designing new place markers to the townships of Amity Point (Pulan Pulan) and Point Lookout (Mooloomba), on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah).

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the appointment of the two prominent Quandamooka artists was a milestone in the project, with concept designs to go out for community comments when the concepts were completed.

“Redland City Council, as lead for this exciting project, has contracted Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC) to design and install Quandamooka-inspired place markers,” Cr Williams said.

“Significant background work has already taken place on the best locations for the statements, as well as community consultation undertaken in 2018 to inform the artist’s project brief.

“Proposed locations, which will be part of the next stage of community engagement, are Cabarita Park at Amity Point (Pulan Pulan) and near the pedestrian crossing at the top of Mooloomba Road, Point Lookout (Mooloomba) where there is currently a small information hut.

“It will be exciting to see what Belinda and Delvene create, merging their own inspirations with those expressed by the community.

Divisional Councillor for North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) Peter Mitchell said concept designs for the place markers were expected to go out to the community mid-year, while the works would be installed later in the year.

“These place markers will have the potential to become iconic statements, attract visitors and be the subject of many tourists’ and locals’ selfie moments sent around the world, increasing knowledge of the island and the Quandamooka stories behind the sculptures.”

QYAC CEO Cameron Costello said the new place markers would evoke a powerful sense of the vibrant and deep connections Quandamooka people have to Minjerribah.

“These place markers will acknowledge the depths of history etched into the fabric of Mooloomba and Pulan Pulan, an experience that extends from the contemporary moment and into deep time,” he said.

“While Quandamooka people already read this landscape and its marks, these new place markers will allow visitors, residents and strangers to better understand the ancestral connections between people and place, to be poetically expressed by artists who are of this place.”

Acting Tourism Industry Development Minister Di Farmer said the place markers project was one of many supported by the Queensland Government’s $24.75 million economic transition strategy to support the island’s economy as it transitions from sand mining at the end of 2019.

“We’re committed to delivering projects that will create jobs for locals and stimulate the economy on North Stradbroke Island – this initiative does just that,” she said.

“These place markers, created by two outstanding local artists, will be stunning entry points into the rich history of the Quandamooka people on the island for visitors and locals alike.”

Funding for the place markers is from the State Government’s North Stradbroke Island Economic Transition Strategy.

For more information visit Redland City Council’s Your Say website