WEINAM CREEK PARKING; A SAD HISTORY
I was elected as your Councillor in 2012 and one of the greatest achievements and sorrows for me was the Weinam Creek Development.
On 3 May 2013, Council resolved to apply to the Minister for Economic Development Queensland for a Priority Development Area declaration for Weinam Creek.
So that’s a good start. However, government moves at a snail’s pace and on 22 November 2013, Council resolved to endorse for public notification the proposed development scheme for the Weinam Creek PDA.
The public notification and submission period for the Weinam Creek PDA Development Scheme was undertaken from 10 January to 24 February 2014 for the multi-storey car park to be built.
Let’s just skip forward to 2025.
Eleven years later and it's still on the planning stage!
Before I retired, I still had not viewed a final proposal for the multi-level car park; which I believe is a major failing of Council.
Redland Investment Corporation, is a Council owned company charged with the delivery of the redevelopment.
Their CEO has recently resigned; so does that mean it’s rudderless organisation without direction?
I don’t know; but I hope they have contingency plans in place.
Where are we with the State Government funding and what are the changes that the new State government wants to make?
Thankfully our new State Member Rebecca Young has her finger on the pulse of island parking needs and has not only confirmed State government funding for the project, but has highlighted that the proposed development falls radically short of the number of car parking spaces required.
The number of parking spaces proposed over a decade ago were right; but with ongoing population growth we should be looking at a stage two development by now, and not still looking at nothing happening other than playing around the edges of Weinam Creek.
Rebecca has called for a new round of community consultation, and that is a good thing. It needs to be backed by swift action to commence the construction of a new car park building that will cater for present and future needs.
Council has just appointed a new CEO, Louise Rusan, who I have known for many years, and her appointment gives me confidence that our Council will be well placed to move forward in the right direction.
Her knowledge of Council and the needs of our community is what is needed right now.
Thirteen years on from a PDA approval and not one concrete block laid for a new car park.
Now is the time to hit high gear and deliver a long overdue development that has not met the expectations or needs of our community.
Councillors, the community urges you to get behind Rebecca Young and push forward with the redevelopment based on the feedback of island residents.
AND ANOTHER THING . . . .
A PRESIDENTIAL THOUGHT FROM MARK!
Donald Trump is now the 47th president of the United States of America and the world is in for a roller coaster ride for the next four years, perhaps longer if he can secure an amendment to their constitution that removes the two-term limit on the Presidency.
The MAGA community seems to be focused on those for and against Trump. However, Mark Edwards believes there is an alternate position where we can acknowledge that there are some policy decisions of the administration that will benefit Australia and some that will harm our trading position with the United States. We need to keep engaged with their administration.
Their strong tariff position against Canada and Mexico highlight that the NAFTA free trade agreement signed under the Trump 45th Term administration is not considered by the President as important nor binding. What is the worth of an agreement if it can be changed by one party without reference to the others?
This has cast a shadow on other external agreements with the United States including those agreements with us. The strong military alignments that have shaped our relationship with them over many decades may not be honoured in the future when we most need it. We have a trading position where we buy more from the US than we sell to them, which sets us apart from most nations. However, does this economic advantage towards the United States guarantee a protective alliance where they will back us against any aggressor?
We won’t know until that day, which seems to be on the horizon. In the meantime, China continues to grow its military and technological warfare ability to greater levels that challenge any American military front.
Also, China is facing its own demographic problems due to the one child policy which has resulted in a very aging population which is supported by a diminishing workforce. Although massive in population size, the shift in economic productivity due to a retiring workforce and greater dependence on aged service providers will result in a complex shift in their economic structure.
At some point China may see the need to exert itself on the world stage to gain materials and a younger workforce that secures their future and that in turn will rub against the strategic defence agreements the US holds with a number of nations. Australia will certainly be caught in this fracture and that will affect every one of us.
The question remains, is the US committed to international security and expansion of their defence posture to support its allies or will we be left to defend ourselves?
To return to my first point, is the destruction of the NAFTA agreement a sign of the future or is it just a blimp in the economic reform of the USA? Time will tell. Australia should consider boosting our national defence to ensure we have a level of deterrence to protect us. Just a national thought!
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