REMEMBER

FROM http://www.glenntozer.com.au/

Why vote for Glenn

• He’ll be a Councillor who listens
• He’ll be a Councillor who collaborates
• He’ll always call you back
• He cares about our community
•  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Commitment

The plans for the community are evolving but in my talks with residents there have been overarching principles that have been lacking that need to be addressed as a local Councillor.

My commitments to Division 9 residents can be summarized below;

1. Better Communication
– My 72 hour response guarantee.

If I receive a letter, email or phone call, I commit to respond within 72 hours. Although I can’t be sure I’ll have an immediate solution, I think it’s a matter of respect toward those who elected me to politely acknowledge their correspondence within a reasonable timeframe.

2. Better Community Consultation
– Quarterly public meetings with the division

I believe the community needs to “own” the division. The strategic vision and issues of the division needs to be discussed in public, not behind closed doors. I am committed to involving and collaborating with all the community as the area grows and we need innovative ideas and solutions to keep Division 9 the best place to live.

3. A Transparent and Open Government
– Accessible and Collaborative

The Gold Coast, and Australia, needs to move toward greater accessibility to government. The government has become so bureaucratic that the people, who the government works for, are sometimes unable to easily access the information necessary to keep representatives accountable. This must change. Residents of Division 9 can be assured that when it comes to Gold Coast City Council waste, Gold Coast City Council expenditure, and divisional budgets, my policy will be working for openness and collaborative problem-solving. This includes working to reduce red tape for small businesses and trades.

4. Protecting our environment and community
– Finding the balance between growth and preservation

Residents live in Division 9 for good reason. It is a most beautiful Hinterland, has retained a country feel & culture and is known for a serenity and peace uncommon in other parts of the Gold Coast. Protecting this must be our priority. Our urban planning and economic objectives (which do remain critically important) should be governed by focus on preserving the reasons why our residents live here in the first place.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

GREEN CEMETERY

Get to know your Councillor.

The GOLD COAST SUN carried the following article on Thursday, June 14, 2012 - page 5.

As noted in the text, Councillor Tozer said that the Council 'was yet to unearth funding for the project.' Does he mean 'disinterred'? At least he has declared his 'green' credentials on something.

CONSULTATION

It took four weeks to get a meeting after three e-mails and a couple of telephone calls, but it did happen. No doubt settling into the challenge of being the Councillor for Division 9 keeps one busy. We met with Councillor Tozer on Tuesday 12th June 2012 at 9:00am. As recorded in our meeting notes below, the Association believes that 'consultation should be transparent, shared and assessed on informed merit, not political convenience.' With this in mind, the agenda / briefing note prepared for this meeting is published here, along with notes of the meeting compiled shortly after the consultation, and the related E-mail communicatio that was forwarded the next day.

 AGENDA / BRIEFING NOTE

COUNCILLOR TOZER,

 In our e-mail of 11^th May 2012, we listed the following schedule of items (in bold) relating to Springbrook, that required discussion. This communication seeks to elaborate a little on these items in order to establish something like an agenda for our meeting on Tuesday at 9:00am, and a briefing note, for your information. The commentary is in italics. There are many items that interlink and overlay each other. The first list sought to identify the scope of concern. Additional dot points expand this list with related issues, for the record. The schedule does not illustrate a hierarchy of significance or relevance. The common thread is that matters always connect with the World Heritage listing that has to remain the core reference for assessing futures on Springbrook.

Matters that are of importance include:

1. the significance of World Heritage listing for the region - (the primary
   reference for most issues at Springbrook);
   The World Heritage (WH) listing of Springbrook should be the core item in everything to do with the region. Other countries treasure their WH listings and work hard to maintain their essence. As we have seen with the Barrier Reef, WH listings carry obligations as well as benefits. Springbrook is listed because of its unique biodiversity. This is an important matter as it covers such a broad spectrum of interests and impacts and must never be neglected.

·         GCCC Conservation Reserves management

·         Feral animal control

·         Domestic animal regulation

2. the Springbrook Local Area Plan;
   The LAP needs to reflect the WH listing and respond to its implications rigorously.

·         GCCC public consultation

·         Fudge Shop/Shopping Centre

·         "Naturelink" Cableway terminus site GCCC

3. the Gold Coast City Council Tourism Visioning Plan for Springbrook –
   (the Spork project is a part of this strategy);
   The Association has its submission on the Visioning Plan on-line: see springbrooklocale.blogspot.com for all of the details. The Spork property development has been an extremely contentious matter as it has used unreliable data for its rationale and support. There really is no logic in having a new toilet/picnic/bus/car parking area opposite one that is so underused, located on a strip remote from most of the walks and park areas on the mountain.

·         GCCC Visitor Management Plan

·         Springbrook Information Centre GCCC

·         Purlingbrook land: "Texas" bequest to GCCC

·         Foreshadowed Cableway project

4. the modification of Lyrebird Ridge Road - (including the current
   management plan and the roadside management for Lyrebird Ridge Road);
   Lyrebird Ridge Road is one of the few remaining unique ‘character’ roads on the mountain. Main Roads and Council are slowly but surely ‘upgrading’ the roads at and to Springbrook to make them all the same as any other road in the world. Lyrebird Ridge Road should be managed differently and carefully. See the article in springbrooklocale.blogspot.com – A Road is not a Road.

·         Repeater Station Road: management

·         Springbrook Road: management

·         60-passenger coach traffic

5. the development of the Spork property;
   See comments above. This development needs to be stopped and options reviewed.

·         Apple Tree Park - GCCC development

·         Spork GCCC project -associated roadwork

6. the proposal for signage at Springbrook;
   Springbrook already has far too many signs. There needs to be a considered strategy to start rationalising the signage on the mountain so that the character of the WH place is not turned into an even worse circus of information.

·         Springbrook War Memorial GCCC

·         Springbrook "Street Art" GCCC

7. roadkill statistics on Springbrook - (large vehicle/bus access and
   general speed limits);
   The roadkill statistics that are recorded are alarming, and these only represent a portion of the kill. The primary factor in roadkill is speed, followed by a lack of interest and care. Speed levels throughout Springbrook need to be lowered, and varied in relation to the specific risk/locale. There also needs to be an awareness programme to stimulate interest and understanding in our native animals – especially in relation to WH matters.

8. the carrying capacity of Springbrook - (protection of World Heritage
   values);
   There is a direct relationship between population and environmental impact. A careful study is needed in order to determine what the carrying capacity of Springbrook is before its WH characteristics (and water supply) are compromised, and action taken appropriately.

9. Springbrook as the primary source of the Gold Coast water supply;
   It is forgotten that Springbrook is a major part of the water catchment area for the Gold Coast, even though the formally declared water catchment area excludes Springbrook. All matters concerning Springbrook need to recognise this, given the importance that adequate quality water supply is gaining in our world. In parallel with this is the issue of water extraction. This needs careful review as very little is known about the impact of this business. In other countries, such extraction processes have seen streams and rivers dry up for the first time in recorded history. There is local evidence that creek flows are being changed. The original approval required the extraction company to undertake research. This has never been done, but it should be.

10. the social and environmental significance and history of The Settlement;

The Settlement is the site of the first settlement at Springbrook. It was developed as a tourist park but failed. A golf course proposal was formulated and challenged in court, but later ‘fell over.’ The Settlement was purchased by the government and made National Park. It was an important buyback as it links significant portions of the existing National Park, helping to establish a more cohesive whole out of this very fragmented area. Arguments for any re-instatement of ‘community/public’ sports facility of portion of this land have no historical basis. It has never been so. The integrity of the National Park should be maintained.

NOTE: The references to springbrooklocale.blogspot.com relates to the Association’s blog. The Association published a newsletter for many years as the Springbrook Local. The blog is an electronic version of this and is being added to continually. The easiest way to access this is to click the link or to ‘google’ springbrooklocale  Old copies of the Local are being scanned onto this site to give public access to this archive.

Spence Jamieson

SPRINGBROOK/WUNBURRA PROGRESS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED

(SWPAI)

9 JUNE 2012

ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON THE HISTORY OF THE SETTLEMENT / PROPOSED GOLF COURSE / NEW NATIONAL PARK: FOR GENERAL INFORMATION

The first E-mail emphasised the importance of knowing the history of Springbrook. The following synopsis outlines the sequence of events around the proposed golf course development that was planned for The Settlement property. This was a critical event for the mountain, but is only one small portion of the whole story that needs to be understood in context if the WH region of Springbrook is going to be properly and effectively managed.

• Originally a dairy farm/rural property – sold to developer 1978;
• ‘Historical Village’ tourist development;
• Cricket pitch developed as added attraction to historical village complex - very few matches were ever played;
• Village failed as attraction and buildings deteriorated;
• Property sold to developer 1989 - there was no community objection to this sale or to the loss of the cricket pitch: it was clearly known and accepted that this site was never public property;
• Developer applied for 18-hole golf course - Albert Shire approved golf course;
• SWPAI challenged approval in the Environment Court 1989 - 90 - appeal lost, the developer failed financially and left country;
• SWPAI convinced State Government to purchase property to add to National Park area;
• Some locals and government bureaucrats attempted to have property designated a ‘Recreation Facility’ under Regional Open Space - after a 5-year delay, the property was gazetted as National Park;
• Government conceded oval area to be used for public recreation – this is rarely used.

It was publicly revealed after Albert Shire Council (now GCCC) approval, that in addition to 18-hole golf course, practice fairways, restaurant, shops, clubhouse, swimming pool facility, and night driving ranges, it was the developer’s intention to apply for further approvals for 640 condominiums, an international hotel complex, a health resort, and heliport. The developer denied that this was planned prior to approval being granted.

Springbrook has a history of inappropriate developments being proposed, and frequently approved, in spite of objections and their quality. There are many of these approvals that have never been acted upon. They are often seen as a way of adding value to a property or to prop up a failing business that is then put up for sale - as a way of getting out of Springbrook - even though the argument for development is always based on ‘the good of Springbrook,’ ‘what Springbrook needs,’ when it is frequently what the seller/developer needs to make money. It is for this reason that all developments require careful review and rigorous assessment. WH values must remain the primary reference for everything on Springbrook.

NOTES OF MEETING AT MUDGEERABA OFFICE, TUESDAY 12^TH JUNE 2012

Cr. Tozer,

Thanks for the chance to meet with you this morning. It was a welcome change for both of us.

We have attached an electronic copy of the document handed to you, for your convenience. This expands the list of items originally scheduled in our first communication to become somewhat like a checklist.

Today’s meeting was a time to get to know each other, as well as an occasion to raise some general matters of concern, and to get an understanding of your proposals and strategies for managing this important part of Queensland.

You sought to find out from us what our vision for Springbrook might be.

 We noted that in order to give a specific, comprehensive response to this matter, an informed understanding of all of the issues in general and in detail is required. We explained that our emphasis would always be the World Heritage (WH) listing of Springbrook and its implications. We noted that it was critical to know that this WH listing is for the preservation of the unique biodiversity of the region, not for any picturesque reason that might appear attractive to tourists. This needs to be understood beyond the naming of it, as it has deep and meaningful repercussions. ‘World Heritage values’ very easily becomes a pointless, cliché phrase like ‘eco-whatever’ because of its careless over-use. An awareness of its quality and depth has to become part of one’s sensibilities if its’ true value is to be appreciated and its integrity preserved. We noted that this awareness should be passed on to visitors/tourists.

In much the same manner, that special quality of Springbrook has to be felt if it is to be maintained. An aesthetic/emotional quality is involved here along with a determined commitment - one that can see, for example, how completely inappropriate the new concrete stairs and pavement at the Best of All parking lot are – (let alone the process by which these were achieved). One could cite many more examples. This matter is not really a difference of opinion that has to be endured. This perception - that these matters are merely personal whims - only perpetuates the disagreements.

Working with WH as a core reference/guide does mean that certain activities and developments should never occur on Springbrook. It does also mean that the impact of population and visitation numbers needs to be understood, and that these may have to be limited in order to maintain the WH listing.

We quickly went through the numbered items on our agenda/briefing paper and itemised our response to each matter as a broad guide to indicate to you how we might approach matters at Springbrook.

For the record these responses are scheduled here:

1. the significance of World Heritage listing for the region - (the primary
   reference for most issues at Springbrook);

This must be the core reference for all decisions on Springbrook.

2. the Springbrook Local Area Plan;
   A new LAP needs to be formulated to replace the existing one that has been assembled from the old ASC Development Control Plan and modified repeatedly without any public consultation. The basis must be the maintenance of the integrity of the WH values.
3. the Gold Coast City Council Tourism Visioning Plan for Springbrook –
   (the Spork project is a part of this strategy);

The Association’s submission is on-line. Tourism is not the reason for WH listing.

4. the modification of Lyrebird Ridge Road - (including the current
   management plan and the roadside management for Lyrebird Ridge Road);
   All roads at Springbrook need to be carefully maintained to relate to their unique context rather than being upgraded to ‘world-class’ or GCCC suburban standards.
5. the development of the Spork property;
   This proposal needs to be scrapped as there is an existing under-used facility opposite. The Association agrees with you that as a general principle, tourist ‘attractions’ should provide adequate facilities for their visitors.
6. the proposal for signage at Springbrook;
   There is too much ill-considered signage on Springbrook, with approximately 100 signs just between Wunburra and the Fudge Shop. Signage needs careful culling and should reflect WH qualities. The WH listing of Springbrook needs to be accurately explained and subtly emphasised.
7. roadkill statistics on Springbrook - (large vehicle/bus access and
   general speed limits);

Speed limits need to be reduced generally and specifically for various contexts. The principle should be that vehicle speeds should be modified instead of allowing for any typical standard limits to apply. Springbrook is not ‘elsewhere.’ Neither GCCC, nor DMR, nor NP keep statistics on roadkill. SWPAI submitted records from Wildcare to the State Government last year indicating that in excess of 400 fauna deaths/injuries occurred on Springbrook in the previous 14 months. These were only the incidents voluntarily reported to Wildcare. Most kills/injuries go unreported.

8. the carrying capacity of Springbrook - (protection of World Heritage
   values);

Making decisions without knowing the impacts of population/visitation numbers can only give uninformed outcomes, like those that neglect WH values.

9. Springbrook as the primary source of the Gold Coast water supply;

The rigorous restrictions that apply to developments in water catchment areas should logically be applied to Springbrook. Springbrook plays a major role in the catchment of Gold Coast City water with all runoff entering either Hinze Dam or Little Nerang Dam.

10. the social and environmental significance and history of The Settlement;

The general history of matters on Springbrook is critical to any real understanding of attitudes and opinions.

Honing in on particular details of ‘solutions’ or ‘visions’ is not useful at this stage as it distracts from the general thrust of the intent. These can all be identified and debated once the general principle for a management strategy has been established.

You noted that your first thirty days will be dedicated to ‘fact–finding.’ This is the same position that we hold. Decisions on Springbrook need to be based on facts: objective facts. There is a diversity of opinion on many matters at Springbrook. This makes the collecting of ‘visions’ problematical if these are to become the basis of choice for future outcomes. We acknowledge that there is no easy answer, because the quality of the facts/research then becomes the point to be challenged; but this is always more transparent than personal ambitions are.

As was noted at the meeting, the danger with ‘opinion’ or ‘personal visions’ is that a commitment by GCCC to WH values may mean sacrifices that some people may not be willing to entertain for various reasons. WH values are not negotiable. Compromise can only put the WH listing at risk. If GCCC has no commitment to, or statutory provisions to ensure WH protection, then the WH listing becomes something of a cynical charade used only to attract tourists.

On your desire for tourists to spend more – up from $6.00 to $12.00 per head – the history of businesses on the mountain needs to be understood, as the general history does too. There have been ‘quality’ businesses started at Springbrook, but the circumstance of the region is that visitations are irregular and unpredictable. This means that good starts with exciting futures get progressively watered down - sometimes literally with soup – generating a souring of the reputation that means even fewer visitations, that then continue to decline further as the efforts to improve profitability by trimming are repeated, until the business either closes, gets leased to another punter for a re-start, or is sold on if a buyer can be found willing to pay the price being asked. We have no solution to offer for this circumstance. We just wish to note it. It does appear to mean that Springbrook requires a special type of business model if a business is to succeed. Paying careful attention to WH values in all impacts would only seem to offer a significant advantage for any business. Indeed, this could be said of everything on Springbrook.

It has been recorded that a ‘lack of public consultation’ was one of the matters that prompted your decision to stand for office. It is refreshing to have some consultation after being starved of it for so long. Consultation should be transparent, shared and assessed on informed merit, not political convenience.

We look forward to maintaining contact with you so that discussions can continue in the hope that outcomes for WH Springbrook can be improved.

Spence Jamieson

Ken O’Shea

 12 June 2012

POSTSCRIPT E-MAIL 

On item 7 - Roadkill at Springbrook, Councillor Tozer expressed doubt aobut the possibility of being able to set a 20kph speed limit - a speed that was mentioned as a general example in our discussions. He asked for proof that such a speed limit could be implemented. The following E-mail was sent the day after the meeting.

Cr. Tozer,

Following our discussion on speed limits at Springbrook at our meeting yesterday, you asked me to indicate to you where a speed limit of 20kph was in place.

Rather than drive around searching one out, I have looked up the Internet. The paragraph below has been taken from an ARRB Transport Research report on road speed limits.

I think it makes my point very clear.

It really comes down to having a concern for wildlife and the political will to act.


Spence Jamieson

Speed zones are speed limits based on engineering assessments of road, traffic and land-use characteristics. They are established for particular lengths of road, particular defined areas and/or for particular times of day for which the prevailing general limit is not appropriate. Speed zones of 10km/h, 20km/h, 30km/h, 40km/h, 50km/h, 60km/h, 70km/h, 80km/h, 90km/h, 100km/h, 110km/h are in use in Australia.

Research Report. ARR 298. Higher open road speed limit: an objective assessment. Deborah Donald. Peter Cairney. ARRB Transport. Research Ltd., p.4.

WADI OASIS

 It is not too often that one is able to read some good news on an environmental matter of any scale. Usually the claim for any successful accomplishment in matters to do with the environment relates to a building design that has achieved a particularly high ‘star rating,’ or to a special programme that has received funding from the government, with any outcome being based on hope and enthusiasm rather than the actual realization of any aim. The propaganda usually has more to do with public relations than the making of any significant change in the world that might have an impact on people’s lives by improving circumstances for many. So it is that one sees universities boasting and gloating about an energy-efficient new building, or a politician declaring over-enthusiastically, funding for some new, local clean-up programme, with much self-importance.

The BBC story on the Wadi Hanifah scheme is unusually good news for an environmental story as it is a significant project that has achieved a real outcome – and has changed lives: see

Wadi Hanifah: An oasis where Saudi citizens can really relax

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18181361

Matthew Teller reports:

The fertile Wadi Hanifah valley running through part of Riyadh was for years a rubbish dump and a public health hazard, but now it's been transformed into a vast park, with lakes that attract cool breezes. It's an oasis so large it's hard to police - making it a place for Saudi citizens to relax, in more senses than one.

 . . . . .

As a village, then a small town, Riyadh grew sustainably with its population. But from the 1970s rapid growth quickly overwhelmed the city's ecosystems.

Construction firms mined Wadi Hanifah for minerals. The valley was blocked by encroaching farmland. Seasonal flooding swept pollutants into residential neighbourhoods and then left stagnant water, jeopardising public health.

Yet today, Wadi Hanifah shows few signs of its polluted past.

At Al Elb, on Riyadh's scorched northern outskirts, I walked along Wadi Hanifah beside high desert bluffs.

Improvements to Wadi Hanifah have given children a new place to play

Palm trees now shade a line of carefully designed picnic pods, each comprising a horseshoe of roughly finished limestone slabs, offering secluded valley views.

More slabs, laid horizontally, create steps down to the valley floor, where children scamper along nature trails and families lounge under the acacias.

"Riyadh has no open space," says engineer Saud Al Ajmi. "Wadi Hanifah has become a place to breathe."

Since 2001 the ArRiyadh Development Authority has been restoring and redeveloping the valley, clearing rubbish, grading the banks, landscaping and replanting native flora.

In other big cities you might head up to high ground for a breath of air. In Riyadh, you head down.

Wadi Hanifah acts like a flue, drawing cool breezes over the city to disperse smog and temper the heat.

It is a very long, very thin oasis.

. . . . .

The scale of this scheme does make one ponder on other possibilities, and raises questions about our efforts in matters environmental. We seem very good at listening to the blurb and believing that we are achieving something useful - enough to praise ourselves and feel good about life - when in fact very little is being achieved. The scale of much of our self-praise frequently outshines the reality of the outcome. One building might be a start, just as local effort to clean out portion of a nearby creek might be useful in a micro manner; but much more needs to happen if we are ever to achieve something like the results reported on the Wadi Hanifah scheme.

Instead of itemised units that get detailed attention, the scale of our approach must change. Planning is involved here as well as environmental science and design. Sadly, the outcomes presently being achieved by planners in the development of our towns, cities and regions does not give one much hope. In spite of this profession having more members than ever before in the history of mankind, things just seem to keep getting worse. Plans are published with such vague parameters that anything seems to be possible with a little ‘negotiation.’ Success is measured by ‘proper’ paperwork rather than any review of the real outcomes. Indeed, results seem to be irrelevant. The core issue appears to be the ticking of all of the required boxes. Whether the proposal and its details as agreed/approved are ever likely to be possible seems to be of no concern to anyone in authority. Even proving to an authority that details of a proposal make no sense and will be unable to be implemented - no matter how wonderful they might sound or look on paper - seems to be of no concern. The core issue is the final approval and the closing of the file - and the politics of the situation. Whether the document one sends in by way of objection gets lost or not is of no concern either. One sometimes feels that others prefer them ‘lost.’ Frequently they might as well end up disappearing, for all the attention they are given.

So how do things change? There has to be a commitment to real outcomes rather than to assessing and approving schemes and proposals as words and illustrations matched against other texts and diagrams. Planning must start taking responsibility for results. Lives are involved, not merely presumptions, policies and preferences. This is not the ‘give us any proposal and we’ll look at it,’ proposition that leaves everything open to chats and cheque books. It is working hard to always determine real impacts and outcomes, and then reviewing these so that feedback can then inform other futures. Once this circular process starts controlling possibilities - real outcomes - then we will find that the parts might start joining together to give us something larger of substance.

The ideal would be to tackle matters on the large scale, but if this is not possible, then the gathering of the parts that are all environmentally sensitive and responsible - and beautifully designed - could give us a larger whole that is truly planned and co-ordinated with ambition and integrity, rather than merely being manipulated to maximize profits and benefits for a few. The failure of the success of the role of persuasive debate and argument in a project application can be seen everywhere in our cities, towns and regions. Planning has to change if we are to make a difference.

There is the possibility of making our own oases only if we make a commitment to outcomes and ensure that these are achieved - and tried and tested. Turning a blind eye has not given us much to be proud of. Producing propaganda and spin has achieved less. We need to start planning places for people and for people’s futures. Environmental outcomes are a core issue that need immediate attention for the health and wellbeing of all. The reported success of the Wadi Hanifah scheme should stimulate our ambitions to do a lot more than we are achieving now.

It should also make us more aware of the importance of those parts of our country that are already so special as to be recognized by the world as World Heritage areas - like Springbrook. Instead of continually dreaming of ways to develop these places for profit and play, we need to work hard just to maintain the qualities that have been recognised for this listing to have been made. A World Heritage area is already an oasis in a sea of development that needs very careful management and planning if it is to be there for future generations.

A ROAD IS NOT A ROAD

 . . . ; a street is not a street; a lane is not a lane. The proposition is that while vehicles have standards that define their possible performances, thoroughfares that provide for these vehicles have a necessary hierarchy in their role that relates less to possible standard performance of these vehicles than to the character of their particular contexts. Instead of having all roads, streets and lanes changed to provide for the optimum functioning of the standard vehicle, whatever vehicles these might be - the larger ones, four-wheel drives or rubbish trucks, frequently define the parameters - roads and streets need to be carefully constructed and detailed to accommodate - to respect, to enhance - their different environments. This thought has arisen from the ever-growing notion that roads, streets and lanes have to be upgraded for all vehicular options in spite of their location; that the variation has to be provided by the road rather than by any restriction or modification in vehicular performance, access or driver behaviour. The logic is that vehicles must be able to go anywhere there is a gap that they might fit into, in spite of the location, and at speeds and with safety requirements universally applied as scheduled in the standards. Unless roads, streets and lanes are considered carefully, they will become like most other matters in our world - the same everywhere. Diversity will be lost - even in thoroughfares.

Roads with a unique character are being mutilated by engineers who work to standards and use standard detailing, irrespective of context, because this is what the standards say. No further thought is given to alternative options. Narrow, winding mountain roads with their heritage timber bridges are being widened to allow all and any vehicle to use them at the standard speed. The idea that the road should define the vehicles that might be able to use the road and require modifications in the drivers’ actions, seems to be given no thought. It is dismissed even without the safety argument being used as an excuse.

One Local Government Councillor argued that because one steep, curving and narrow mountain road that was kerbed on one side and open to steep falls into a forested area on the other without any safety barriers, was a public road, it should be available for all and everyone to use at standard speeds - and beyond - without any restrictions or extra supervision. This was in spite of the quaint old signs erected when the road was first pushed through - ‘ROAD CLOSED TO THRU TRAFFIC’ and ‘25KPH.’ When it was pointed out that neither Council nor police were enforcing the instructions on these signs, Council removed the signs - Gold Coast Division 12 logic. That this particular road - the road going over Burleigh Hill on the Gold Coast - is one of the very few roads with a special bush character on this glitzy strip, made no difference to any argument or outcome: just irrelevant, even though the narrow road is used frequently by joggers and walkers who enjoy the challenge of the grades and the different bush environment. Council will not even consider defining the road as a special zone. It has left the ‘LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY’ signs at each end and one ‘25%’ gradient sign, opening the road to every driver, (they are all ‘local,’ whatever this might mean), who seeks the challenge of speeding over hills while taking what is believed to be a shortcut. There is a great ambition to use shorcuts in the Australian psyche, even if they mean more travel time and distance. And who cares? Certainly not Council or the police – or Main Roads. One is simply told by the State government that it is not one - see your Council; speak to the police : and so one is flicked around getting nowhere. Here, this unique thoroughfare that fits beautifully into its quiet surroundings, is left open to standard speeds and all traffic - buses, trucks, fire engines, and cranes - when they have no essential need to use this road. Argument goes nowhere, as Councils, and especially Councillors, always know best. Even when clearly shown to be wrong, they simply respond boldly and arrogantly with the message that they will no longer respond to any correspondence on these issues - go away silly boy, we’ll do what we want. It is astonishing that one is told that there is always the option of leaving the area if one so chooses! Gold Coast Division 12 logic: we don’t want controls or restrictions, just growth!

 Springbrook Road is another road suffering the same ruthless neglect under the same Council - Division 9. This unique, historic thirty-kilometre drive up the hinterland border mountains behind the Gold Coast - promoted as ‘the green behind the gold’ and mocked as ‘the greed behind the gold’ because of the ad hoc development that is approved - is a narrow, steep, winding road that used to be a one-way up/down road at various times of the day. It leads to the Springbrook plateau and continues right along this high region as its spine, to the end lookout, to reveal the great expanse of the Gold Coast’s random development in a distance that is growing smaller day. Yet even here, on portions of this road, the road authority is upgrading this heritage track to highway standard detailing, widening sections; painting bright white lines on the centres and edges, constructing massive concrete bridges over delicate creeks, making pedestrians appear as awkward participants on highways that ban all walking. The terrible truth is that Springbrook is substantially a National Park region, but even this makes no difference. Main Roads Queensland - this is a main road - still constructs to standard details that are used everywhere - go away silly boy. The narrow flow of rocky-cool water that splashes the fine and fragile foliage on its steep banks means nothing. A bridge is just a bridge - the concept is set in concrete and the bridge is made of it.

That roads and their associated parts should be defined by their locations, needs to become a principle that must be enacted. Without this approach, all roads will lead to the same experience - self-centred places of broad, bitumen speed with flashy, galvanised barriers, bold coloured, reflective signs and an airstrip glow of dazzling lights that laugh at everything around them. Vehicles must be curtailed - restricted in either access or performance; or both - if regions are not going to be destroyed by road engineers. One can gauge these engineers’ preferences when one hears pedestrians being referred to in casual conversation as ‘peds,’ turning people, their feelings and experiences into universal numbers, engineering facts and schedules of figures.

The universe is not universal. Just as diversity in flora and fauna is now coming to be seen as a critical matter for the survival of our world, so too the diversity in roads, streets and lanes needs to be respected and understood as being essential to our wellbeing. Turning everything into the same only creates a boredom and changes minds and places. Turn variety into one and it will be susceptible to the many that can kill it - in one simple step. We are slowly - but more quickly every day - killing the very things we love the best because our vehicles are being given preference over everything, when they are the mobile machines that can so easily adjust to the particular circumstance. Just go slow, carefully and avoid other areas. Drive vehicles to suit the road, street or lane; do not insist that every road, street and lane becomes a motorway.

I say vehicles, but there are other situations of the same ilk where vehicles of another era become the problem. Horse riding in reserve areas has the same problem - the demand that access be allowed for all. BMX cycles have a similar impact; four-wheel drive quads too. The motorised vehicles cause the greatest problem - even in the same locations. The authority of the 4X4 makes demands on these same areas as if they had a right to go anywhere at any time. One can see the workings of the mind of the 4X4 drivers in how they love to climb kerbs and mount traffic islands in urban and suburban areas, suggesting that just because they can, they must. Just because vehicles can do certain things gives them no essential right to do it. We must curtail random open access to everywhere on the basis of context. Politicians hate to say no, but leaving everywhere open to all and sundry as a right only makes everywhere the same - just like politicians and their silent bureaucrats! We need to think again and differently.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

Albert Einstein.

The future of Lyrebird Ridge Road needs to be managed very carefully if we are not going to make this classic, mountain drive into yet another highway. It requires an understanding of what Springbrook and its World Heritage listing stands for - and why.

AT LAST

 10:33PM  10 May 2012

Division 9 Gold Coast has been declared.

Congratulations Glenn Tozer.

The ECQ site suggests that counting stopped at 02:29:46PM on 09 May 2012 with a total of 17,654 ballots - 81.83% - counted.

Why? It's a puzzle, but it's a result.

Now let's get on with consulatation and the planning for a real future for Springbrook.

NOTE: The Queensland Local Government elections were held shortly after the State elections.
The sitting Councillor for Division 9 was defeated.

COUNTDOWN

If it takes 4 hours to count 60% of the apples in a box, how much longer will it take to count 100%?

The standard maths textbook in primary school used to have many such problems set for students to solve.

It is not difficult maths.

The answer, assuming the effort remains constant, is 2 hours 40 minutes.

It seems clear that things never stay the same in Queensland or at the ECQ.

After counting just over 60% of the vote in Division 9 at the Gold Coast (Queensalnd Local Government Election 2012) in 4 hours on election night, it has taken the Electoral Commission Queensland over nine days – well over 200 hours - to count just less than 20% of the votes.

The latest statistic published for votes counted in Division 9 is 79.55% - 5:30am, Tuesday 8 May 2012.

The total number of voters on the roll is listed as 21,573.

Simple maths again tells us that over a week after the day of the election, there remain more than 20% of the votes - actually 4,412 - still to be counted.

At this rate it will take at least a further week from today for all of the votes to be counted, but there is no guarantee that even this astonishingly poor progress can be sustained given the outcome to date.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the presidential election in France has been declared.

Voting was on Sunday.

What on earth is going on in Queensland?

It is not as though there are millions of votes to count in Division 9 or that the region is enormous.

Is it just carelessness or laziness - or incompetence?

 P.S.

Wednesday 9th May 2012, 10:35PM - ten days after voting:

Division 9 Gold Coast

ECQ internet site statistics:

Updated 09/05/2012 02:29:46PM (to the second!)

Percentage of Roll Counted: 81.83%

Total ballots counted: 17,659 
Who cares?

How slow can ECQ go?

About 2% of the vote was counted in two days. 

The last option seems to be the best explanation at this stage.

In the meantime, who is representing Dividision 9?
Who cares? 
There is nothing but silence.
Make this a competition:
when will 100% of the vote be counted?
Multiple choices:

16th May 2012;
23rd May 2012;
9th Jiune 2012;
other.

Answer:
Other.
Who knows?
Who cares?
We're Queenslanders!
This is really no excuse.