MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
The 4416 meeting of the Brisbane City Council,
held at City Hall, Brisbane
on Tuesday 8 October 2013
at 2pm
Prepared by:
Council and Committees Support
Chief Executive’s Office
Office of the Lord Mayor and the Chief Executive Officer
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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE 4416 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY 8 OCTOBER 2013
AT 2PM
[4416 (Post Recess) Meeting – 8 October 2013]
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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE 4416 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY 8 OCTOBER 2013
AT 2PM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRESENT: 1
OPENING OF MEETING: 1
MINUTES: 1
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: 1
QUESTION TIME: 3
NOTATION OF DECISIONS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE AS DELEGATE OF THE COUNCIL: 16
ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE (Information report) 16
A CREEK ROAD BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT 19
ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE (Adoption report) 22
A RESUMPTION OF 12 CREEK ROAD MT GRAVATT EAST CAR PARK EXTENSION TO MT GRAVATT LIBRARY 37
B CONTRACTS AND TENDERING — REPORT TO COUNCIL OF CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES FOR JULY 2013 39
NOTATION OF DECISIONS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE AS DELEGATE OF THE COUNCIL: 44
INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE 44
A PETITION – REQUESTING THE INSTALLATION OF A KEEP CLEAR LEGEND IN DANDENONG ROAD AT THE INTERSECTION WITH BROWNIE STREET, JAMBOREE HEIGHTS 50
B PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL TO REVERSE THE DECISION TO IMPLEMENT METERED PARKING IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT, FORTITUDE VALLEY AND SOUTH BRISBANE 51
C PETITION – REQUESTING AN UPGRADE OF THE LYTTON ROAD, APOLLO ROAD AND THORPE STREET INTERSECTION IN BULIMBA 53
PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE 55
A Petition – Request for FREE Bulimba Cross River Ferry service 65
B PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL INSTALL ‘KEEP QUIET’ SIGNAGE ON STREETS POPULAR WITH EARLY MORNING CYCLISTS IN THE TENNYSON WARD 66
C PETITION – REQUEST FOR BUS SHELTER LIGHTING AT BUS STOP ‘FOREST PLACE SOUTH – 70’ ON BLUNDER ROAD, APPROACHING RANDWICK STREET, DURACK 67
D PETITION – REQUEST FOR REMOVAL OF A BUS SEAT LOCATED AT BUS STOP ‘TORWOOD PARK – 12’ ON HAIG ROAD, FAR SIDE OF ANNIE STREET, AUCHENFLOWER 68
E PETITION – REQUESTING AN UPGRADE OF THE BULIMBA FERRY TERMINAL 69
FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE 70
A PETITION – REQUESTING THE RESURFACING OF JENNER STREET, NUNDAH, BETTER MAINTENANCE OF OXENHAM PARK, THE PROVISION OF LITTER BINS AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF OXENHAM PARK, AND MORE PARKING FACILITIES AROUND THE NUNDAH VILLAGE AND TRAIN STATION 72
B PETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL BRING FORWARD THE SEWERAGE MAIN PLANNED FOR ELLEN GROVE 74
BRISBANE LIFESTYLE COMMITTEE 74
A PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL PLACE SIGNAGE AT BUS STATIONS, SHELTERS AND STOPS TO INDICATE THAT SMOKING IS PROHIBITED AT THESE LOCATIONS 77
B PETITION – CALLING ON THE LORD MAYOR AND COUNCIL TO ENSURE DEVELOPMENTS IN BRISBANE ARE BEING CARRIED OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH RELEVANT SAFETY LAWS 78
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS: 79
GENERAL BUSINESS: 80
QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN: 86
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN: 87
[4416 (Post Recess) Meeting – 8 October 2013]
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PRESENT:
The Right Honourable the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK) – LNP
The Chairman of Council, MargaretdeWIT (Pullenvale Ward) – LNP
LNP Councillors (and Wards) / ALP Councillors (and Wards)Krista ADAMS (Wishart)
Matthew BOURKE (Jamboree)
Amanda COOPER (Bracken Ridge)
Vicki HOWARD (Central)
Steven HUANG (Macgregor)
Fiona KING (Marchant)
GeraldineKNAPP (The Gap)
Kim MARX (Karawatha)
PeterMATIC (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)
NormWYNDHAM (McDowall)
Andrew WINES (Enoggera) / Milton DICK (Richlands) (The Leader of the Opposition)
Helen ABRAHAMS (The Gabba) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition)
PeterCUMMING (Wynnum Manly)
KimFLESSER (Northgate)
SteveGRIFFITHS (Moorooka)
VictoriaNEWTON (Deagon)
ShayneSUTTON (Morningside)
Independent Councillor (and Ward)
Nicole JOHNSTON (Tennyson)
OPENING OF MEETING:
The Chairman, Councillor Margaret de WIT, opened the meeting with prayer, and then proceeded with the business set out in the Agenda.
MINUTES:
173/2013-14
The Minutes of the 4415 (ordinary) meeting held on 3 September 2013, 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.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Dr Charles Worringham – Matters relating to the proposed arrangement between Council and Queensland Motorways, regarding the operation of the Legacy Way Tunnel
File number: CA13/527271
Chairman: I would like to call on Dr Charles Worringham who will address the Chamber on matters relating to the proposed arrangement between Council and Queensland Motorways regarding the operation of Legacy Way Tunnel. Orderly, would you please show Dr Worringham in?
Please proceed, Dr Worringham; you have five minutes.
Dr Charles Worringham: Madam Chairman, LORD MAYOR and Councillors; thank you for the opportunity to address Council about the Legacy Way Tunnel, and particularly its potential use by buses and the need to still link this to the Northern Busway. I am speaking today as a private citizen, but should note the strong interest in the public transport use of the Legacy Way Tunnel expressed by many residents I met while campaigning recently as the Greens candidate for Ryan and last year for the State seat of Indooroopilly. I am confident that these views are shared quite broadly.
It is widely accepted that excellent public transport makes possible better access to employment, broader cultural and social participation, better health, major energy savings, and reduced traffic congestion. Importantly, no one could read the recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessment report summary for policy makers without understanding the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A city like Brisbane can play its part by making improved and affordable public transport its top priority.
It is no accident that three of the four planning experts featured in Friday's Courier-Mail nominated public transport when asked for the most pressing issue in long-range CBD planning. One of the respondents even called this the key to making Brisbane a great city. It is therefore quite disappointing that the Legacy Way Tunnel, whatever one thinks about the wisdom of building it in the first instance, is approaching completion without the State and city having built or having agreed on a plan for this link to the busway, estimated at less than two per cent of the cost of the overall tunnel.
Options for a link near the eastern portal are probably now lost. But a link further down the Inner City Bypass (ICB) could still be viable and would bring major benefits, especially if combined with the York's Hollow interchange and a bus lane ideally on the Western Freeway's approach to the tunnel's western portal, and these benefits include major reductions in bus trip times from the west—in some cases, literally halving the time to reach key destinations, including both Grammar schools, Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill employers such as Transport and Main Roads, the Royal Brisbane and Royal Children's Hospitals, the showgrounds, the new UQ (University of Queensland) Oral Health Centre, the Medical School, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) Kelvin Grove, Kelvin Grove State College, and the Creative Industries Academy, before buses could proceed to Roma Street and King George Square.
Further, by cutting unnecessary transfers through the city, this could reduce bus congestion in the CBD itself, as buses could turn before reaching Queen Street. As the Lord Mayor three years ago, Campbell Newman wrote to ratepayers claiming that, 'Bus users will benefit with up to 2000 express bus services able to use Northern Link'—as the tunnel was then known—'each day.' Now, this was a bold claim which has had no follow-up, but at least it did express a vision for public transport in the tunnel.
Eighteen months ago, State Transport Minister Scott Emerson said of the link, 'I'm very aware it's an option, but I'm also aware it's got a $30 million price tag on it.' The current LORD MAYOR has stated encouragingly that, 'We will continue to look at other options to support this link.' However, with no connection, inbound buses using the tunnel would have to access the busway via the current off-ramp near the Royal Brisbane Hospital, already a peak-hour bottleneck, but much more significantly, outbound services using the busway could get to the tunnel only with a three-kilometre detour up Gympie Road, through four sets of lights, to access the ICB via the Airport Link overpass, and there would still be no outbound boarding access from Spring Hill.
This situation was labelled by Robert Dow of RAIL Back on Track, 'one of the most audacious publicly obvious failings in western suburbs transport planning,' adding that, 'the idea of public transport being able to use Legacy Way appears to have been set up to fail and nothing but transit wash.' Even at this late stage, I urge the Council and State Government not to allow the Legacy Way to open without committing to this link. This requires an urgent review of the remaining options, working with the State Government to prioritise this project in the State Infrastructure budget, and ensuring exemption of tolls for buses, as is the case for other roads operated by Queensland Motorways.
Options for a link include an inbound bus lane on the north side of the ICB, or a connection to Gilchrist Avenue. Outbound buses could access the ICB from the Bowen Hills Busway bridge or use Gilchrist Avenue and connect to the ICB via a short tunnel. In either case, a bus interchange near the York's Hollow pedestrian bridge just down the hill from the Centenary Pool should be on the table, because this would provide safe bus access for three major schools and Spring Hill in both inbound and outbound directions.
I suggest that the Legacy Way without a busway link would be a major lost opportunity for the city and a false economy. With the Coalition Government claiming that it will be an infrastructure focused government, surely it is time to give this proposal renewed and serious attention.
Chairman: Thank you, Dr Worringham.
Dr Charles Worringham: Thank you for the opportunity to address the Council.
Chairman: Thank you. If you would like to take a seat for a moment? DEPUTY MAYOR, would you like to respond?
Response by the DEPUTY MAYOR, Councillor Adrian SCHRINNER, Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee
DEPUTY MAYOR: Thank you, Dr Worringham. We appreciate you coming in and we acknowledge that the issue you have raised is an important one, and one that certainly this Council put on the table many years ago. We at the Council level have in a number of instances in the past put forward positive infrastructure suggestions that relate to public transport that have then subsequently been taken up by the State. The busway network is an example of this, where Council was very much involved in the planning and proposal of the busway network in the early stages. It was then taken on by the State and is delivering great results for our city.
I am pleased that you have acknowledged the great public transport benefits that can be undertaken through Legacy Way as a project. It is not just a project that can benefit cars; also public transport as well. That is one thing that we have had in mind from the early days.
But the issue here is that the point where Legacy Way ends in Kelvin Grove is also very close to existing busway infrastructure. So we have the Inner Northern Busway running through there, and the Royal Brisbane Hospital Busway connection nearby. So we have, right from the early days, seen the potential of that connection.
Our role as the Council we see as very much an advocacy agency in terms of this infrastructure. It is actually the State Government's decision to build and fund this infrastructure, just as they have with the busway network. We are continuing to talk to the State Government about opportunities to improve the busway network, particularly around that section of Brisbane, and we will continue advocating for a good outcome when it comes to upgrading the busway infrastructure.
So, thank you very much for your time. Understand that you have made a very good point today, and something that we agree with. I think in this case it will be ultimately a State Government decision to make, but we certainly can see the benefits of that connection. Thank you.
QUESTION TIME:
Chairman: Are there any questions of the LORD MAYOR or a Chairman of any of the Standing Committees? Councillor MARX.
Question 1
Councillor MARX: Thank you, Madam Chairman. LORD MAYOR, I understand that the recent business delegation to Asia and attendance at the Asian Pacific Cities Summit had significant benefits for those businesses that attended. Can you please detail some of these outcomes and explain how this trip will have a positive impact on our local economy?
LORD MAYOR: Well, thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and I thank Councillor MARX for the question. It is true, and I might deal with this in two parts. Firstly, in terms of a business mission, we went into four cities in China over four days—the cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Chengdu, and then on to the Asia Pacific Cities Summit in the city of Kaohsiung. So three of those, of course, Kaohsiung, Chongqing and Shenzhen are sister cities of Brisbane.
To summarise, there were five cities that we visited. We had a total number of formal business matching meetings of 260 in total. There were 700 people attended the business forums that we undertook in each of those cities. As far as outcomes are concerned, as we know there is normally a time lag between the initial meetings and the actual outcome of doing business in Asia. It is about establishing the relationship. But I can report that we have seen some outcomes already. For example, Place Design Group, who were on that business mission with us, have received a multimillion dollar contract. The first payment of that contract has already been made, to the value of $AUS1 million, and that is a multimillion dollar contract and that number will continue to grow.