Living in Brisbane
September 2016 Edition
A message from Lord Mayor Graham Quirk
Each September, Brisbane Festival returns to our New World City with a thrilling program of theatre, music, dance, circus, opera and major events. As one of Australia’s premier festivals, it celebrates Brisbane as a vibrant city and closing night on Saturday 24 September features Riverfire. Visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au for more information.
As we approach the summer storm season, it’s important that all residents are prepared for severe weather. I encourage you to sign up to Council’s free early warning alert service at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/beprepared
This is a great time of year to get organised and there are lots of tips in this edition to make sure you and your family are prepared.
As always, Council has a range of free activities for the school holidays to help keep the whole family entertained. There’s something for everyone to enjoy, with many great activities listed in this edition. For more details about these activities and other fantastic events in our city be sure to visit Council’s website or our What’s on Brisbane Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bnewhatson
Graham Quirk
LORD MAYOR
Would funding help you or your community group?
Council’s grants programs provide funding to help local non-profit community groups to develop and improve facilities and services in Brisbane.
For more information or to apply visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/grants
Step right up
Tickets are now on sale for the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust (LMCT) Gala Ball on Saturday 22 October at Brisbane City Hall.
The fun-filled evening will feature circus performances, incredible live and silent auctions, a bespoke menu and promises to be the gala event of the year.
Funds raised at the ball will go towards the LMCT, which has worked to improve the wellbeing of Brisbane’s most marginalised and vulnerable residents for more than 50 years.
To purchase tickets and find out more, go to www.lmct.org.au
Public transport funding and Council
Brisbane City Council operates one of the largest bus fleets in Australia, along with the iconic CityCat and CityFerry network. Since 1925, Council has proudly contributed to the running of public transport in Brisbane to reduce pressure on fares and improve the availability of services for Brisbane ratepayers. Unlike other local governments in Australia, Council operates a significant public transport fleet of approximately 1200 buses, 21 CityCats and nine monohull ferries.
In 2015-16, Council’s public transport commitment was almost $160 million.
By comparison, City of Sydney’s commitment was just $48 million, including a small amount of funding for a light rail project, while the City of Melbourne committed no funding to public transport.
In fact, Council has the largest public transport budget of any Australian city, with more than triple the spend of the next largest spender (Sydney), and dedicates the greatest amount to public transport as a proportion of budget.
To find out more about the contribution Council makes to public transport, go to www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/yourbuses
Spring cleaning for storm season
To help you prepare for storm season, Council is holding free green waste tipping weekends on 24-25 September, 8-9 October and 22-23 October. Residents can dispose of items such as
prunings, leaves and other natural garden waste for free at any Council resource recovery centre on these dates. Why not share a trailer with your neighbours and take this opportunity to clear gutters and overhanging branches?
To further help you manage green waste at home, Council will again run its green waste bin special offer during October – look out for details in next month’s edition. Other top tips for preparing for severe weather include:
• registering for free severe weather alerts
• checking if flooding could affect your property
• planning ahead so you can stay calm and in control during an event.
For more online tools and tips to help be prepared visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/beprepared
Update on city projects
If you’ve been into the city recently you may have noticed some exciting new developments.
Works to upgrade the Ivory Lane walkway with an improved, wider decking surface for cyclists and pedestrians and additional lighting, are nearing completion. The upgrade will ensure a durable outcome for the shared-use path, which provides an important active transport connection between Bowen Terrace, Story Bridge and City Reach Boardwalk, Howard Smith Wharves and New Farm Riverwalk.
The much anticipated transformation of Edward Street into a world-class retail environment with broad footpaths and tree-lined streets is also underway, with revitalisation works taking place between Queen Street and Charlotte Street.
Council is also supporting the delivery of the Queensland Government’s Queens Wharf Brisbane project, with upgrades to intersections across the CBD.
Mt Coot-tha Visitor Centre
The Mt Coot-tha Visitor Information Centre is beginning to take shape with construction of the new building expected to start later this year.
Council has committed $3.4 million for the new centre, which will be located in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. It will provide a formal entrance to the Mt Coot-tha precinct, providing a link between the gardens, Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, the Summit and recreational facilities.
Over the next four years, improvement works will be undertaken around the wider precinct, including in the botanic gardens and at Simpson Falls and J.C. Slaughter Falls picnic areas.
There will be minor upgrades to trails and access points around the mountain and improvements to existing facilities. There are also plans to install a zipline.
The schedule of works is part of Shared Vision Mt Coot-tha 2030, which aims to embrace Mt Coot-tha as an iconic green landmark for the city and celebrate its biodiversity, while enhancing recreational experiences and opportunities.
Award winning waterways protection
At the recent 2016 Healthy Waterways Awards, Council received the Government Stewardship Award for its Community Conservation Partnerships program. The program empowered more than 5000 volunteers to dedicate 248,000 hours of on-ground works to achieve a range of environmental and waterway health outcomes through activities such as revegetation, bank stabilisation and weed and rubbish removal.
The award is a reflection of Council’s dedication to delivering a clean, green and sustainable city.
To find out more, visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au and search ‘Creek Catchments program’ or call 3403 8888.
Supporting local business online
Following on from my last column, I’d like to start delving into key aspects of digital life in Brisbane – starting with Facebook.
Think of your favourite coffee shop or even that tradie with his phone number on the side of his ute.
Odds are most of your favourite businesses have a presence on social media. Just because you’ve ‘liked’ a business page, doesn’t mean you’ll see everything they post – Facebook promotes content it predicts you will like.
Local businesses’ Facebook pages are a wealth of information and the more you interact with their content, the more they will appear in your feed. That means if your favourite café has a book club starting or that tradie has posted a video about how to fix the leaky tap, you risk missing out on the latest trends and offers if you haven’t interacted recently.
So be sure to click on a few of your local favourites online to ensure you keep up-to-date with what they’re up to in the community.
Cat Matson
Chief Digital Officer
Council and RSL to preserve War Memorial
One of Brisbane’s oldest war memorials at Cameron Rocks Reserve has recently been temporarily removed and placed in storage by a professional heritage stonemason, to protect it during the upgrade of Kingsford Smith Drive.
The memorial will be refurbished and restored to Cameron Rocks Reserve before Anzac Day 2017, in a new location that provides more space to support the continued growth of the Anzac Day services.
The new location was agreed in close consultation with the Clayfield- Toombul RSL sub-branch.
The war memorial will be in place and accessible for Anzac Day services throughout the upgrade.
For more information on the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade project, visit www.ksdupgrade.com.au or www.brisbane.qld.gov.au or call the project team on 1800 084 383.
Did you know…
By tagging @brisbanecitycouncil or #viewsofbrisbane in your photos of Brisbane on Instagram, your images could feature in Living in Brisbane.
Brisbane Metro set to reduce CBD bus congestion
Plans for Brisbane Metro Subway System are taking shape, with residents set to benefit from reduced CBD bus congestion and quicker journeys in the future thanks to the city’s newest transport system.
The majority of bus passengers travelling on the busway networks are commuters from middle and outer suburbs who will be able to benefit from inbound and outbound bus connections to Brisbane Metro at Herston and Woolloongabba.
Commuters will travel from the suburbs by bus with transfers to the inner-city on Brisbane Metro. This will guarantee quick travel times to and through the CBD for a faster, more efficient journey.
Council is currently developing the project and residents will have opportunities to have their say over the coming months. Residents can register to receive details of future community consultation opportunities by emailing
Big name authors coming to Brisbane
The Lord Mayor’s Writers in Residence series will bring an impressive line-up of high profile authors to Brisbane’s libraries this year, including some of Australia’s own favourite writers and internationally acclaimed award-winners.
Tim Winton, author of 28 books and one of Australia’s most acclaimed writers, will appear at Brisbane City Hall on October 4 to talk about his new book The Boy Behind the Curtain.
In November, the program will feature international bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Matthew Reilly.
The series presents a great opportunity for residents to be entertained and for budding writers to be inspired by some of their favourite authors.
For more information on the Writers in Residence series, visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/libraries or call 3403 8888.
MICE means business for Brisbane
Mice might not be popular with everyone but MICE is big business for Brisbane.
MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions and these are also collectively known as business events.
The 2014 G20 Leaders’ Summit was one of the biggest business events to be staged in Brisbane in recent times. Business events attract delegates and visitors to Brisbane from across Australia and the world and support the city’s hotels, venues and services. In 2014-15, Brisbane staged 1400 business events worth an estimated $391 million to the economy.
In fact, over the past five years, business events were valued at $1.35 billion to Brisbane and generated 2.2 million hotel room nights.
Digital boost for gourmet industry
Brisbane’s burgeoning food truck industry has received a boost, with Council creating a new website, www.bnefoodtrucks.com.au, for those who like their meals to be mobile.
The new mobile-enabled site features an interactive map that allows users to locate their nearest gourmet food truck, find out what it serves, identify trading times and even view information about upcoming food truck events. Finding your favourite mobile cuisine has never been easier.
With more than 23,000 page views within the first three days of the website launch and thousands attending a special event in collaboration with Downey Park Food Trucks, it’s clear to see that food truck gourmet cuisine is on the rise in Brisbane.
Unlocking your city with Brisbane Open House
Celebrate the best of Brisbane’s built environment, free for one special weekend, on 8-9 October.
The 7th annual Brisbane Open House weekend will showcase an exciting selection of more than 100 buildings and sites, with many opening to the public for the first time.
As a sponsor of the event, a number of Council sites will be open for you to explore, including Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane Square Library, The Old Windmill Tower, Spring Hill Service Reservoirs, Walter Taylor Bridge and Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium.
To find out more, visit www.brisbaneopenhouse.
com.au
Road and intersection upgrades
Southside motorists can look forward to improved driving conditions, with upgrades beginning this month.
The works are part of Council’s $4.3 million Congestion Busting Projects. Local link improvements to Archerfield Road at Poinsettia Street, Richlands will be undertaken, with the right-turn lane on the northern leg of Archerfield Road being extended.
For more information about road upgrades taking place across Brisbane, visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au and search for ‘road and intersection upgrades’.
Did you know…
Council has a range of free or low-cost fitness activities for everyone. Visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/activeandhealthy to find out how you can enjoy our active, healthy city.
Karawatha Forest Discovery Centre
Bring your family to explore interactive displays, enjoy the night time experience room and discover Qld’s first outdoor nature play space.
Free and low-cost activities for all!
Find us at 149 Acacia Road, Karawatha
Open Tue-Sun, 9am-4pm, Tel: (07) 3178 0330
Visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au for more information.
Transporting residents for more than 90 years
Did you know that Council is the largest local government funder of public transport in the whole of Australia? We’ve been moving Brisbane residents for more than 90 years and we’ve achieved a lot in that time, constantly evolving to meet the needs of customers.
Our buses form Australia’s most comfortable, modern and accessible fleet and connect Brisbane residents and visitors to destinations across our great city. Operating 22 hours a day, and 24 hours a day on Friday and Saturday, Brisbane buses move 24 million more passengers than the entire rail network in South East Queensland. In fact, Brisbane’s buses travelled 67.5 million km in 2015 – that’s the equivalent of 85 trips to the moon and back!
Queensland Government’s TransLink controls fares and timetables, however Council has committed $121.9 million to subsidise public transport this year. We are proud of, passionate about and committed to our city’s bus and ferry system.
To learn more about the evolution of Brisbane’s buses, visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/yourbuses
School holidays at Karawatha
Entertaining the kids these school holidays will be a breeze with a host of activities scheduled at the Karawatha Forest Discovery Centre.
The new environmental discovery centre at Karawatha Forest aims to highlight the area’s natural environmental significance to residents and visitors.
Enjoy a range of interactive experiences at this exciting new centre, including an insight into the local frog population and Queensland’s first outdoor nature play space.