Wednesday 11th June - Page 1

Blame game erupts over fallen fig tree



Report & Photo: Rob Lockyear

Brisbane City councillors are playing hot potato over the Chinese Banyan Fig tree that crashed onto a playground in New Farm park last week.

Labor leader Shayne Sutton placed blame firmly in the Liberal camp after the Lord Mayor's two-month closure of the park to investigate the trees failed to prevent the incident.

But the ruling Liberals say the problems should have been fixed when Labor ran the parks.

Cr Sutton attacked Lord Mayor Campbell Newman for not getting modern technology to assess the health of trees.

"When the Lord Mayor reopened New Farm Park he said it was safe. Now a giant fig has crushed the public shelter at the New Farm Park playgrounds just 15 minutes after people were seen using it," Cr Sutton said.

Gabba councillor Helen Abrahams quizzed Environment and Parks chair Cr Peter Matic at last week's council meeting about whether he had done everything in his power to ensure the park was safe.

But Cr Matic said investigations into the New Farm trees took place when Cr Abrahams was herself chair.

"The problem actually went back to before February when she was the chair and it was her responsibility to deal with it. She should ask herself the same question," Cr Matic said.

Cr Matic said the collapse of the tree resulted from a combination of a root-rotting Phellinus Noxious pathogen and last week's heavy rain.

He said trees in the playground and along the river would be re-examined immediately.

"Until the trees in the playground have been tested, it is in the best interest of the public that the playground remains closed," Cr Matic said.

New Farm resident Peter Crowther, who had come to see the fallen tree with his daughter, said he was stunned by the incident.

"This is such a big surprise because it was such a strong-looking root system. The leaves were falling off a lot but I thought that must have been the drought," Mr Crowther said.

He said many other parents who used the park were concerned that other trees could fall over.

"If it's dangerous you don't want your children playing in there," he said.

Park benches and swings will remain empty until testing is complete

Additional photo not published

Wednesday 11th June - Page 3

Is the earth moving for you?



The Empire .... shaking all over?

Report & Photo: Rob Lockyear

Fortitude Valley residents shouldn't get too excited if the earth moves for them in coming weeks. They can expect rumbling for the next few months as the $2.2 billion North-South bypass tunnel crawls its way towards the Brisbane River.

But if the noise is too disruptive, they may be able to be relocated.

Local councillor and former deputy mayor David Hinchliffe said the tunnel would soon pass under some of the Valley's key icons including the Jubilee Hotel, Brunswick St Station, McWhirters and the Empire Hotel.

Cr Hinchliffe said vibrations from the tunnelling could affect some buildings along the route.

"I'm told by experts associated with the tunnel that people on ground floors of some buildings are likely to hear the sounds of tunnelling for the several days that the tunnel is being worked on under their building," he said.

North-South bypass tunnel contractors LBB JV community relations manager Michelle Holden confirmed the tunnelling was about to reach the Valley.

"The first tunnel boring machine (TBM) is currently close to the Jubilee Hotel, with the second machine a couple of weeks behind," she said.

Ms Holden said residents on other tunnelling projects had experienced noise and vibrations for a period of three to four days while the 4000-tonne TBMs passed.

Noise levels were difficult to predict but alternative accommodation would be made available for those badly affected, she said.

"If a resident experiences sleep disturbance then temporary relocation of the occupants while the tunnel construction progresses past their residence is offered," Ms Holden said.

Cr Hinchliffe said anyone seeking information about possible compensation issues or more details about the tunnelling work should contact the project team on 3837 5075.

Wednesday 11th June - Page 4

Zombie outing not a walk in park for some

Story and photo: Rob Lockyear

A young woman was rushed to hospital with a suspected broken neck after a crowd-surfing incident went wrong at this year's Brisbane Zombie Walk.

The 19-year-old was knocked to the ground at the walk's finishing point at Centenary Place in Fortitude Valley by a man dressed as a zombie chef.

Event organiser Cara Westworth said it was the last in a string of incidents - including zombies spitting and smearing fake blood onto shop windows, and harassing people not involved with the walk - that marred the otherwise successful event.

"It goes without saying that the walk needed people to use their common sense in order to make the day enjoyable for everyone, and it's sad to see that there were a few people intent on causing as much trouble as possible," Ms Westworth said.

Ms Westworth said the failure of a police escort to turn up contributed to the problems.

"I believe many of these incidents could have been avoided if we had the police guiding the walk along its route," Ms Westworth said.

A police spokesperson said that before the start of the walk a police officer contacted Ms Westworth to confirm the number of participants and their intentions. Operational police from the city were then redeployed to higher priority matters.

One police officer took up a position on the route but had to attended to aperson who had collapsed. He later rejoined the walk.

"While following the procession the officer did not observe any criminal activity and monitored the behaviour of the participants along this section of the route," the spokesperson said.

The injured woman was released from hospital without permanent injury.

Brisbane Zombie Walk 08

Wednesday 28th May - Page 1

Newman issues 5c fuel challenge











Fortitude Valley servo with their own 5c/litre deal.

Report & Photo: Rob Lockyear

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has challenged Labor councillors to support his call for five-cents-a-litre of fuel to fund Brisbane's public transport.

Cr Newman criticised the Labor government's inaction on fuel prices in the federal Budget. He said funds gained from fuel excise in Brisbane were being redistributed away from the city.

"While Canberra gets fat Brisbane gets sick," Cr Newman said.

He called for a show of Labor councillor hands to support his proposal.

"How about a motion next week to get full support of council to get five-cents-a-litre back to the city for public transport?" Cr Newman said.

Labor councillors refused to be drawn on the Lord Mayor's proposal.

"They've got their hands down because this is about the Australian Labor Party, politics and power, not about outcomes," Cr Newman said.

He made the comments in response to federal Opposition leader Dr Brendan Nelson's budget-response pledge of 5c a litre cut in fuel excise.

But he was silent on the controversial policy battle between Dr Nelson and shadow treasurer Malcom Turnbull over whether cutting the fuel excise is the right thing to do.

"Maybe he's got a point, maybe he hasn't but if you're not going to
cut that five cents, how does that five cents come back to Brisbane?" Cr Newman said.

Wednesday 28th May - Page 1

New height laws needle: P4













Photo: Rob Lockyear

Wednesday 28th May - Page 4

Heights of stupidity says Greens chief














Report & Photos: Rob Lockyear

Brisbane City Council's plan to lift building height restrictions was appalling and counter productive, Queensland Greens co-founder Drew Hutton says.

Mr Hutton slammed the proposal and called on the Labor Party opposition to fight it.

"The lifting of height restrictions has more to do with the political influence of developers and the importance of their donations to political parties than it does to rational policy making," Mr Hutton said.

"It's a betrayal of the inner-city residents who will be forced to conduct a viable community life with major high rise development dotted throughout their community."

Mr Hutton said the influence of developers on Brisbane City Council did not end with the Liberal majority.

"Both Liberal and Labor parties are heavily indebted to donations from developers," Mr Hutton said. "They're both in it up to their ears."

A fiery council meeting last week passed a motion to permit high rise buildings and increases population densities in Fortitude Valley, South Brisbane, Kurilpa, West End and Woolloongabba.

The motion said inner-city high rise was better than "greenfield development and unsustainable urban sprawl".

Urban Planning and Economic Development spokesperson Cr Amanda Cooper said the move was vital to meet the Queensland Government's target of 145,000 new dwellings in Brisbane.

Labor opposition launched a strong attack on Cr Cooper but unanimously supported the motion when the ruling Liberal Party accepted a Labor amendment that the high rise approval be "subject to good design, demonstrated sustainability, community benefit and a fast-tracked neighbourhood planning process".

Cr Milton Dick fiercely criticised Cr Cooper's motion as bad planning policy that ignored the views of residents.

"There is no required infrastructure, adequate public transport, roads, required sewerage and electricity planning. The list goes on," Cr Dick said.

Deputy Mayor Graham Quirk said Labor's amendment was unnecessary as the new buildings would not go ahead without proper planning and consultation processes.

Central Ward Councillor David Hinchliffe criticised what he saw as a lack of information in the plan.

"It didn't say how dense, it didn't say how high and that was what was fundamentally wrong with it," Cr Hinchliffe said.

"It was proposing a bank cheque to density."

Neither the original motion nor the amendment contained any specific building height restrictions, but it is understood 30-storey buildings will be approved at Kurilpa along the river.