PARKING fines will go up by $29.70 on July 1 after Redland City Council agreed to overhaul its Local Laws on Wednesday.
Under the new laws, parking fines will rise from $50 to $79.70, to bring the city into line with the state penalty system, where one penalty unit is $113.83.
The price increase is the first the city has had in a decade and brings Redland fines closer to those in Brisbane, where parking fines are $85.
Fines are calculated on penalty units and one unit is $113.85.
The new laws are based on state guidelines and govern penalties for untidy properties, feeding native birds, holding community events and taking horses on to Crown land.
Debate at Wednesday’s meeting concentrated on whether to change signs allowing horses and their riders in civic parks.
Under existing laws, horses and riders are only allowed in civic parks where signs deem it legal.
The new laws will give horses access to all parks unless otherwise signed.
Council will now have to erect new signs in parks where horses can't go.
Officers told the meeting there would be no change to the number of parks with horse access and the only change would be to signs.
Division 2 councillor Craig Ogilvie said it would take officers 52 weeks to bolt covers over the 1000 signs to hide the horse riding references.
Public places where horses, camels and donkeys are not allowed include Wellington Point Recreation Reserve, Redlands Indigiscapes Centre at Capalaba and all bathing reserves under council control.
An officer report mentioned issues including horse faeces, spread of weeds, degradation of the environment and conflicts between walkers and riders.
Koala Action Group vice president and Thornlands resident Lyn Roberts told council she was disappointed the new laws did nothing extra to protect koalas.
She said it was worrying the council decided to do another review of urban koalas instead of extending koala protection zones.
The local laws listed koala areas and included maps showing where koalas were living.
She said data from the Department of Environment and Heritage showed many koalas were attacked in urban areas, unprotected by council Local Laws both old and new.
Ms Roberts also said council had already completed a comprehensive Urban Koala Habitat Tree Study.
Submissions called for the koala mapping to be expanded to include Ferntree Park and North Stradbroke Island.
Ms Roberts said Subordinate Local Law No. 2 needed to be amended to protect koalas and said residents should not have the option to keep dogs in 2000sq m enclosures over night, instead of restraining them.
Animals will also only be allowed to make noise for six minutes in 60 minutes from 7am to 10pm and three minutes in 30 minutes from 10pm to 7am.
Another amended subordinate local law bans lighting and maintaining fires in the open and in designated parts of the city.
Landowners will also be fined if they allow their properties to become “unsightly” with broken-down car bodies, boats, trailers and scrap machinery.
The proposal also extends to discarded bottles, containers, packaging, dilapidated building hoardings, shopping trolleys and overgrown vegetation
The new local laws will also require a permit to keep one de-sexed pet pig on land greater than 4000sq m on the mainland, except in Ridgewood Downs.
Pigs will be prohibited from all Redland City islands for environmental and cultural reasons.
