REDLAND City Council will ask the state government for an urgent briefing on the fate of North Stradbroke Island after mining.
Council decided to ask for the info before pitching a bid to have a say in how the state should spend $20million set aside for the island in this year’s budget.
Capalaba MP Don Brown said Environment Minister Steven Miles had already briefed mayor Karen Williams and local councillor Craig Ogilvie on transition plans.
He said Mr Miles asked both to put together a proposal for the $20million budget allocation in June.
All councillors except Murray Elliott (Div 7) voted to ask the state for details on the economic committee and to detail alternate sources of funding to the $20m, which is to be spent over five years starting in 2015.
Although there is no solid date for the end of mining under current legislation, the state government said it would amend laws this year to cease leases by 2019.
Cr Williams said it was necessary to get up-to-date information on state plans for the island before asking to be included in discussions on where and how to spend the budget allocation.
She said the state was moving quickly on the island’s economic transition but short timeframes resulted in an inconsistent and incoherent approach.
The mayor was backed by Cr Mark Edwards, who said council was in danger of duplicating state work if it did not have all the facts first.
Cr Ogilvie said a state government briefing would achieve nothing and sending council’s plans to the state “was not good enough”.
He said a funding proposal was needed to be included in council’s capital works program and operational plan.
“Our land tenure covers a number of tourism hot spots on the island and we are therefore going to be involved,” he said.
“But the important thing is whether we are going to be involved passively ie: waiting for them to come to us … or we go on the front foot and go in active.
“The idea that in a space where the state government is moving as quickly as it is and for us to just passively pass on a stack of plans and hope they get it right is frankly shirking our responsibilities.”
