Letters to the editor: Raby Bay, Broncos and more

In response to my three recent letters about Redland City Council’s mismanagement of canal wall repairs, council has chosen to confuse us by changing the subject.

We have read council staffer Mr J. Oberhardt’s two incomprehensible letters to the editor and council’s nine (yes nine) information handouts with 20 pages (yes 20) on canals and waterways consultation.

These try to justify a consultation process that’s costing us $300,000 by asking people about funding, or as council puts it, “having a conversation, a chat” with all ratepayers.

Consulting on how Raby Bay should be funded when that is not the issue has set hares running.

Raby Bay Ratepayers Association called a meeting to protest that the consultation is aimed at changing responsibility for canal wall repairs from council to private owners.

Indeed council’s January handout on canal and lake estates sneakily suggests that in other councils – Gold Coast, Moreton Bay and Noosa – owners are responsible for canal walls. This is misleading. Few if any other canal estates are comparable to Raby Bay. Some have walls with beaches not rock walls. Many are based on river and creek edges not dug out of marshes like Raby Bay.

I do not know of any that have failing walls like Raby Bay. It has rock armour sloping walls and concrete and brick low walls on the edge of private land.

Council cannot fulfill its responsibility to maintain navigability of the canals by fixing the rock part and shedding responsibility for the other. In trying to get evidence, I asked council for a plan showing my property’s canal wall. It took some doing.

I got a plan of a revetment wall which was not for my property but a typical cross-section of the canal and side walls in Stage 5 (confusingly called Stage 2 elsewhere).

I was told that the revetment wall is the rock section going deep into the canal and holds in place the concrete and brick wall.

Walls fall into three categories, those which have moved 0-50mm and are being monitored; walls that have moved 50-100mm and are being “proactively” monitored and walls that have moved over 100mm and are in the repair program. I asked how many were in each category but got no answer. I also asked which category my property fell into but I was told to ask in writing. I will also ask whether my wall has failed and been fixed in the past.

This information shows council has a map showing past failed walls and fixes. I understand that more than 20 per cent of past fixes have failed. So much for the 75-year lifetime for walls council claims.

This “consultation” makes me mad. Council mismanagement and misinformation has to stop. Funding is not the issue, waste of money is and changing the subject is obstructionist.

- Z. Johnston, Raby Bay

ON A positive note the withdrawal of the chicken manure incinerator/power station is a good outcome for the many families living on the western side of Mount Cotton Road who rely on tank water and their concerns regarding toxins affecting drinking water.

It's good news for the many families who attend Mount Cotton school as this development is only 600 metres away.

It’s good news for the residents who have been concerned about more trucks as this latest proposal would have added trucks coming from all over to deliver manure.

It's good news for ratepayers as this application has cost council about $600,000 to assess and defend in court.

It's good news for the company that collects manure which is used for composting, benefiting the agricultural industry. It's good news for organic farmers who would have lost their certification.

Cr Julie Talty did not inform the community when this amended proposal was lodged in December. Mayor Karen Williams also gave no information about this. It was strange that Cr Williams also did not acknowledge she had a conflict of interest due to an election donation from Darwalla.

We hope that this development does not rear its head again. It is heavy industry and not suited to Mount Cotton.

- T. Bowler, Mount Cotton

WHEN I heard that the Victoria Point NAB was closing I sent them a letter. Guess what? No reply.

They have come up with a lame excuse that few people are using the branch. I wish you would tell that to those who queue in the morning or others at lunch time trying to get their banking done.

I speak for retirees who are not able to travel to Cleveland. It takes two buses and a 30 minute-plus journey and that's if you get the connection. In regards to the post office, they told me they can take and give money but cannot discuss other matters.

I have found a couple of banks with nice staff so I, for one, will close my accounts. By the way, who paid for the new branch at Capalaba? Must be the poor staff of 6000 that will soon lose their jobs.

Come on Victoria Point, let's show what people power can do. NAB you have lost me.

- D. Fudge, Victoria Point

IN REGARD to an item in last week’s Redland City Bulletin about two Bronco rugby league players.

Firstly, it`s not local news. Secondly, the Platinum Tails get more than enough press and TV coverage through Rupert Murdoch, who still owns the Broncos (wild horses).

Our family has lived in the Redlands for more than 40 years. I`m just getting over a bout of bronchitis but I`ve suffered Bronco-itis for just on 30 years. I value RCB’s coverage of local news and views but don`t flog a dead horse.

- L. Schwager, Cleveland

Email your letter to the editor to lettersredlands@fairfaxmedia.com.au. Include your full name, address and phone number.