MORE than 300 Raby Bay residents say they are prepared to support legal action against Redland City Council over the funding of canal wall failure repairs.
At a meeting of the Raby Bay Ratepayers Association, residents were asked if they would back legal action and if they were prepared to fund a court injunction, with nearly all agreeing.
A report from the meeting prepared by chairman Chris Reeves said members wanted council to continue to maintain and repair canals in the same way it had done for the past 22 years.
Raby Bay ratepayers would support an arrangement whereby a fair and equitable levy was raised by council from Raby Bay ratepayers to meet the cost of works.
Council would continue to pay a fair contribution to the levy based on the acknowledgement of wider community use of canals.
Association members also wanted a management infrastructure under which they would take part in planning, budgeting and delivery of maintenance and repairs.
Mr Reeves said long-time canal resident, retired barrister and former Criminal Justice Commission director Mark Le Grand told the meeting that council had played a role in canal maintenance for 22 years but had now started community consultation.
“You don’t do this unless you want something to change,” Mr Reeves said. “The risk is council may decide to walk away.
“Costs to remedy failing walls have been up to a maximum of $30,000 per metre.
“This is unaffordable for many, for others it will seriously affect their financial future. Some will be forced to sell in a declining market, others will be faced with bankruptcy.”
Wall failures occured in 1995-96 and 13 residents took action against the developer and council for subsidence. A deed of agreement was set up and council took over maintenance in return for a $1.5 million payment from the developer.
Mr Le Grand said if an adverse result emanated from a biased and unfair community consultation, it might be open to legal challenge although costs would be high.
A council spokesperson said council had not adopted a position on nor made decisions about how maintenance works would be funded.
“Council’s almost four-month community engagement on the matter has concluded and council will consider the reports on the outcomes,” she said.
The ratepayers association was already involved in canal maintenance through a council technical working group.
She would not say whether or not council proposed to withdraw its funding of canal maintenance nor whether it would restart the levy it previously collected.
Cr Peter Mitchell said on his Facebook site that councillors would review the results of public consultation over the next one to two months and would vote on a decision at a general meeting.
