‘Intolerable interference’: Market stoush will cost council

The hugely popular new Colmslie markets have fallen victim to a neighbourhood dispute that could cost Council who have moved to restrict it to just one day per month, columnist Des Houghton writes.

Rivermakers site in Morningside. Pic: Richard Walker.

I went to the new Colmslie markets by the Brisbane River last Sunday to test my theory that families facing cost-of-living hardships can get cheaper fruit, vegetables and meat at markets than they can at supermarkets.

I bought two T-bone steaks and a large hand of lady fingers for $22 from Greg Alexander, a 55-year-old farmer from Kyogle who said he no longer trades with supermarket chains because of a bad experience he had had. Now he was making a decent shilling at the markets although he complained the happy festival atmosphere at Colmslie was distracting buyers.

Colmslie had 150 stalls selling everything from plants to pizzas, cakes and fresh pasta, olives, truffles and artisan craftworks.

There was a tent stacked high with the most wonderful multi-coloured carrots and other vegetables from the Fassifern Valley. I was, however, forced to curtail my secret shopper mission because my companions wanted to lay on the grass and watch the entertainment.

The inaugural Colmslie market was a roaring success despite a traffic snarl at the entrance, caused in part by a multi-vehicle crash off Lytton Rd just as it was getting started.

Farmer Greg Alexander. Picture: Des Houghton

Later I noticed city council inspectors running around with notebooks. There had been a complaint from a corporate neighbour.

The crowd was having too much fun.

There is an interesting backstory involving a legal stoush in the Queensland Planning and Environment Court between rich-listers Trevor Lee and Balfour Irvine that was reported in The Courier-Mail. Seven years on, their lawfare continues.

Lee is the beef tycoon who owns and operates Australian Country Choice abattoir with his sons. Up the road the Irvines built a gym, with council permission, against the wishes of the Lees. I don’t like gyms, but I do like juicy Queensland steaks, and really don’t give two hoots about what people build on their own property.

The Lee family has a wonderful record in providing quality beef for Australia and the world. Good luck to them in all their endeavours. I also have a sentimental attachment because my grandfather, a drover, used to get casual shifts there rounding up the steers.

However, the Colmslie market is on Irvine land known as Rivermakers, and I fail to see what business it is of others to tell them what they can do or can’t do on their own land.

I phoned a contact at City Hall seeking clarity. Yes there had been a complaint and, yes, there was a dispute between the Lees and the Irvines over a development application.

Soon after I got a surprise call from an Australian Country Choice executive who fessed up as the complainant.

ACC doesn’t like the market traffic that may impede the trucks delivering cattle for slaughter, he told me. Fair enough.

However, there are 168 hours in a week and the markets only run for six of them.

Surely the truck timetable could be amended as a gesture to the thousands of people who enjoy the markets. The Lees should not forget that they don’t own the road.

There are no houses nearby, so I fail to see how the market could be an annoyance to anyone.

Now I hear the city council is attempting to curtail the market, allowing it to operate just once a month. This is imperious and intolerable interference out of step with community sentiment, and the council will suffer for it.

If private citizens want to gather lawfully on private land that is their business, not Big Brother busybodies from up town.

City Hall was unrepentant. Civic cabinet chair Sarah Hutton told me in a statement that the landowner and the organisers did not have approvals to operate a market at the Rivermakers location. The Irvines dispute this and are framing a legal challenge to council.

Hutton said the market caused major traffic congestion and safety problems. True. That is because it was so popular, Ms Hutton.

The people have spoken and done so with a loud voice. There is obviously a great hunger for free, outdoor markets in the Colmslie, Morningside, Hawthorne, Cannon Hill catchment.

There is another twist. The Rivermakers site has been slapped with a TLPI (Temporary Local Planning Instrument) by the State Government. I’m told that means the government can override council decisions. Hmmm.

Perhaps the trouble is that the abattoir suddenly finds itself in the wrong place. The growing city has caught up with it. The slaughterhouse is close to expanding residential suburbs whose families will one day say no to B-double cattle trucks.

I wonder how long ACC will survive on its current site. It should be obvious to anyone in the State Government or City Hall that, ultimately, the abattoir should be moved out of town.

Meanwhile, I will resume my market price watch. If you discover a market bargain, please let me know.

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