Ipswich councillors Andrew Fechner, Marnie Doyle campaign for Bremer River safety barriers

There is a renewed push to install safety barriers on Ipswich CBD bridge to help protect the community’s most vulnerable people.

A fight to improve safety on Ipswich’s CBD bridge which has dragged on for years has been reignited by two councillors determined to find a solution to protect the most vulnerable members of the community.

Efforts to install safety barriers, or ‘anti-throw screens’, on David Trumpy Bridge spanning more than a decade have fallen in a heap with the State Government unwilling to fund it.

Division 3 councillor Marnie Doyle said in “recent years” two people had taken their lives by jumping from the state-owned bridge and there had been another nine attempts.

Trolleys thrown of David Trumpy Bridge onto the walkway below.

Barriers would also prevent trolleys from nearby Riverlink Shopping Centre being thrown from the bridge into the river and onto the walkway 20 metres below.

About $9000 of ratepayer funds has been spent on removing 75 abandoned trolleys from the river and its banks over the past year.

With the council spending $250 million redeveloping the CBD to lure people back into the heart of the city, cleaning things up is a priority, but Cr Doyle said there were more pressing reasons for barriers to be in place.

“A lot of people focus on the shopping trolleys,” she said.

“That does present huge danger issues for people walking on the pathways as well as massive environmental problems for our river.

“What seems to be lost when people talk about it is the safety problems for those that are vulnerable in our community who are suffering from mental health issues.”

Cr Doyle and fellow Division 3 councillor Andrew Fechner were involved in the process to temporarily close the Denmark Hill Water Tower last year so safety measures could be put in place.

In was during those discussions that doctors and police reiterated concerns about David Trumpy Bridge.

The pair said they had the support of Ipswich MP Jennifer Howard, who has written to Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey to back the latest push.

Ipswich division 3 councillor Marnie Doyle. Picture: Cordell Richardson

Cr Fechner believed there has “been more progress on this issue in the last six months than there has been in the last 10 years”.

“Too many have been lost or hurt over the years to self-harm that barriers may have prevented,” Cr Doyle said.

“There have been enough incidents on that bridge throughout a 12 month period to warrant that.

“Like others in the community, I have a personal connection to this issue.

“People have shared their stories with me, including local emergency service officers, with all expressing a strong view that the installation of barriers would better help protect the most vulnerable in our community.

“There’s also that underdog (aspect). Every bridge everywhere has them. Why is Ipswich always last to receive?

“This isn't a new issue. We have a folder which has correspondence over multiple years of people advocating for this - police officers, council officers.

“We understand a local company built and fitted safety barriers to a bridge in Brisbane. So it can be done.”

Cr Fechner said important lessons were learnt about securing improvements at Denmark Hill and now it was about getting the Department of Transport and Main Roads to the table for the bridge.

“Council has no ability or funding for these anti-throw screens,” he said.

“There’s good political will behind it.

“We’re prepared to take the necessary steps and the only steps that are available to us.

“We’re kind of leveraging the advocacy we’ve done (with Denmark Hill) to apply to this. Which is why we’re going about it in a similar methodical way.”

A TMR spokesman said an investigation into barriers would be undertaken “over coming months” to identify “possible solutions and costs”.

“While Transport and Main Roads is not responsible for addressing anti-social behaviour at this location, we will further investigate to identify any treatments or actions required,” he said.

“The investigation will require input from stakeholders such as Ipswich City Council, Queensland Police Service and Queensland Health.”

Construction has started on Ipswich Hospital’s new $91 million 50-bed mental health unit, which is due to be finished by late next year.

Approval has been granted by the council for a new four-storey mental health unit at St Andrew’s Ipswich Private Hospital.

A West Moreton Health spokeswoman said a new crisis support space, Emu Cafe, opened last week as part of a broader package of suicide prevention and crisis care initiatives being trialled and funded by the State Government.

“(It) is a safe place close to the Ipswich Hospital emergency department where people in crisis can speak with mental health staff, including those with lived experience, in a quiet, informal setting,” she said.

“The service improves access to crisis services for people whose recovery is better supported through settings other than the emergency department.

“Referrals to the cafe are via mental health clinicians from the Acute Care Team.”

For advice on accessing mental health support, call 1300 MH CALL (1300 64 22 55) at any time.

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.