Ratepayers wear $1m bill for Mt Coot-tha zipline
Recently installed Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has revealed the cost to ratepayers for the controversial, and ultimately abortive, Mt Coot-tha zipline.
QLD Politics
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BRISBANE ratepayers forked out nearly $1 million to fund the development application of the now-scrapped Mt Coot-tha zipline.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner confirmed this afternoon the council spent at least $902,000 to get the development application for the controversial project off the ground.
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He defended the big spend, insisting they had to undertake a “whole lot of technical reports” as well environmental, traffic and engineering reports.
“There was a whole lot of time and energy that went into that DA,” he said.
“And I remember distinctly … hearing in this chamber Labor saying we need to spend more money on technical reports.
“That money was making sure a thorough process occurred with the DA.”
BCC had also chipped in another $300,000 to the development of the project, making their total spend upwards of $1.2 million.
The council has since scrapped the project, a move Cr Schrinner today said was a sign they were listening to the community.
“There is a place in Brisbane for a zip line,” he said.
“But Mt Coot-tha I believe, and my team believes, was ultimately the wrong location for this type of infrastructure.”
It followed widespread community outrage that threatened the LNP’s chances of winning next year’s council election.
Labor councillor Steve Griffiths questioned why the administration had not revealed the real cost earlier.
“How much more has been hidden,” he said.
“In April when canning the project, Cr Schrinner said it had cost Brisbane residents $300,000.
“The reality is that he is prepared to waste more than $1 million of Brisbane ratepayers’ money to please his LNP masters in Canberra.”
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