Quarry could become world-class botanic gardens

THE Mt Coot-tha quarry could be turned into a world-class hanging gardens, the group which defeated the zipline says.

Ross Kapitzke, John Griffiths, Graham Evans, Rachel Griffiths, Jan Keay, Debra Shimada, Alan Lee, Bron Raftery, Maria Miller, Peter Hale, Jules Moreton and Emma Markwell at the Mt Coot-tha Summit. Picture: AAP/Josh Woning

THE community group whose protests led to the scrapping of the deeply unpopular Mt Coot-tha zipline will ask the public for ideas on how to improve the area.

Mt Coot-tha Protection Alliance (MCPA) president, Peter Hale, said the quarry would one day have to close and must be rehabilitated under a lease agreement with the State Government.

“Imagine if the botanic gardens was extended to include it, imagine if it became the hanging gardens of Brisbane?’’ Dr Hale said.

“The gardens are already Brisbane’s second most visited tourist site after South Bank and something like this could make it a world-class attraction.

“We want to start a public consultation process involving all the stakeholders.’’

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The idea came as Opposition councillors blasted the timing of the announcement to scrap the zipline and said the LNP administration was falsely claiming it had listened to the people.

Councillor Steve Griffiths (Moorooka), the Opposition Parks spokesman, said none of the four westside councillors — Steve Toomey, Kate Richards, Peter Matic and (former Walter Taylor councillor) Julian Simmonds — had spoken out against the zipline in Chambers or at public information sessions, but were now claiming to have done everything they could to stop it.

He also said they, and new Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, had voted for the project in 2017 and later voted against several petitions and motions attacking the development.

“They did nothing to speak up for their communities,’’ Cr Griffiths said.

“They’re now trying to get across the message that they listened to the people when in fact

Cr Richards and others were like lumps of wood.’’

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Dr Hale said they would not be celebrating until May 1 when their appeal against council’s development application was set down for a directions hearing in the Planning & Environment

Court.

Only then, when council’s legal team indicated that they would drop their defence, could the MCPA be certain the issue was dead.

Dr Hale, a wildlife ecologist, said that by then their legal costs could top $25,000, which they hoped to recover through an online funding campaign.

“If you count all the pro bono work our experts have done it would have cost us a huge amount — my time alone would run into several hundred thousand if charged out at the normal rate.

We also had 120 MCPA members helping with the banner crew and other work, not to mention the 3200 people who lodged submissions on the development application.’’

His comments came as the State Library confirmed it was collecting protest signs, brochures and other material.

There was no decision yet on whether it would hold an exhibition, but the material would be

used by its researchers studying social movements.

Sign objecting to Mt Coot-Tha zipline. Walter Taylor Ward. Pic by Marg Wenham.

Crs Toomey, Matic and Richards posted near-identical messages on social media after the zipline was canned last Thursday, saying they had raised residents’ concerns with the Lord Mayor.

“As the local councillor for Paddington Ward, I have continued throughout this whole process to represent the views of all members of our community to the Lord Mayor,” Cr Matic said.

Mr Simmonds said he had been “actively engaging for some time with our local community and taking their concerns directly to the Lord Mayor’’.

Cr Toomey said protecting Mt Coot-tha was “something we can all agree on’’.