Brisbane City Council draft new neighbourhood plan for south
Less than 5 per cent of residents have had their say on a new neighbourhood plan which will shape development and quality of life for three suburbs in Brisbane’s south.
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LESS than 5 per cent of residents have had their say on a new neighbourhood plan which will shape development and quality of life for three suburbs in Brisbane’s south.
The more than 870 views only equate to 4.57 per cent of the 19,000 locals in Nathan, Salisbury and Moorooka.
This low number has prompted opposition councillor Steve Griffiths (Moorooka ward) to call on the LNP administration to seek additional feedback from the community before progressing to the next stage of planning.
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“The LNP should be engaging with at least 50 per cent of residents,” he said.
“There needs to be public meetings to give everyone a fair go to have their say.
“This neighbourhood plan is not going to represent the views of the community as a whole.
“The overwhelming feedback I have received about the community consultation has been there should be more time to comment and public meetings.
A Brisbane City Council spokesman said council would start work on the new neighbourhood plan based on the information provided by residents.
City Planning Chair Matthew Bourke said locals prioritised access to public transport, character housing and parklands in their feedback.
“Residents want to see, upgraded parks and green space, more dining and retail options, as well as visual improvements including more trees, better paths and street lights,” he said.
“Responses will shape planning decisions over the next 10 years and council is currently going through all the submissions received and will work hard to ensure residents’ needs are met.
Cr Bourke said he was “delighted with the number of responses” council received throughout the community consultation period, which ran from August 26 to October 6.
“With more than 2000 visits to the project website, it is clear residents were excited to be involved in council’s plans to make this area an even better place to live, work and relax,” he said.
“Community feedback is vital in neighbourhood planning, as it provides insight into what residents love about their local area and how they feel it should be improved.
“Each neighbourhood has its own look and feel, so who better to identify the opportunities than the local residents, business owners and land owners.
“The community will be informed throughout the entire consultation process and I highly encourage them to provide more feedback when the draft strategy is released in mid-2020.”
Nathan Action Group spokesman Blake Buchanan, who has been campaigning to stop a huge development of 750 dwellings proposed for 53 Fairlawn St, believes council needs to undertake another community consultation period for the neighbourhood plan.
‘I think more community consultation is needed to ensure the needs of the majority of the community are met,” he said.
“We all are busy which means a short community consultation period means that some people miss out on having their say.
“We all need to be responsible for what the future of our suburbs look like … so we need to make sure our voices count.
“I hope Brisbane City Council’s LNP administration will consider further community consultation, maybe a few public meetings and another period to submit feedback.”
Salisbury resident Dave Roche, who has been fighting to stop the propoosed 60 Rosebank Square development which locals believe doesn’t fit with the character of the area, agrees with Mr Buchanan and Cr Griffiths.
“Where is the process to hear people … they would have a lot to say given the chance,” Mr Roche said.
“There should be an additional consultation period.
“They haven’t heard from everyone — it is not transparent and it is not right.
“I think a three-month consultation period is needed and to reach the elderly you have to doorknock and do letterbox drops.
“Nobody has had their say really.”
Moorooka resident and Rural Steel Supplies owner Cec Fox, who is a liberal voter, said he was convinced the LNP led council had “stacked” the meetings to achieve their goal but had failed the community.
“The council will always manipulate the community to get what they want,” he said.
“And what they want is more rateable properties they don’t care about the population growth and all of the things that go with that - everything these days is about money.”
Mr Fox said Nathan, Moorooka and Salisbury had a lot of middle-aged to elderly people and he believed more needed to be done to reach them.
“It is disgusting, people weren’t aware of the community consultation period .. it is a disgrace,” he said.
“For 870 responses out of 19,000 people ... that is terrible.
“It is bureaucracy controlling the masses for the city council’s benefit.”
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