LNP councillors backflip on Mt Coot-tha zipline

The LNP councillors whose wards encircle Mt Coot-tha have crowed the end of the mega zipline in almost identical social media posts, despite never before saying a public word against it.

The LNP councillors whose wards encircle Mt Coot-tha have come out to say scrapping the project is the right decision.

WESTSIDE LNP councillors who have never publicly spoken against the Mt Coot-tha zipline project have crowed its demise using almost identical social media posts.

On Thursday, new Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced he would s crap the Mt Coot-tha zipline just two months after Brisbane City Council approved it .

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In February, former Lord Mayor Graham Quirk told the council chamber that “at the end of the day we presented this as a team commitment”.

The council has already spent $300,000 on the project.

Now, two months after the zipline project was approved by the council despite thousands of submissions against it, all three have a clear position: the zipline is better off dead.

Cr Peter Matic, Cr Kate Richards and Cr Steve Toomey have posted almost identical photos of themselves in serious conversation with the Lord Mayor.

The photos were taken in the same room with the same composition: the westside councillor to the left and Cr Schrinner, wearing a pink checked shirt and purple tie, on the right.

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The words accompanying the photos also ran along the same theme: that the councillors had discussed the importance of Mt Coot-tha and green space to their constituents with the Lord Mayor and he had promised to protect it.

Former Councillor for Water Taylor Ward Julian Simmonds, who has resigned from the council to run for the federal seat of Ryan, did not post a deep-in-discussion picture.

It is not the first time the councillors have sung from the same hymn book: only weeks ago they gave the Courier-Mail identical statements when asked if they supported the zipline.

They did not answer the question then, instead stating that their lobbying on behalf of constituents had resulted in stringent protections for flora and fauna in the development.

In 2017, they voted in favour of the zipline when it came before the council.

Federal LNP candidate for Ryan Julian Simmonds, the former councillor for Walter Taylor Ward and City Planning chair, told Westside News this was “the right decision for our local area”.

“Many locals raised concerns with me which is why I have been actively engaging for some time with our local community and taking their concerns directly to the Lord Mayor.”

Lifestyle and Community Services Peter Matic chair said: “The project being scrapped is the best outcome for our community”.

“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,” he said.

Cr Peter Matic is at risk of being unseated by the Greens, who have been vocal opponents of the zipline, in his marginal Paddington Ward.

Cr Richards said she had met with Cr Schrinner twice in the past week to discuss the zipline.

“I am pleased Cr Schrinner has listened to the residents of the western suburbs,” she said.

“I am proud to say that my colleagues and I are 100 per cent committed to protecting Mt Coot-tha – that’s something we can all agree on.”

Cr Toomey also said he was pleased to have the opportunity to discuss the zipline project with Cr Schrinner: “It is now clear that protecting Mt Coot-tha is something we can all agree on”.

“I value Brisbane’s green space and urban bushland and demonstrate this as a trustee of Save our Waterways Now and the volunteer work I do with Habitat Brisbane Groups,” he said.