I arrived very grumpy today at a GOLD Program activity having broken my own golden rule and enrolled for something outside The Grove. But let’s face it: Brisbane City Council is not providing these activities locally here.
The distance to drive there was 13 kms each way and took slightly over half an hour each way.
The course was a Strength and balance exercises 1 hour class to be held at the Chermside & District Senior Citizens Centre.
As it turned out the booking for the class was mixed up and the instructor did not arrive but that can happen.
The facility there (Burnie Brae) is outstanding but definitely NOT within our catchment. They provide some transport services but definitely not this far. It does show what can be done though and the contrast with the lack of anything remotely similar here is stark.
I got copies of their program and will attempt to locate what activities I can locally – they would be scattered here and there not brought together in one well-set-up facility.
It does make me feel though that residents in some parts of Brisbane get much better value for their rates than in other parts. It would be very interesting to see the Council’s budget figures but you’d have to think that our suburbs are probably exporting rates to subsidize other areas.
Also there is a consistent expectation of driving long distances to activities. So many people just don’t get it that driving 13kms each way is just not sustainable for much longer. Public transport across to Chermside is not even a consideration.