We’ve just been out for an early morning walk letter-boxing election candidate brochures.
No we’re not party political. May the best man (not woman in this case) win. We want to support the process constructively.
We just totally support the whole democratic process of citizens being interested enough in the process of governance to put themselves up for candidacy. It seems a tremendously brave thing to do and calls on them for a lot of expense and very hard work to run in an election campaign.
We think it is a shame that political parties have largely taken over Council elections. At Council level the local service we get is very much determined by how competent and hard-working whoever we elect to Council is not by what party they belong to. We don’t need party hacks. We need someone who will work dedicatedly for us locally to build value into our local area.
But we desperately need quality candidates to stand for election (at Council state and federal level).
We think it is extremely important that we all observe carefully what our elected representatives do and don’t do; that we ask ourselves what we think matters that they should be doing or shouldn’t be doing; and then we vote thoughtfully and with care. All our votes matter.
Let us all assess all the candidates carefully and vote for whoever we think will genuinely do the best for us.
In the Council elections we have every reason to think and vote on LOCAL issues. And we need to distinguish what is a BCC matter from what is a state or federal or MBRC matter.
Council elections are about our rates our local roads our rubbish our sewerage our parks maintenance and facilities our halls and meeting facilities (don’t get me started) grants for community development and local festivals support for mobility for seniors and disabled programs of cultural and fitness activities management of our bushland and creeks (bushcare support) dog parks the endless regulations over what you can or cannot do on your property libraries (don’t get me started on the lack of any library service in our area) public transport by bus in our local community (!!!) community centres (???????!!!) street lighting park benches water fountains skate-board rinks sporting practice facilities drainage (a very big one locally in our lively catchment)..
It is about good communications with Council. Hard-working Councillors who provide us readily with information and can be seen to be doing a good job working for the local community.
Be under no doubt: This end of the Enoggera Ward holds [b]most[/b] of the residents in the Ward even though the Ward Office is right at the opposite end of the Ward.
This end of the Ward is the rapidly growing end with all the development in Upper Kedron.
It is very reasonable and appropriate for us all in this end of the Ward to expect a lot of services from Brisbane City Council.
Upper Kedron is designated as one of the major growth areas of the whole Brisbane City Council region. Big numbers of homes and people. Are they matching it with facilities? Or are they simply putting more and more pressure on the very scarce facilities that are already in the region?
We don’t just want to see Council expenditure in the new developing areas either. The parts of our local area that were built 30 years ago continue year after year after year to pay rates and see virtually nothing at all come back locally. A few swings in the one pitiful park about sums it up. We have large areas devoid of walking tracks.
We have large areas devoid of any meeting rooms. Where do little local groups meet cheaply informally simply with organically alive community life? Where can innovation start? Where can small classes and workshops begin?
BCC puts up formidable and oppressive barriers to renting any of its facilities (casuals are well behind long-term bookings that get first shot at the end of each year to book up most of the slots for the whole year mostly for business bookings. And we are meant to provide at $20 million public liability insurance cover to rent a meeting room for $11 for an hour. You’ve got to be kidding!)
Public liability is being used more and more and more by the BCC to deny us service. I was told yesterday that to book a community trip to the Rochedale Landfill Site we had to apply in writing (letters trip to the post office to get a stamp) because BCC had to cover itself for liability so they needed the request in writing not email.
We have some huge gaps in our cycle paths denying us real connections into the big network of cycle tracks in Brisbane.
We might question the management of our Creeks (Cedar Creek and Kedron Brook). There is an undiscussed approach to managing these Creeks that shuts them entirely away from the community. Unlike Cabbage Tree Creek in the Moreton Bay Regional Council (with its magnificent walking cycling track along the Creek and numerous playgrounds drinking fountains kiosks and BBQs) most of Kedron Brook is inaccessible. We used to play in streams and creeks like this all our childhood but now the banks are so heavily vegetated (in many cases revegetated) that they are inaccessible either to get down to the Creek or to gaze upon any attractive vistas. We have an absolutely major water feature that is virtually invisible to us and unusuable for recreation. And we aren’t being given any say in this.
BCC certainly collects rates from this end of the Ward. Where are these rates spent? Are we getting our share of our rates spent locally? Or do they flow out of our local area into the CBD and hubs elsewhere?
These are the reasons it matters when we vote in Council elections.
Councils make much more of an immediate difference to the quality of our local community life than either state or federal government. Our local Councillor has the greatest capacity to make a local difference (or if they are slack and don’t work to meet the needs of our area cause the greatest decay).