Unravelling the Rhetoric

A few weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of attending Griffith University to view the final assessment of an inspiring young academic from Redland City.  Her commitment to young people in Redlands was/is experienced in every word that she delivered.  With her permission, I am providing you with excerpts from her report, as I believe it illustrates the many frustrations that our community experiences across the board.  There is often a great deal of talk, back patting & self flagellation by Council which appears to result in very little.  This view is shared by Ainslie Meiklejohn-Griffiths in Redland City Council's approach to our future generations - today's young people. 

The Mayor's latest glossy Residents Report branded with "winner" logos goes on to espouse  "Sustainability: the bottom line" and explains the importance of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  In the true sense, this should not just be about the green environment.  It needs to consider the other pillars of livability and consider our people and our youth.  Ainslie will tell you that we should not have to wait another 10 years to meet the needs of our young people and we are not meeting them now.

We have not achieved sustainability by winning "Keep Australia Beautiful-  Queensland's Sustainable City" awards. This award does not measure the health and prospects for our current and future youth.  If Council is really serious about "sustainability"  we need less talk and more action in improving the lives and opportunities for our young people in Redland City.

Unravelling the Rhetoric - Ainslie Meiklejohn-Griffiths - 16 November 2010

Preamble. 

The inspiration for this report emerged from a poorly researched news article released early this year, which 

featured information about youth and graffiti. The article was in the local newspaper which has the ability to 

reach numerous residents and influence opinions. The more concerning part with the article was the picture, 

which depicted four officials from the community, two were politicians and two were from a youth organization. The in-discrepancy with the photo was the incorrect labeling of art as graffiti. This shows how policy can be made and implemented without correct knowledge of the problem at hand. There are many different studies about young people and youth culture. It is now known graffiti is a part of a sub-culture and some galleries display graffiti style artworks. While not all young people engage in the graffiti sub-culture and not all people participating in graffiti styled artworks are young people, this small-scale mistake in the local paper was indicative of a larger issue. 

The Redland City is an area “just south-east of Brisbane, Queensland, it covers 537 square kilometres. 

There are large government, financial, commercial and retail centers at Cleveland and Capalaba, as well as 

extensive retail and services facilities at Victoria Point, Alexandra Hills, Birkdale and Redland Bay” (Redland 

SHire Council 2006). If the local paper is to believed, the focus of this area is on koalas, however this has 

proved to be problematic as the local residents, primarily the young people of the area are missing out on 

facilities and opportunities to create and negotiate pathways. The council produces numerous documents, 

which promotes the different facilities, which the council funds, however it is possible to prove these 

documents are about rhetoric and the young people are missing out in the process. 

Un-raveling the Rhetoric 

In Redlands 2030 Community Plan it outlines specific goals and aspirations of the council in regards to the 

direction of the facilities provided for the residents. One of the goals outlines states “accessible and afford- 

able community facilities, services, programs, activities and events, designed by, with and for children and 

young people, encourage them to feel included, display their culture and interact in a safe environment” 

(Redland City Council 2010). From this information it is possible to discern young people are not currently a 

priority as this is a goal for long-term future. If community initiatives were a priority, this goal would be based 

on updating existing facilities to meet future demands or about sustaining an already proven commitment. 

This information shows the lack of action the Redland City Council is engaged in and shows the need to im- 

prove levels of commitment. 

As stated previously, a commitment towards young people and social enterprise has been made on the be- 

half of council. However this move towards engaging young people in community initiatives can be seen as a 

reactionary measure as stated in a media release it states “Redland City Council is committed to building 

safe, strong and self-reliant communities, Cr Hobson said. The project [The Cage Youth Foundation] aims to 

reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour in the area by providing opportunities for our young people to 

positively contribute to community life” (Redland City Council 2009). This shows the current lack of activities 

for young people, despite the installation of the youth plaza. It reconfirms the ideas, a skate park while it pro- 

vides a recreation area does not solve deeper social problems. Moreover, further announcements is council 

documents claim the council is “Ensuring young people are part of on-going dialogue and decision‐making  

about how the community develops is recognised by initiatives such as  Redlands 2030 and the Austra- 

lia 2020  Summit” (Redland City Council 2009). However as explained by Lucas Walsh these types of initia- 

tives can often be views as tokenistic by the young people (Walsh, 2010). The use of space by young people 

in the area, which is labeled as antisocial in both the media and other community reports, only indicates the 

lack of engagement between council and young people. 

The Redlands Young Adults Project 2006 shows a dissatisfaction for facilities for young adults in the Red- 

lands area. The main factors of concern in the document which the young adults saw as needing improve- 

ment was transport, employment and an entertainment precinct (Redland City Shire, 2006). The Annual Re- 

port 2005-2006 reflected this information on page 27, however there was not commitment of funding other 

than the implementation of a skate park (Redland Shire Council 2006). As previously discussed, the aca- 

demic dialogue shows a skate park is a useful tool for entertaining a specific audience, it cannot be included 

as a central theme for a youth strategy. The dissatisfaction with employment levels as expressed in the Red- 

lands Young Adults Project 2006 shows a need for intervention or advocacy from government as Honouring 

Our Commitment shows the need to make a stable transition from study to work as young people who do not 

make this transition run the risk of not finding adequate employment or the further necessary skills to gain 

independence (Dusseldorp, 2002). This information proves, Redland City Council is aware of the issues. 

Recommendations 

Public transport was indicated as a serious issue for young people as they often are unable to provide their 

own transport. It is recommended public transport is more frequent in the area and more affordable. Any or- 

ganization dealing with young people should also be mindful when organizing events to ensure the times 

allow for public transport use. Alternatively, it could be appropriate for the provision of transport to be privat- 

ized and heavily subsidized for specific events. 

For young people to be able to take control of their own area as provided by the Safer Suburbs grant. Young 

people should be trained to create social events and activities which both themselves and their peers could 

engage in. This would be a perfect example of social enterprise and it would also deliver skills to young peo- 

ple which they could use in the labour market in an attempt to make the transition between education and 

work easier. 

It is not sufficient to provide a youth space which is only accessible on a weekly basis and entertainment 

provided should match the target audience needs. Inclusionary practices which involve appropriate levels of 

consultation with young people before spending funds on projects needs to be acted upon. Acting in a timely 

manner to feedback or criticisms and making the appropriate changed to ensure young peoples needs are 

meet if of high importance. 

The local media has published many articles about young people and antisocial behaviour, which influences 

public opinion. The appointment of an individual to advise staff at  the local paper or for staff to receive fur- 

ther professional development and learn the further ramifications of reporting about young people would be 

helpful in this situation. 

To engage in dialogue with business owners where young people frequent the vicinity regularly and produce 

appropriate strategies which suit the needs of all parties. If security officers are to be utilized, it is advised all 

officers are to receive professional development in dealing with young people. 

For council to engage in ongoing dialogue with young people, outside of the already utilized communication 

channels. It is clear from the behaviour of the young people current solutions are yet to be proven viable and 

further investigations as to what young people need should be embarked on. 

The Redland Water 'Rip Off'

The Great SEQ Water Debate has been reignited and, in my opinion, will continue to be a topic of public debate for years to come as the hikes in water rates take an upward spiral.

Unfortunately for Redland City, we were needlessly thrown into this bureaucratic bungle called 'Water Reform'. It was completely unnecessary as the Redlands had positioned itself over the last couple of decades to be self sustaining in supplying water to our community.

LET’S SHARE?

At the time of the reform, I was informed by a State Government Member of Parliament, trying to justify the SEQ Water Grid, that water should be shared and not limited to one municipality. Unfortunately, that MP had not been around in Redlands as long as myself and others to realise that Redlands was actually forced to become self sufficient when it suffered a water shortage and Brisbane City refused to “share” with Redland Shire by extending its water network. Incredible irony really!.

REPORT - 'ASSESSMENT OF DRIVERS OF RECENT WATER PRICE INCREASES IN SEQ'

This recent report commissioned by the Local Government Association of Qld (LGAQ) highlights the damage yet to be caused by the Water Reform decisions forced upon Redland City residents.

See the full report here

THE ARGUMENTS

1. WHO ASKED FOR WATER REFORM?

The arguments being fuelled never truly expose the fact that the South East Queensland Water (Restructuring) Act 2007 was the brain wave of the State Government; Redland Shire Council certainly never asked for it. I opposed the reform from its inception and argued strenuously on numerous occasions both in this and the past term of Council, that we (Council) were not fighting the issue hard enough on behalf of our community.

This is what the purpose of water reform is supposed to deliver: Another irony!

South East Queensland Water (Restructuring) Act 2007

s.3 - Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to facilitate a restructure of the water industry in south east Queensland to deliver significant benefits to the community, including—

(a) improved regional coordination and management of water supply; and

(b) more efficient delivery of water services; and

(c) enhanced customer service for water consumers; and

(d) a clearer accountability framework for water supply security.

Click on the link to the Act here

My frustrations drove me to collecting community sentiment through my own petition both electronically and in hard copy. Interestingly, a response to this petition was NEVER received by me or tabled in Parliament by the State Government.

The petition stated;

“The petition of electors of the Divisions of Capalaba, Redlands, Cleveland draws to the attention of the House - Redland Shire residents and ratepayers believe we are uniquely different to other local authorities and in current proposals by the Qld Water Commission and the Qld State Government this has not been adequately recognised. We should not be required to pay for water security we have already paid for. 

Your petitioners therefore request the House to consider that the proposed concessions of delayed connection to Redlands water supply does not fairly compensate Redlands community for their initial $27 million (in historic value terms) of water security already paid for at the expense of other services and infrastructure.”

See the electronic petition in full here

2. COUNCIL’S GOT WHAT THEY ASKED FOR!

The State Government stated that Councils have got what they asked for. The only factor the Council of Mayors asked for was three distribution/retail entities rather that the State's proposal of one distribution entity. This does not mean they asked for the water reform.

I never felt comfortable with this move and questioned the fact that this represented tripling the cost of administrative systems and bureaucracy.

Not surprisingly, the State Government did a back flip, gave the Council’s what they negotiated and an opportunity forever more to say “ They got what they wanted.”

3. REDLAND CITY HAS BEEN COMPENSATED?

There is an argument that Redland City Council was adequately compensated with $83million for its water assets. Considering that State Government clearly understood the cost of building brand new infrastructure such as desalination plants and pipe networks – it seems obvious that water infrastructure owned by Redland City in 2007, and costing $27million 40 years ago, would be worth considerably more than this in today's dollars. My estimate is that brand new infrastructure and land to duplicate these water assets (if built in 2007) would have cost in excess of $600million.

4. SHOW US YOUR PRICE PATH AND WE WILL SHOW YOU OURS

The latest rhetoric from the State Treasurer Andrew Fraser is that the Council owned retail entities should be transparent and show their price path for water through to 2017. The problem is that for any commercial entity to forecast their prices they need to have guaranteed cost of their product. So when the State “guarantees” their price path for water through to 2017, perhaps the Council owned retail entities can do the same.

Unfortunately, the State has legislated these entities to have Boards of Directors who ultimately make these decisions not Council. As the smallest stakeholder, Redlands participation agreement and equity in the retail entity Allconnex will deliver little weight to these decisions.

Another point NEVER mentioned is that legislation allows for the Qld Competition Authority to determine water prices after 2013, which seems to undermine Andrew Fraser's insistence that Council declare their water pricing to 2017.

5. COUNCILS ARE THE ONLY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT PROFITING FROM WATER

It is true that Council's profit from water. No surprise really – they always have to offset the rates. The fact remains that Redland City Council would have offset rates by an extra $10million this year if they still controlled water. So “profits” are down, council rates are up and water bills have increased even more.

IN SUMMARY

It is not rocket science, extra levels of bureaucracy are going to inflate the cost of water to our community. Previously, Council collected, treated and distributed water to our community through one entity - Redlands Water.

Due to the State Government's legislation on water reform, the community is now forced to fund five extra entities of bureaucracy - Qld Water Commission, WaterSecure, Linkwater, the Water Grid Manager and Allconnex.

Against the communities wishes demonstrated in the aforementioned petition, community equity has been diminished, water revenue has decreased (increasing the pressure on Council's General Rate) and decision making on the future of Redland's water has been unscrupulously stolen from the our community.

Redland City Council should not be sitting back and accepting this incredulous spin promulgated by the State Government and start to defend our community in relation to this additional increase on our cost of living.

Toondah Harbour Land Finally Acquired

In August,  I wrote on this blog about the importance of acquiring foreshore land in Redland City and specifically referred to land belonging to CSIRO at Toondah Harbour that it was proposing to sell. Click here for original blog.

Not long after posting this information, the Mayor organised a workshop to discuss the acquisition of this land that I referred to.  I am pleased to report that one parcel of this land has now been purchased by Council.

With this land in community ownership, it is now critical that Council, as the planning authority and a stakeholder, creates a balanced vision for this area that will encourage tourism, deliver a world class transport hub and allow greater foreshore access to the public.  The vision must be economically viable, sustainable and most importantly deliverable.  It will require good relationships with other stakeholders and in particular State Government and business.

We now look forward to quick and decisive actions to ensure the vision turns into reality.

Council Refuses To Publicly Review Koala Strategy Spending

At the previous Planning & Policy Committee Meeting, I publicly requested a review of all expenditure allocated to Council's Koala Strategy in the General Business section of the meeting agenda.

This formal request to review all expenditure was voted down by the majority of Councillors.

http://web01.redland.qld.gov.au/robo/Minutes_Agendas/July_Sept10/MinutesAndAgendasJuly-September_2010.htm

This was driven by significant concern from members of our community on recent spending including LED koala signs, questionable acquisition of land for environmental reasons, the cost of funding koala social media and the new “www.koala central.com.au” website which should be funded from multiple agencies across the nation, not just Redland City ratepayers. 

Most people, like me, want to see an effort made in protecting the koala. The debate should not be whether we save the koala and whose fault it is that the numbers are declining. Rather, the discussion should be how we can sustainably and realistically protect the koala. Roads, houses, dogs, and disease are not going to mysteriously disappear unless we are ALL happy to pack up, leave our cars and houses behind and move to Logan or the Gold Coast. Is the very promotion of the “urban koala” an oxymoron that will further add to its demise?  This is the type of question that we need to ask and debate.

The debate should not centre around saving the koala at the expense of all other community priorities. For instance, the recent $12000 Koala Hedonic Property Study tells us our properties are worth more if we have sighted a koala nearby. How does this protect the species? How does this rate higher than an Hedonic study for Redland properties that don't have access to reasonable infrastructure? Instead, we need a common sense and balanced approach on how we protect the koala in line with the other community priorities.

We should not be spending money just for the sake of spending money. It is time to assess the situation, look at all the options and stop the blame game that further divides our community and apply some common sense. We should not continue to allow the plight of the koala to further divide Council and the community.

Definition of "HEDONICS" - noun - the branch of psychology that deals with pleasurable and unpleasurable states of consciousness.

Who Is Really Running Council?

On Wednesday 22nd September Cr Helen Murray moved a motion in reference to the Cleveland CBD Master Plan:

PROPOSED MOTION

Moved by: Cr Murray
Seconded by: Cr Reimers

1. That Council resolves not to adopt the Cleveland Centre Master Plan and Implementation Plan 2010.

2. That Council resolves to engage the following persons or their representatives to give their considered opinion on the future viability of urban koalas in the Cleveland area as a result of Council adopting the plan as proposed:

Dr Frank Carrick UQ

Ms Diedre de Villiers UQ

Mrs Deborah Tabart AKF

Mrs Debbie Pointing KAG

Mr Simon Baltais WPS

3. That the future of the Cleveland Master Plan be based on the best outcome and viability of the urban koalas in the Redlands

Was Cr Murray's motion really intended to further defer the Cleveland CBD Masterplan? Was she trying to prove another point in putting this motion as she threatened Councillors never to wear a green T Shirt again if they supported it?

Interestingly, I am told that two of the local names put forward in her motion have no scientific qualifications to offer. They are clearly committed to the “Save The Koala” and the “Green” cause – that is no secret!  Was it a test for them or their councillor colleagues? Maybe Cr Murray was putting on trial their loyalties to the “koala” cause? Was she challenging their claim to power suckled by the success of placing the current Hobson/Elliott Council in office? CARP, Wildlife Preservation Society Bayside Branch, Qld Conservation Council, Koala Action Group – all of these groups both openly and discreetly supported Hobson and her green team of Councillors in the 2008 Council Elections.

 Page from Koala Action Group Website pre-election March 2008 

Cr Murray actually raised some very important questions and points that we should all consider. Who is really running Redland City Council? Are there faceless people driving the decisions (or lack thereof) of Council? Do they have more influence than other residents? If so, why?

Cleveland CBD Masterplan

At the September General Meeting, Cr Helen Murray moved a motion not to adopt the Cleveland CBD Masterplan and to engage what she termed as experts to investigate the effect of this plan on the urban koala.  There have been numerous opportunities for councillors to request the input of the “experts” over the previous two and half years and I argued that point strongly in the debate. This motion was supported by Cr Murray, Cr Reimers and Cr Toni Bowler.  

PROPOSED MOTION

Moved by: Cr Murray
Seconded by: Cr Reimers

1.  That Council resolves not to adopt the Cleveland Centre Master Plan & Implementation Plan 2010.

2. That Council resolves to engage the following persons or their representatives to give their considered opinion on the future viability of urban koalas in the Cleveland area as a result of Council adopting the plan as proposed:

Dr Frank Carrick UQ

Ms Diedre de Villiers UQ

Mrs Deborah Tabart AKF

Mrs Debbie Pointing KAG

Mr Simon Baltais WPS

3. That the future of the Cleveland Master Plan be based on the best outcome and viability of the urban koalas in the Redlands

This motion was lost and following further debate the masterplan was finally adopted.

MASTERPLAN AMENDMENTS

This plan was due to be adopted in early 2008 but was rejected by Melva and many of her “new team of councillors”. I did not support further delays to this process. However. it was sent back to the drawing board for further consultation, workshops and consideration at the request of a majority of Councillors.   Councillors asked for a number of issues to be addressed including the ability for koalas to transverse the CBD area. 

IMPACTS IN BUSINESS

The community and business people of Cleveland need certainty to move forward and survive. The Cleveland CBD in particular has visible signs of struggle and needs an injection of strong vision which only Council can provide with input from the community. In the debate, I encouraged people to have a walk around the Cleveland CBD and maybe count the number of For Lease/For Sale signs that now exist. It was argued back at me, clearly these businesses are also responsible for their own fate. However, in the cycle of business turnover, astute investors are not filling these vacancies. Why? The cost of doing business in Redlands is no longer attractive, perhaps the risks currently outweigh potential return and Commercial premises copped an 18% increase in rates this year with no further investment in Economic Development for the City. These are considerations that business owners weigh up in making decisions to relocate or to start up/expand.

The efficiency and timeliness of Council's decision making impacts all residents. In this instance, Melva and a majority of councillors did not like the outcome of community engagement in 2007. After further consultation the amended plan has now been delivered which some Councillors are still not happy with. Nearly four years to deliver a high level visionary document is simply not good enough. Council must understand that time means money for private enterprise and the cost of not doing so is often passed on to the general public.  

Green Waste and Illegal Dumping

Currently green waste collected at Redland City Council's Transfer Station is transferred to Rocky Point (near Beenleigh) to generate green electricity. Redland Council does not receive any revenue from this except the fee at the gate paid by residents.

In the most recent Budget adopted by “Melva and her new team of councillors”, dump fees were increased dramatically, and a trial Waste Reduction Incentive Scheme was implemented to offer something in return for these increases and to assist with reducing the community's waste. The budget for this trial is $918,940 this financial year.

This issue was raised in a committee meeting debate yesterday and it became blatantly clear to me that even some Councillor's did not understand how this Waste Reduction Incentive Scheme operates. There are currently two incentives :

1. 
   
   Downsizing a 240l bin to a 140l bin OR;
2. 
   
   Getting a $16 refund for two trips to the transfer station (both receipts must be attached before a refund is given).

The debate predominantly centred around Incentive No.2; with questioning about the requirement to wait until a resident has two receipts before they can be cashed in.

The reason offered by the General Manager was that it costs Council $32 every time this refund is processed! That's right, it costs ratepayers $32 every time this $16 refund is processed???

I argued that if green waste is such a benefit to the environment by taking pressure off the traditional coal powered electricity – the best incentive Council could offer is in fact not to charge at the gate at all. Makes good sense to me!

The debate continued with arguments about illegal dumping with insinuations that I was stirring up “local hysteria” because I did not support introducing or doubling the gate fees at our dumps. Figures of illegal dumping over this term of Council were presented. Unfortunately, the recording of incidents of illegal dumping only began at my request after the introduction of gate fees in December 08, and of course, Councillors who supported this extra gate fee are now saying that the incidents of illegal dumping have always been this high. I will let the public be the judge of this as I continue to receive numerous complaints about illegal dumping in our bushland areas, our parks, charity bins and on private property, including building sites. In fact, the only incidents of illegal dumping that are recorded by Council are those that occur on Council property. I can report for the month of July it cost $8181.63 for council officers to collect and dispose 61.47 tonnes of illegally dumped waste on Council property alone. See the below link:

http://web01.redland.qld.gov.au/robo/Minutes_Agendas/July_Sept10/MinutesAndAgendasJuly-September_2010.htm

I have requested figures to be presented to Council on the % increase of contamination of yellow recycle bins for the last five years, to measure if the introduction and subsequent doubling of dump fees has had any impact on this also.

We should be encouraged to contact Council on every occasion that you find illegal dumping to ensure that these future statistics can be used to influence better decisions in the future.


ADDITIONAL NOTE:
I have added the chart distributed to Councillors do provide clarity. This chart reflects ONLY the REPORTED incidents of illegal dumping to Council.
It seems that my concerns are misunderstood by some Councillors (see post below).  The illegal dumping of green waste is the least detrimental to the environment.  My references to illegal dumping include all types. Particularly, general waste and building materials and especially asbestos.  I hope this assists in seeing the WHOLE picture.

Beware of Social Media Impersonators

Last night, I was informed that there was a new Twitter Account, "Karenwcouncil", that had begun to tweet information about Redland City Council which could make others believe that it is me.  This illustrates some of the dangers of social media and I would like to caution any of my genuine "followers" or "friends" to always be careful and cautious of the potential risk of identity fraud on social media.  For anyone interested in following the Real ME on Twitter, my username is CrKarenWilliams.

This "fraudster" is already following a number of my "followers" and I recommend that you block their tweets unless they are willing to disclose their true identity.   I have already sought advice from the administrators of Twitter and the police in relation to any offences that may have been committed.

I assure you that whenever I write, post, or tweet, I have the integrity to ALWAYS use my real name, and include a photograph where possible. Why? - because I believe in transparency and I write what I believe is factual and worthy of an identity.

Clearly this impersonator is closely related to someone within Council and people should question why someone in this position would need to lower themselves to such a level in an attempt to discredit me or others who may use these networks.

This debate about the use of pseudonyms or nom de plume in social media has been recently debated on the Bayside Bulletin blog where, in some instances, defamatory remarks about me and others crossed the line of acceptable standards.  To the Bayside Bulletin's credit, those remarks were removed. See link @ Bayside Bulletin.

I will continue to use these networks to ensure that people have genuine access to my values and beliefs as a representative, and to information that will assist us to make better decisions for the future of Redland City.