Deputy Mayor Devalues Local Community Events

Last Friday, Councillors received a copy of a media release about Council's Corporate Sponsorship program. It read, “Several annual iconic Redland events continue to benefit from Council sponsorship in 2010, including RedFest, which received $20,000 and $13,000 for the Redlands Easter Family Festival”.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Murray Elliott responded by highlighting a word in the media release that he found “offensive” and demanded it be removed! He wrote, “ The RedFest festival is not iconic and I find the tag offensive and poorly used on an event of this level. It needs to be removed.”

To be fair and upfront, let me declare my involvement in these festivals as a volunteer in some capacity for the past decade. During that time, Cr Elliott has NEVER accepted an invitation to attend RedFest (formerly Redland Strawberry Festival and Redland Spring Festival) or to volunteer his time.

RedFest has morphed out of the Redland Strawberry Festival and has occurred on the same weekend each year at the Cleveland Showgrounds for the last 52 years. If nothing else, its significance lies in its survival over time, unlike most other events in our City.

It began in Capalaba in 1933 by selling off a glut of strawberries to raise money for a community hall. Over time, it changed its format to meet the changing cultural needs of our community to survive. It has a cultural significance to this region whether it be a reflection of our agricultural history or a demonstration of our sense of community that comes together to make this happen each year. In the last 5 years, numerous community groups have had endless opportunities to be involved in a number of ways, including fundraising. In excess of $40 000 has been raised for their individual cause for groups such as Scouts, Lions, Rotary, Matthew Stanley Foundation, sporting clubs, Girl Guides, Redlands Arts Council, Folk Redlands and P & C groups.

Maybe the word "iconic" is an overused hyperbole? Or is it the word "offensive" that is hyperbolic in Cr Elliott's response? Maybe RedFest and the Easter Festival are not the "Running of the Bulls" in Spain or the "Carnivale" of Brazil?  No-one is pretending they are internationally or nationally significant but locally they have relevance.

I challenge Cr Elliott to tell us what event or other feature in the Redlands is iconic and if he cannot name any - what is he and Council doing to ensure that we have something of cultural significance to put us on the map as a community.

I expect community leaders to endorse and promote any contribution from their volunteer community. Build them up - not cut them down with uninformed judgements. Build pride instead of snubbing the hard work and good intentions of those in our community.

I believe Redlands deserves much, much more! We need to encourage our Council to create partnerships and if that means getting out there and volunteering one's time to such community events - iconic or not - it would be time better spent than arguing the descriptive value of one word in a media release.

Is this the level of support that you expect from your Councillors as a community?

Council Wasting Money On Conservation Land

People are starting to question this Council's spending! Budgets are tight everywhere! We hear it constantly! Mayor Melva in her ratepayer funded full page advertisement today (Bayside Bulletin 6/7/10) told us that “we've significantly tightened our belt as an organisation” in the 2010/11 Redland City Council Budget.

From where I stand, it is difficult to see the buckle mark move in the right direction for this City. Where are these savings reflected in our total rate bills and Council's fees and charges? We are about to suffer an increase in collection of rates and levies for 2010/11 by just under 14%. Time to ask some serious questions!

• Environment Levy: Melva and her “new team of Councillors” have continued to increase the Environment Levy from $72.80 in 2007/08 to $109.80 in 2010/11 (a 51% increase). This money is spent in a number of areas – the purchase of land, the maintenance of acquired land and towards environmental policies and strategies such as the Koala Strategy. For now, I would like to focus on the capital spending, in particular, why this Council continues to buy land to “protect” it when it is already protected by the Planning Scheme?

• Buying Conservation Land: Melva and her “new team of Councillors” continue to pay top dollar for the purchase of this land under the guise of increasing the environmental credentials of our City and to protect it from development and growth. The truth is, much of this land is already protected by the Conservation Zone, but Council continues to pay millions of $$ to potentially save only a few trees. No one argues that we need to invest in protecting our environment but when business and families are struggling to make ends meet, Council needs to consider the ratepayers ability to continue absorbing these increases. We should expect a more balanced approach to the expenditure of our rates. Delivering value for money in uncertain times is far more critical than Council increasing its land portfolio and creating a huge maintenance bill for our children to fund. This is not effective spending!

• Private Ownership: Does Melva and her “new team of Councillors” believe that we are all environmental vandals that cannot be trusted to maintain our conservation zoned blocks? Is it not more effective to assist our conservation land owners to maintain their own land? Are they trying to appease developers by purchasing their land and offering them huge profits to avoid having 4 house blocks on 800+ hectares? Or is it to avoid further record legal costs and embarrassment in the Planning and Environment Court when trying to take away a land owners rights and entitlements to such land?

• Back To Basics: When budgets are tight, most concentrate on maintaining what they already own rather than spending more money increasing their assets. In my opinion, this is not reflected in Council's approach to spending public funds on purchasing land.

I encourage all residents and ratepayers to read the Minutes of the Special Council Meeting of 25^th June 2010 to understand which Councillors are failing to make decisions in the broader interest of the Redlands community and future generations.

http://web01.redland.qld.gov.au/robo/Minutes_Agendas/April_June10/MinutesAndAgendasApril-June2010.htm