BCC

[ozbob]

Details of the budget will be published on https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/about-council/council-information-rates/news-publications
when tabled.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Brisbane City Councillors reveal top priorities for 2017-18 Budget

A WEEK out from the Brisbane City Council Budget all 26 councillors have revealed which projects they want funded.

Quest Community News asked each councillor for the top five projects from their Budget submissions.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk told the council's Tuesday meeting it would be a budget that acknowledged the transportation needs of the city and build of its lifestyle opportunities.

"Of course it will build into that budget the funding associated with (Brisbane) Metro," he said.

Councillor Quirk did not rule out rates rising more than the rate of inflation.

Last week, Moreton Bay Regional Council delivered its highest rate rise in three years of 3.99 per cent.

Opposition leader Peter Cumming said residents were struggling with cost-of-living pressures and urged the council to keep the rates rise below the Brisbane inflation rate of 1.8 per cent.

He said the Budget would also be a test of how "fair dinkum" the council was on its Brisbane Metro plan.

What should the council's priority be in this budget?

Public transport
Building and upgrading parks
Fixing local roads and intersections
Major road projects, like Wynnum Rd and Kingsford Smith Drive
Keeping rates low
Brisbane Metro ...

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane City Council budget 2017-2018: Council to pour $43 million into the river

Brisbane River looks set to get a $43 makeover to help improve the city's river-based tourism and recreation industry.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has revealed his 2017-2018 budget, to be released on Wednesday, would include $18 million over four years to go towards building five on-water docking facilities along the city stretch of the river to improve access to entertainment precincts and facilities to boost day-trips to Moreton and Stradbroke Island.

The five mooring facilities will be set up at City Botanic Gardens, New Farm Park, West End and two locations at South Bank.

An additional five river-lifestyle hubs would also be established in the suburban stretches of the river, Cr Quirk said.
Cr Quirk said the mooring facilities would create better access for day trips out to South (pictured) and North ...

"Although international and domestic tourist numbers continue to climb for Brisbane, with more than 7 million tourists injecting $6.3 billion into Brisbane's tourism industry each year, the river-based tourism and recreation sector is undeveloped," Cr Quirk said.

"With a network of city mooring infrastructure, Brisbane visitors will be able to walk out of their hotel and straight onto a tour boat, taking a trip to some of our region's most spectacular tourism destinations."

Cr Quirk said the mooring facilities would give tourism operators the opportunity to provide express services straight to North Stradbroke and South Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island.

"To add to this, visitors and residents alike will be able to take advantage of hop-on, hop-off river tours, and on-demand private water taxi services, which are currently unviable in Brisbane due to a lack of short-term mooring locations, particularly in the city," he said.

Cr Quirk said private investors were likely to expand on the council's investment of public mooring facilities.

"Destination Brisbane (Queen's Wharf precinct) and Howard Smith Wharves have indicated intentions to add to council's river access network with public mooring facilities and we expect more to follow."

A further $24.8 million would be invested to upgrade existing riverwalk structures along the inner city sections of the river, including the previously announced public pontoon at West End.

Council has also commenced planning work for the expansion of the existing pontoon at South Bank near the Cultural Precinct into a public marina.

Cr Quirk said there was also scope to expand the network to include Teneriffe, Hawthorne, Kurilpa, Bretts Wharf, UQ, Mowbray Park, Newstead House and the Bulimba Barracks site.

"All river-based facilities are subject to the approval of Marine Safety Queensland and I will be seeking a cooperative outcome to achieve a strong result for our River City," he said.

Under the investment, Dutton Park would also be home to a new recreation river hub under the river network upgrade, which would provide an access point for kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding and other non-powered watercraft.

Fishing facilities, pontoons and upgrades to boat ramp reserves were also set to get a makeover under the investment.

Access to rowing, kayaking, canoeing, short-term tie-up of tinnies and other private vessels will expand with council completing works at the Jindalee boat ramp and pontoon, design work for a new pontoon at Colmslie Beach Reserve and upgrades to Barungwarra Reserve facilities in Bald Hills," Cr Quirk said.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> $1 billion spend to ease Brisbane's traffic congestion

Brisbane's road network will receive a $1 billion over the next financial year in a bid to prevent motorists grinding to a halt.

On Tuesday Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said one-third of Brisbane City Council's $3 billion 2017-18 budget due to be delivered on Wednesday would go towards road projects to tackle congestion.

"If we don't keep the infrastructure build-up what happens is you get more and more delays out on the road network and there is a cost associated with that," Cr Quirk said.

"There is the direct business cost that could grow to $4 billion to $6 billion ... and then there's the lifestyle cost for Brisbane people.

"Over the coming year, some major milestones will be achieved in council's package of road projects tackling congestion."

The $1 billion 2017-18 spend will be put towards 39 major road projects, 250 minor projects and the resurfacing of 650 streets.
Advertisement

Major projects and 2017-18 funding:

    Kingsford Smith Drive - $223 million
    Telegraph Road (stage 1a, 1b and 2) - $81 million
    Wynnum Road (stage 1 and 1b) - $30 million
    Inner City Bypass - $10 million

The minor projects will include works such as right-hand turn pockets and line markings.

"If there is one thing that people tell me out around the streets of Brisbane, they want us to keep up with the infrastructure build," Cr Quirk said.

He said the resurfacing of 650 streets was a record.

"I cannot recall a time in my time in council where we've resealed so many roads," he said.

"This is a major commitment to road resealing."

Major roads to be resurfaced in 2017-2018:

    Algester Road, Algester
    Beams Road, Carseldine
    Boundary Road, Camp Hill
    Creek Road, Murarrie
    Hamilton Road, Wavell Heights
    Honour Avenue, Graceville
    Inala Avenue, Forest Lake
    Johnson Road, Parkinson
    Manly Road, Manly
    Miskin Street, Toowong
    Newmarket Road, Enoggera
    Old Cleveland Road, Carindale and Coorparoo
    Wellington Road, Woolloongabba

Cr Quirk said the $1 billion did not include works for Brisbane Metro but he would not reveal any further detail on the project.

[Cazza]

As good old Taylor Swift once said:

"Band-aids don't fix bullet holes..."

This is exactly what 'upgrading' roads does. It just reduces the inevitable by a only couple of years before they have to be 'upgraded' again. Why 1/3 of the budget on just roads? Why not PT? Roads will not fix anything, it will only encourage travel by car which will congest and clog the roads up again.

Where are the bus lanes at? Off the top of my head, I can only think of 5 bus lanes/bus jump zones around the city (not including the city or busways)- Coopers Camp Rd @ Jubilee Tce, Mains Rd @ Kessels Rd, Mains Rd @ Pacific Mwy, Mt Cootha Rd @ Dean St and Logan Rd @ Wellington Rd. Let me tell you, none of these last for more than 100m! Why are bus lanes not included in the Wynumn Rd or Kingsford Smith Dr upgrades? In Sydney, there are bus lanes everywhere.

Upgrading roads will do jack-sh%t unless PT is a major part.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Wish lists written ahead of 'Christmas' on Wednesday

Wednesday is predicted to be a little bit like Christmas for Brisbane but, like Christmas, you might not always get what you wished for.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is preparing to hand down his seventh Brisbane City Council budget on Wednesday.

"It [budget] always reminds me a bit like Christmas – people wait with high level of anticipation to see what's in the budget," Cr Quirk said.

At council chambers last Tuesday, opposition leader Peter Cumming asked Cr Quirk if residents would be hit with a rate rise above the 12 month to March 31 inflation rate of 1.8 per cent.

"Well Cr Cumming, we will all be waiting and watching," Cr Quirk said.

"It will be a budget that meets the financial needs of the city, a budget that also meets the needs of this city in terms of the facilities that we have and the responsibilities that we have across the city.

"So I'm not going to comment beyond that on what's in the budget, what's not in the budget."

When Fairfax Media asked Cr Cumming what he wished for in the 2017-2018 budget a fair rate rise was at the top of his list.

"With household budgets getting tighter every day, any rate rise must stay below wage growth, which the ABS puts at less than 2 per cent and the inflation rate which is 1.8  per cent," he said.

"Anything more will just make it even harder for Brisbane residents to put food on the table and pay their bills."

Other projects opposition hope to see in the 2017-2018 council budget are:

    Improved maintenance of sporting fields across the city
    Increased recycling by small business and amateur sporting clubs
    Increased reconstruction of suburban streets

Ahead of the June 14 budget all elected councillors could submit budget requests.

Cr Cumming said he believed the administration mainly or totally ignored the requests from non-administration councillors.

Council's first and only Greens councillor Jonathan Sri had a different agenda saying he wanted council to shift away from major road projects and invest more heavily in pedestrian safety, transport and bike lane improvements.

"We would like to see a new category of rates to specifically target investment properties that are left empty long-term without good reason," Cr Sri said.

He also called for the Brisbane Marketing budget to be slashed, infrastructure charges to be collected in full and an increase in spending to improve stormwater drainage.

Independent councillor Nicole Johnston prioritised her ward, Tennyson, and said she hoped the budget would bring pedestrian safety upgrades around active travel schools in Graceville, Corinda and Yeronga, new public toilets in parks in Graceville and drainage upgrades in Yeronga and Fairfield.

It was not just councillors thinking about their budget wish list, with many of Brisbane's peak bodies too thinking what they would like Cr Quirk to deliver.
Bicycle Queensland

Bicycle Queensland chief executive Ben Wilson called for the budget to deliver a realistic figure to be spent on cycling.

"Council have committed already to $100 million over their four-year term – but there are some major issues needing addressing that may well require additional expenditure," Mr Wilson said.

Bicycle Queensland's top three projects to be included in the 2017-2018 budget are:

    Woolloongabba separated bikeway – Stanley Street and Annerley Road connections that have been promised – to deliver a separated bikeway on Stanley Street and bike lanes on Annerley Road from Stanley Street to the Eleanor Schonell Bridge and University of Queensland.
    Fixing the Lower Dock Street bikeway connection through to the Goodwill Bridge
    Address a CBD bikeway to get some safe space for cycling into the city from the existing bikeways that successfully deliver riders to the city edges only

"Some road projects in Brisbane recently have squeezed the living-life out of our existing roads to maximise space for motoring but have made walking and cycling less safe," Mr Wilson said

"Brisbane is a beautiful city but we risk crowding our streets with cars at intersections and retail areas where council is adding lanes to increase capacity; can't have our cake and eat it too."

Property Council

A Property Council Queensland spokesman told Fairfax Media last year's budget saw a significant rates increase for CBD owners through an increase to the environment levy.

Property Council's 2017-2018 wish list for the budget includes:

    Brisbane Metro
    Kingsford Smith Drive
    Place making initiatives in the CBD and urban renewal areas


Q Shelters 

A Q Shelter spokesman commended the council on its ongoing efforts in supporting community housing and homelessness services across Brisbane.

"Although we acknowledge there is a need for this particular budget to deliver significant transport and infrastructure outcomes for Brisbane residents, we encourage the Brisbane City Council to ensure a continued and expanded focus on supporting the housing and homelessness sector," the spokesman said.

Q Shelter called for funding and continued support in the following areas:

    Partial rates remissions for not-for-profits providing emergency or community housing
    $1 million of funding toward healthcare for those experiencing homelessness
    Housing Support Program that provides grants to not-for-profits
    Support for Homeless Connect
    Brisbane City Council Community Development Team, who Q Shelter works closely with on local outreach projects and sector collaboration

"We believe that Brisbane City Council's focus on supporting secure and affordable housing for all Brisbane residents underpins their own vision of a safe, friendly, smart and prosperous city," the spokesman said.

​RACQ spokesman Paul Turner said they wanted to see adequate funding for road and transport upgrades.

"We want to future proof Brisbane and a key way to achieve this is for council to deliver on its commitment to work closely with the Queensland government to integrate the Brisbane Metro with Cross River Rail," Mr Turner said.

"We want upgrades to several level rail crossings including overpasses at Boundary Road at Coopers Plains, Cavendish Road at Coorparoo and South Pine Road at Alderley which currently result in serious traffic delays and pose safety risks. The state government would need to share funding for these upgrades 50/50.

"Several road upgrades are also needed to reduce congestion, including an upgrade of Old Cleveland Road, west of the Gateway Motorway and the Enoggera Road to Kelvin Grove Road corridor, as well as funding to fix bottlenecks along Stanley and Vulture Streets, Woolloongabba.

"A continued commitment to the Wynnum Road upgrade is a must."

Mr Turner said the RACQ congratulated the council on freezing parking fees at metres and its two off site parking stations.

"It is important for these costs to be frozen for at least another year," he said.

Rail Back on Track

Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the group wanted to see more funding for public and active transport.

"Cut back on advertising expenditure and 'political' self promotion, and grandiose schemes such as fountains in the river. No more road tunnels,' Mr Dow said.

He said Rail Back on Track's wish list for the 2017-2018 council budget included:

    Brisbane Metro
    More funding for more bus lanes and bus priority
    Some funding for the removal of open level crossings, while believing this project should be jointly funded by the state government and the council.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Brisbane City Council Budget: Ratepayers to be hit with 2.4 per cent hike

BRISBANE ratepayers will cop a 2.4 per cent increase when Lord Mayor Graham Quirk reveals his transport-focused $3 billion Budget today.

The rise, which adds $37 a year to the average bill, is less than half the increase ratepayers were hit with last year.

Cr Quirk yesterday revealed one-third of the Budget would target congestion by upgrading roads.

For the second year in a row, the council has pushed the Brisbane Metro transit scheme as a main reason for the rates increase.

The Budget will contain a record $655 million for public and active transport funding.

That will include $50 million next year for early stages of planning Brisbane Metro, including design, impact management, site investigations and the start of procurement.

The council has committed to funding two-thirds of the $944 million Metro, with the rest coming from the state and federal governments.

Cr Quirk said the Budget would deliver value for money.

"This is a modest Budget which I believe not only ticks all the boxes when it comes to retaining our strong credit rating but it also allocates enough funds to deliver on our promise to be the majority funder of the Brisbane Metro," he said.

"With the continued investment in much-needed ­infrastructure, my team have worked hard to keep this increase as low as possible while providing sound economic management."

The average 2.4 per cent rates increase for owner-occupied residential properties equates to $9.41 a quarter or 72 a week. Average rates for commercial properties and council fees and charges will also rise by 2.4 per cent.

The $1 billion in road funding will go towards 39 major road projects, 250 minor projects and resurfacing 650 streets.

The highest singular dedication of today's Budget is for the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade, with $223 million set aside for the $650 million project.

Cr Quirk said pensioners would be looked after through remissions, including the $300 water remission.

"The budget retains our most generous pensioner remission scheme in Australia with a council-funded 40 per cent remission on the rates bill for full pensioners, increasing from a maximum of $967 to $990," Cr Quirk said.

"Part pensioners will receive a 20 per cent remission on the rates bill that rises from a maximum of $451 to $462 in 2017/18."

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Quirk's 'lifestyle' budget has roads, transport at heart

Dubbed the "lifestyle" budget, Brisbane City Council's $3 billion plan for 2017-18 is dominated by road projects, a new transport system for the city and the beginnings of an upgrade to the Mt Coot-tha precinct.

Billion dollar roads budget

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will deliver an "infrastructure budget" on Wednesday, spending a billion dollars on hundreds of Brisbane roads including the Inner City Bypass and Kingsford Smith Drive. 7 News Queensland

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk handed down his seventh budget on Wednesday morning, which hit Brisbane ratepayers with a 2.4 per cent average rates increase – equalling about $37 a year.

The minimum rates for owner-occupiers and non-owner occupiers will also increase.

For owner-occupier residential, the minimum rates will increase from $635.88 to $685.88, while non-owner occupiers will be hit with a $75 increase to $894.24.

Cr Quirk said it was "nice to build new things" in Brisbane, but it would come at a cost.

"I make no apologies for making sure that our city keeps pace in regards to infrastructure delivery, public transport delivery, taking action on traffic congestion and maintaining a superior lifestyle to anywhere else in Australia," he said.

​The cost of two major projects – the $650 million Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade and the $944 million Brisbane Metro – can be linked to a slight increase in the net debt per capita, which increased from 7.2 per cent in 2016-17 to 8.2 per cent 2017-18.

inance chairwoman Krista Adams said future borrowings were looking better than they were a year ago thanks to changes to the Brisbane Metro.

"Over the next decade we will see that reduction, predominantly reduced by the $425 million we reduced the metro by," she said.

The 2017-18 budget showed the borrowing figure at $49.6 million for the next financial year and forward estimates indicated borrowings would jump to $478 million in 2018-19 before the construction of the Brisbane Metro started.

Borrowings were then predicted to drop to $14 million in 2019-20.

Along with funding for the Brisbane Metro, the budget revealed ongoing financial commitment to several election promises as well as several new initiatives.

The new initiatives include:

    Council's bus safety review - $2.7 million
    Brisbane River, bays and waterways activations - $7.9 million
    Linking Toowong cemetery and Mt Coot-tha gardens - $1.1 million
    Internal "love food hate waste" movement - $1 million
    Celebrate Expo 88's 30th anniversary - $555,000
    Musgrave Pool refurbishment - $5.8 million
    Commence design and construction of a new CityCat - $4 million
    Support the Wynnum Beach volleyball activation project - $112,000
    Commence construction of the green camp road corridor - $27.2 million

The plans to reinvigorate Mt Coot-tha as a major tourist destination in Brisbane received the first of the $11.5 million to be spent over four years.

The much-promised zipline on Mt Coot-tha was getting closer, with $710,000 allocated in this year's budget.

Next year's budget showed a further $935,000, while the $170,000 was shown for 2019-20 to finish off the project.

Cr Quirk said the expressions of interest for the zipline were now being considered in detail.

"I have allocated $710,000 to get this process started with the aim of having people zipping down the mountain in 2019," he said.

This year's budget shows the Mt Coot-tha upgrade project receiving $1 million for improvements to the Simpson Park walkways and $2 million for the walks at the JC Slaughter Falls regions.

In the lead-up to the budget, Cr Quirk announced a $43 million commitment over four years for five on-water docking facilities designed to improve Brisbane's river-based tourism and recreation industry.

The five mooring facilities will be set up at City Botanic Gardens, New Farm Park, West End and two locations at South Bank.

These facilities will improve access for day trips to Moreton and Stradbroke Island.

Brisbane's road network will receive $1 billion, one third of the budget, over the next financial year to complete major projects such as Kingsford Smith Drive ($223 million), Telegraph Road ($81 million), Wynnum Road ($30 million), Inner City Bypass ($10 million) as well as 250 minor projects and the resurfacing of 650 streets.

Other key roadworks projects include:

    Finishing Bracken Ridge's Telegraph Road project - $81 million
    Heathwood's Stapylton Road and Johnson Road intersection - $10.3m
    Mt Gravatt's Play Street Connection - $8.7 million
    Wakerley's Green Camp Road - $8.6 million
    McDowall's Beckett Road and Hamilton Road - $3.6 million
    Ashgrove's Waterworks Road $1.9 million.

On Tuesday council Opposition Leader Peter Cumming said there was nothing new about the road projects. 

"Street resurfacing is no big deal. It is core council activity," Cr Cumming said.

Other budget highlights include:

    $69 million for libraries
    $28.3 million for bikeways
    $17.6 million for aquatic centres
    $249,000 to expand suburban free Wi-Fi

In addition to new projects in the city, $6.3 million has been allocated to attracting tourism and major events.

Cr Quirk said Brisbane was becoming a destination of choice for major events.

"I have ensured that in the 2017-2018 budget I have increased the leisure, tourism, conventions and major events allocation to $6.3 million," he said.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/JoelDry9/status/874796500961771520

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/874802202287656960

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/875108963146022912

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/875110531748683777

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1111278194512949248

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Team_Quirk/status/1112216722570772480

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Team_Quirk/status/1112220640025575424

[techblitz]

green bridges and green spaces aint gonna fix the western bus network/coro drive situation....he needs to focus on that first and foremost..

[Cazza]

Well, I mean, if sh%t hits the fan on Coro Dr, they can just jump across the bridge to/from Montague Rd in West End to save buses taking upwards of 90 mins from Toowong to the Go Between. I'm all for these bridges, expect I'm curious about the Breakfast Creek one. Where will it be and what function will it serve? Wouldn't they be better off with one between Teneriffe and Bulimba?

Also not sure about the West End-St Lucia one. I feel a cross river ferry here would be more bang for your buck (or West End-UQ instead), especially if one is going to be built a few kms downstream.

But yes, the network in the west needs a huge overhaul (including more bus priority measures!!)

[SurfRail]

I assume that the Bellbowrie one is in the wrong spot.

[timh]

I assume that the Bellbowrie one is in the wrong spot.

I wondered that myself. Seems strange to build a bridge straight to a prison...

[verbatim9]

The Bellbowrie one should go from Birkin Road to Sumner's Road. Makes more sense as a bus, cycle and pedestrian corridor. They then could extend Riverhills services to Bellbowrie or vice versa. They could also have feeder buses to Darra station from Bellbowrie and surrounding areas.

[verbatim9]

^^I see why the council route and landing points for the Bellbowrie Wacol  bridge has been chosen is that the flood risk is high from Birken Road to Sumners Road. Therefore the route even though could be better for commuters and bus routes, can't be used as an emergency access route in case of flood.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Five green bridges for Brisbane at $550 million price tag

Brisbane's incoming lord mayor Adrian Schrinner has promised five new green bridges across the city to reduce congestion, at a price tag of more than $550 million.

Cr Schrinner made the announcement minutes after being voted in as the city's new lord mayor by his peers in the LNP party room on Sunday, following lord mayor Graham Quirk's announced retirement this week.

Speaking of a new forward-thinking agenda for the council, Cr Schrinner said he was committing to the new bridges regardless of the upcoming election in March 2020, and wanted to see them constructed within five to 10 years.

"Today as part of that agenda, I am announcing that we will as a council be embarking on a project to build five new green bridges on the Brisbane River," he said.

"These bridges will help make Brisbane a more clean, green and active city.

"They will provide more opportunity to get across the river, they will take traffic of the road, and they will provide more time for people to spend with family and friends."

Labor candidate for mayor Rod Harding questioned how the council could manage the project, criticising delays and cost blowouts to the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade and council's concerns about delays to Brisbane Metro.

A pedestrian and cycle bridge at Kangaroo Point to the CBD already has a business case underway.

Two West End bridges, one from Toowong to West End and the other from St Lucia to West End, will be for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.

A pedestrian and cycle bridge connecting Kingsford Smith Drive Riverwalk into the existing riverwalk network will be constructed at Breakfast Creek.

And a final bridge at Belbowrie to Wacol is tapped as a potential pedestrian, cycling and public transport bridge with emergency access to alleviate flood risk in the area.

Cr Schrinner said the bridges would connect sections of the city that had no links and create a more active, greener city.

"One of the great weaknesses of Brisbane in the past has been a lack of bridges, everything funnels to the few bridges that we have," he said.

"Our city needs more bridges going forward to help make it easier to get around."

Overall the five bridges will cost at least $550 million, with the council contributing at least two-thirds of the cost and seeking additional funding from the state and federal governments.

The council will invest funding into the five new bridges in the upcoming June budget.

Peak motoring body the RACQ welcomed the announcement, with spokesman Paul Turner saying it was much needed, but urged the council to include vehicle onto the West End to Toowong bridge.

"We know that western corridor has some of the slowest traffic times in Brisbane and we'd call on Council to help alleviate that pressure," he said.

"West End faces the prospect of becoming a car park with the closure of Victoria Bridge to drivers and the lack of vehicular access across the river to the west."

Victoria Bridge, linking the CBD to South Bank, will close to vehicles in the near future as Brisbane Metro goes ahead.

The Kurilpa and the Goodwill green bridges link the city to South Brisbane, while the Eleanor Schonell bridge connects Dutton Park and the University of Queensland.

A third pedestrian and cycling bridge between the city and south Brisbane will be constructed by Star as part of the Queens' Wharf development.

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) welcomed the announcement of the new bridges, saying it was pleasing to see the LNP taking on Green policies.

"I warmly welcome this announcement, I feel like they've directly copied our policy proposals from previous Green election campaigns, which is exactly what we wanted them to do," he said.

"I think these sorts of projects have a double benefit ... not only do they improve connectivity, they improve traffic congestion.

"Even people who only drive around get an indirect benefit."

Cr Sri said it was good to see money committed to the June budget but wanted to see greater commitment to a shorter timeframe than the five to 10 years Cr Schrinner indicated.

He expressed some scepticism that the timeline could see the five bridges falling by the wayside in favour of other projects, saying there was no point in waiting.

[SurfRail]

They seem to have gone cold on the idea of a Teneriffe to Bulimba bridge.

Route 60 would be a good operation if they upgraded it to run with artics, extended it to Toowong in the west and Bulimba in the east.  It means you could also get rid of the cross-river Bulimba ferry and potentially eliminate one of the Citycat stops as a time-saving.  Needs a lot more serious bus priority though, both on-road and at intersections - and regardless of the route being otherwise extended beyond its current limits.

[James]

They seem to have gone cold on the idea of a Teneriffe to Bulimba bridge.

Route 60 would be a good operation if they upgraded it to run with artics, extended it to Toowong in the west and Bulimba in the east.  It means you could also get rid of the cross-river Bulimba ferry and potentially eliminate one of the Citycat stops as a time-saving.  Needs a lot more serious bus priority though, both on-road and at intersections - and regardless of the route being otherwise extended beyond its current limits.

Perhaps it is the Cr Shayne Sutton Kara Cook effect in action

I would be curious to see where a Toowong - West End and West End - St Lucia bridges eventually land. The old ABC site would have to be a shoe-in given the lack of spare land around Toowong.

[ozbob]

https://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/adrian-schrinner-announces-civic-cabinet-with-equal-split-of-men-and-women/news-story/998b6d253e51b3b0f3b0517c895a457d

LORD MAYOR ADRIAN SCHRINNER'S CIVIC CABINET

FULL LIST

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner

Deputy Mayor and Finance and Economic Development Chair Krista Adams

City Planning Chair Matthew Bourke

Infrastructure Chair Amanda Cooper

Environment, Parks & Sustainability Chair Fiona Hammond (nee King)

Field Services Chair Vicki Howard

Lifestyle & Community Services Chair Peter Matic

Public & Active Transport Chair Ryan Murphy

[ozbob]

Courier Mail Quest --> Brisbane City Council to prioritise public transport over building roads

CITY HALL'S youngest representative has just been handed the council's biggest, billion dollar project and declared the new regime would prioritise public transport over roads.

Incoming Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has bequeathed his former portfolio, Public and Active Transport, to 30-year-old councillor Ryan Murphy.

The newly minted civic cabinet member, who is responsible for delivering Brisbane Metro and Cr Schrinner's five green bridges, has promised "a real pivot" in tackling congestion.

"If we've been known for anything in the last decade it's been for delivering road infrastructure but we've seen across the world that it's impossible to outbuild congestion," he said.

"This new generation of leadership in City Hall sees that we must move our building program towards public and active transport infrastructure.

"We must end the war between cyclists and motorists. Cyclists and pedestrians are the motorists' best friends.

"The best thing we can do for traffic congestion is not to build more roads, it's to get more cars off our existing roads, and building Brisbane Metro and our five new green bridges will do just that and I can't wait to get started on them."

Cr Murphy holds Doboy on a 3.5 per cent margin — one of the slimmest in Brisbane City Council — but said he was ready to a challenge at next year's election.

"I've been in tough fights before," he said.

"It's always difficult balancing responsibilities as a ward councillor and now coming into civic cabinet that will now take additional time I would have spent out in the ward.

"It just means I'll need to redouble my efforts."

Cr Murphy was elected in 2012, defeating ALP Cr John Campbell.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Adrian Schrinner officially sworn in as Brisbane's 17th Lord Mayor

ADRIAN Schrinner has officially been sworn in as Brisbane's 17th Lord Mayor at a special meeting of Council.

The new Lord Mayor kicked off day one in the job by announcing he would be splashing millions of dollars on creating new green space across the city.

His elevation to the top job followed Graham Quirk's shock decision to bow out of politics after eight years as Lord Mayor and more than three decades in local government.

At a packed meeting at City Hall, the council voted Cr Schrinner into the job despite opposition from Labor councillors.

Holland Park Ward councillor Krista Adams was also voted in as Deputy Mayor.

Among those in attendance were former Lord Mayors Campbell Newman and Sallyanne Atkinson, as well as Cr Schrinner's predecessor Cr Quirk.

Cr Schrinner's family, including wife Nina and his four young children, also watched on.

In his inaugural address, the new Lord Mayor said his focus would be about ensuring the Brisbane of tomorrow is better than the Brisbane of today.

He promised his administration would both build and protect.

"It's a city whose best years are yet to come," he said.

"The true strength of our team has been our passion and love for our city and its suburbs."

Cr Schrinner said working for his parents' small cleaning business shaped who he was today.

He thanked his colleagues for their trust and support, and also paid tribute to his "amazing" wife.

"She has been my lighthouse and safe harbour," he said.

Labor councillors used the meeting to criticise the new Lord Mayor, labelling him a career politician.

Council Opposition Leader Peter Cumming claimed Cr Schrinner and his new deputy had been involved in financial scandals that had cost the city millions of dollars.

"In what other workplace on Earth would people with this scandalous record of extravagant failure be promoted, instead of sacked," he said.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/cityhall_bne/status/1115085673621409792

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/brisbanetimes/status/1142160260494516227


Countdown > https://infogram.com/brisbane-city-council-election-1hzj4oq8gyg72pw