Due to holiday absences, sickness and work commitments of volunteers, MBI has not posted any new material for some time, so the opportunity is being taken here to give an update on issues MBI is writing about and/or following.
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Are Bribie ratepayers getting value for their money?………. In MBI’s last article, MBI put out the call for examples of work undertaken by Council. Those submitting examples were asked to indicate if they believed Bribie ratepayers had received value for their money. MBI received over 20 suggestions and these have been culled to five that are being investigated further. Depending on the time available to those volunteers working on these stories, they should be available to be posted in the next week or so. It is disappointing to note that none of the 20+ examples that were submitted are examples where readers felt Bribie ratepayers were obtaining value for money. If any reader has an example where the reader feels Bribie ratepayers have received value for money, then MBI would like to hear from you.
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Toorbul Marine…….. Council’s harassment of the owners of Toorbul Marine seems to be continuing despite the decision of the Appeal Court to throw out decision of the Planning and Environment Court and despite the most scathing comments by the Appeal Court on the behaviour of Council in this matter. In a letter dated January 5, 2014 regarding MBRC’s ongoing surveillance, the owners comment …. “we live in continual fear of the abuse”.
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In its latest letter to Toorbul Marine’s lawyers (click here for a copy) MBRC Legal comments that evidence given in the Planning and Environment Court…. “remain(s) unchallenged”. Obviously someone has forgotten to tell MBRC Legal that the decision of the Planning and Environment Court was thrown out along with the evidence that the decision was based on. MBRC has chosen not to appeal the decision of the Appeal Court, so the Appeal Court’s decision is now binding on all parties. No further appeals are possible. In the meantime, MBI has been given access to the contents of a recording of a telephone conversation between a Bribie resident and someone who it is claimed is a senior Council official. In the recording, one of the owners of Toorbul Marine is described in extremely offensive terms. If that recording is authentic, it does raise the question as to why Council has targeted Toorbul Marine. Was it really over environmental matters? Or was it over something else?
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The letter from MBRC Legal goes on to say that MBRC bears no financial responsibility for the outcomes of the actions of MBRC that the Court of Appeal has now ruled illegal. This has to be most disturbing for any business operating in MBRC. Essentially MBRC is saying in this letter to Toorbul Marine that it can illegally shut down a business for years and deny those business owners the right to continue business, but it has no financial responsibility for any damages that might result from that illegal shutdown. MBI assumes that groups like Chambers of Commerce in MBRC will be concerned about this and will seek clarification and consider their own positions.
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Real Estate Values…… The latest data put out by RP Risk Data shows the real estate values on Bribie continue to lag behind real estate values elsewhere in South East Queensland. RP’s data for the 2013 September Quarter shows that property values on Bribie are still well below values from five years ago. RP shows that on Bribie Island, Bellara values have declined by 8.9% in the last five years, Woorim (-9.8%), Banksia Beach (-2.1%), and Bongaree (-6.5%). This compares with some other areas taken at random such as Scarborough (+2.5%). Paddington (+8.9%) and Ashgrove (+15.9%).
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MBI has commented for a long time that this decline in property values on Bribie is because people see Bribie as a less attractive place to live or invest in. And MBI has long commented that this decline in the attractiveness of Bribie as a place to live is a result of Council’s on-going destruction of Bribie’s natural environment. This destruction can be seen everywhere – the disappearance of beaches and foreshore south of Woorim as a result of inappropriate Council activity; the destruction of foreshore vegetation; unceasing widespread clearing of vegetation with virtually no replanting; the destruction of Fairweather Trail, the destruction of Kakadu wetlands area; and on and on. It is no wonder that potential buyers are finding other places more attractive and are giving Bribie a miss.
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Canal Levy……. The dispute with Council by various canal owners’ associations over this Levy continues on a multitude of fronts. Council contends that those properties with canal frontages enjoy an exclusive benefit from those canals and they need to pay a tax (or levy) for that benefit. That tax can then be used for maintenance of those canals. The canal owners say that those claims do not stack up. They point out that the canals are used for a multitude of other uses and canal owners are just one group making use of the canals. They point out, for instance, that Council uses the canals for literally hundreds of storm water outlets from areas well away from the canals. So why aren’t those other users contributing to canal maintenance costs?
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The canal owners also point out that the money raised by these canal levies will not be going into a fund to pay for future canal maintenance. These levies raise somewhere in the order of $1 million per year, and those funds are going into general Council revenues and not into a dedicated maintenance fund. There is a legal argument being made that this is unconstitutional and could be challenged in court. MBI is following a number of cases that are currently before the courts that might finish up in the High Court. The plan by the Federal Government to recognise local governments in the Constitution would impact on those cases.
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Canal owners also point out that since Council took over those canals from the developers, virtually no funds have been spent on canal maintenance. Correspondence made available to MBI shows that MBRC was considering imposing a special canal levy as far back as 2010 to cover the potential future canal maintenance costs and this levy was included in the 2012 budget estimates which were drawn up before the last council elections. This levy was never discussed with the canal owners prior to its imposition. None of those who were on the previous Council and would have known of this upcoming levy made any mention of it in the last election campaign. Why was that?
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Future MBI Postings….. After the posting that will explore whether Bribie residents get value for their money, the next proposed posting will examine the environmental degradation that is occurring on Bribie. MBI asks readers to submit their examples of what they consider as the most environmentally downgrading activities that are taking place. Sadly, there are many many examples some of which are mentioned above including the destruction of the Woorim foreshore, the ceaseless removal of trees and vegetation on both public and private property, the destruction of Fairweather Trail, and on and on. MBI would like to hear your examples.
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Editor
MyBribieIsland
