Logan Village Master Plan

A click on the word will take you to the Flyer that now is the official version after some confusion as to which was correct when several different ones were being given out to people in Logan Village, according to a reliable source.

The plan itself is being rushed through its consultation period with the only information session for the public held outside a shop in the centre a week into the comment submission period which is also questionable due to it being held over the Christmas break and the last day being the 4th January 2008.

I have to say the stories coming out of Logan Village of late are disturbing and there are many more serious allegations which I don't have background information to back up so I'm certainly not publishing them, but let me outline this one as it has been told to me.

It seems the OUM left the planning process in the urban footprint of Logan Village to Council and I assume that money was budgeted for the purpose but the work may not have been done until now, and given that after January 8th 2008 Council has no ability to make major planning decisions due to the impending amalgamation, it needs to be finalised before then and hence the big rush is on.

Council has used 'Tract Consultants', a town planning firm, for other projects including the recent Logan Village Green upgrade that also didn't consult with the community except for a select group before being given the green light, so it was easy to get them to quickly put something together, and it seems that is exactly what they did with ideas and images put forward in the proposal that come from all over Australia and date back more than ten years and are hardly relevant to the quiet rural amenity of the area under question.

Information from community members and business owners in Logan Village is that until a letter to the Editor of the local Paper alerted them they hadn't heard of the concept and a letter to them looking like an information circular was written and sent days after a letter of complaint was received by Council and yet gave no response or answer to it leading one to believe that if there was no letter in the paper the Plan could have been snuck through.

An information session was held then, another week later, and attended by Councillors and officers who tried to explain to locals about the plan and how it wouldn't affect zoning and how the Master Plan was in fact only policy underlying the town plan which would have no effect on property values and wouldn't change the character of the Village until such time as it was implemented and that it was done at the request of Logan City so that the would have it locked in before the Transition was complete. You believe all that ?

So the question is why does Logan Village need a Master Plan for development unless there is going to be some? and if there is development, where is the water and sewerage coming from? and Who gave the consultants the briefing on Logan Village to get it so wrong anyway?

Unowho

Scenic Rim Community Briefing

The Transition between Beaudesert and Boonah Shire Councils continues to happen and at this stage it appears there will be some community information available. As a sceptic, I suspect it will be an opportunity for the mayors to put their case for re-election out due the the good job they are doing dismantling our shire .

It does puzzle me to see the recent action by a group from the south, which will be in the Scenic Rim Council now making a lot of noise about moving the BSC/Logan boundary further north now that it has become apparent how weak, financially, the new Council will probably be for quite some time even if the go is given for that State Development Area along the Logan River, and it prompts the question; where were you all when the first group organised petitions to ask the AEC to hold a referendum to determine if our shire wanted the mergers or not?

It seems that the Mayor is also backing the new group and even thought her Council eventually capitulated and asked for the Plebiscite to be run on their behalf (rather than a community group) I feel the motive is more about increasing the rate base than doing the right thing for residents of the North who will be in Logan on March 16 Next year.

Any way, you can hear for yourself according to a notice in last week's Beaudesert Times about a community briefing to be held about the new Scenic Rim council -

7pm Wednesday 12 December
The Centre, 82 Brisbane St, Beaudesert

10 am Saturday 15 December
Boonah District Cultural Centre, 3 High St Boonah

Guest speakers will include - Joy Drescher, John Brent (Boonah Mayor), Mr Ian Flint (Interim CEO Scenic Rim Council).

Armistice Day --- Logan Village Lions Attack the Church

In what appears to be a most disrespectful act on Remembrance day, November 11th, the congregation arrived at the Logan Village Church to find the locks removed from the church, padlocks cut away from the container and outbuilding, it seems by the Logan village Lions, and in a further attack a new eviction letter from their Lawyers and an unsigned hand written threat was gutlessly taped to the front door of that Church, assumedly also by a member of the Lions.

The Legal letter states that there has been a Building Hire agreement dated October 1st 2006 , as yet the lions have failed to provide an original , unaltered document to base this on, let alone a "Clause 20" of the agreement under which the Lions claim the right to terminate said agreement.

The legal letter also states that the Church have to right to access the property until Friday 23rd November, but the Hand written accompaniment states that all rights to access, are terminated after services , at midday 11th November , and that any further access will be considered Trespass on the Lions Property.

It leaves an observer to wonder why, since the Lions have acquired a property and a community Hall for free, basically taken a community property for themselves with an outstanding debt remaining unpaid, and the Lions also accepted money from the Property Trust that was greater than that debt, and refuse to pay it, and now it seems the greed of the Logan Village Lions has expanded to now want the Church out, and to keep the Church, and all the other items owned by the Church that are there.



There is fear amongst the community that the St. Andrews Church and the Logan Village Community Hall are to be Bulldozed for Development.

St Andrews, Logan Village, under attack.

Recent comments in another blog by someone who knows more than they are letting on provoked me to put some of the facts together in the form of a reply, but since it is and archived article, I decided to put the reply here.

There have been other allegations and actions against this small church , its clergy and parishioners, which when out together paint a very carefully concocted scenario, designed to get sole control over the property which is home to the Logan Village Community Hall and by virtue of a 99 year lease the St Andrews Church and ancillaries.

The Lions of Logan Village have (disputed) ownership of the property which was gifted to them ,in secrecy in the period of time between the dissolution of the last council and the swearing in of this edition, although the councillor for the division remained, and now claim private ownership of a community property which was given to the people of Logan Village, run by a committee of them until being pushed to incorporate (at request of Council) to accept much needed money ($120,000) for upgrade and renovations, and council support has extended to recently granting many thousands of ratepayers dollars for its painting.

The Lions are autonomous and have seen fit to attempt since acquiring the property, to remove the church by several means, and have made various threats and also attempted to sell church possessions using an agreement which may have been obtained from an unauthorised person and under duress.

I will put my aforementioned reply here,

Unowho said...

The fact that the church was assisting its congregation with before and
after school child minding must have irked some of the local Daycare Operators
who charge a fee for that same service, and it was one of them ,correct me if
I'm wrong, who alerted the media to the fact that during afternoon minding at
the church some of the children were using computers in a retro fitted insulated
shipping container (it has full size windows).

It would be an interesting exercise to see who was interested in purchasing
a Day Care Centre who could have profited by attracting more children from say,
shutting down a church minding group, because I feel that this is the only
explanation for events as they have occurred.

If one of the Day care Centre operators was involved, and if someone
senior in the Police is involved there should be action taken to mount a proper
investigation, and the Police person should be stood down for using intimidation
and Police facilities for personal use.

To date no one has been able to to give substantial evidence that the
gifting of the Public hall occurred within the terms of the hall association
constitution, and the number of people who have been implicated as having
knowledge of it and deny that knowledge is growing.

The only certain thing is that everyone is scared of the Police person, and
for some there is not just fear of intimidation but fear of assault or even
murder.People have begun leaving the church and attendances have been down on
Sundays, and I expect that's the intent, but it is horrific to have to suffer
this kind of harassment, and no one should have to.

So the list of people who haven't offered to help the church when
approached is growing to now include anonymous blog commentors, who may be or
are keeping company with State Ministers, Government Departments, senior Police,
Council and the Local councillor who has sided with the protagonists it
seems.

It is quite obvious that the Lions claim ownership of the property, and
want the church congregation to leave, and not just that, but leave their church
building, their own fittings and fixtures and the aforementioned shipping
container for the profit of the Lions.

This defies what i think of when I think Lions, because I've never heard
of a Lions Club trying desperately to own a community property, let alone force
another community group out of their lease and demand ownership of their
property also.

Lions Australia and World wide should be ashamed.

So I ask the Question, will the community let the Police and the Lions bully and intimidate the church until they go?

Bromelton, "need to know only" for information so far.

In Councils recent submission to the Local Government Reform Commission, it touted the massive Bromelton Industrial Precinct as being a boon for the shire and used it and the investment Council would have to make to provide infrastructure and services as a valid reason to annex a portion of Logan (a portion which was previously in Beaudesert) to expand the rate base for the needed extra revenue.

The State Government has seen this the opposite way it seems, and has decided to take over the precinct as a State Development Area and consequently we are hearing a little more about it as the consultation period allows public comment , for a very short time.

There is a Draft Document available for perusal at the Department website; http://www.infrastructure.qld.gov.au/infrastructure/sda_bromelton_scheme.shtm

There are also Two meetings, which are open for the public to attend and since there are plenty of empty desks at Council due to the amalgamations and some staff being offered better deals elsewhere, morale being so low and uncertainty of future employment, they will be held at Council.

You can contact Anne Caerdinal on 3225 8322 or Council. Meetings will be held on :

Mon 29 Oct 2-4.45 ----and----Thurs 1 Nov 11-2pm

Already, the rumours of land in the south of the precinct being kept aside for potential Nuclear Power Generation, which could be at odds with the present laws our State Government has on that subject, but nevertheless there is potential for it and also for irradiation plants and chemical manufacturing.

This has to have some basis in reality because all the most nasty rumours about plans the State Government has had for this shire in the past have all come true and in fact exceeded those rumours, and throughout all this our council keeps the secret, claiming it doesn't want people to get an advantage from the release of information.

I would urge people to look at the Draft Document and the Maps which are enlargeable and make your very valuable submission to this part of the process.

Vale Traveston Crossing

With the Queensland Government releasing the 1600 page Environmental Impact Statement for the Dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing, and it's availability for public comment from the Coordinator Generals Office, we see those same words that control and focus opinion and objection, and negate many of the underlying relevant issues by omitting them for the 'Terms of Refference"

The Mary river and it's inhabitant native fauna have survived generations of human interferance and unsustainable uses, even providing some of the highest quality primary production land in Queensland, and it is against all odds that this has happened, yet still it has.

Sadly until now, the Mary river has never had to sustain itself against the evil of all evils, money, or the one land use from which there is no turning back, development.

People who have known the valley at traveston , and have fished that river section, or watched the turtles ripple the surface, or just relaxed and swam there, will know this is a good place and should be left untouched.


Why ?

It seems that Party politics is at the heart of this, and I know it's a long hop from a creek bed to Parliament House, but the route is far trickier and more dangerous, because it is lined with money.

One of the main things holding back development in SEQ is lack of infrastructure, because in this term the Beattie/ Bligh Government nas barely provided any to meet the needs of the growth they have pro actively sought for this region, and growth has been significant and has already strained existing infrastructure to breaking point, yet still the Bligh Government calls for more.

Water provision has been one of the main issues and development north of Brisbane would have been increased if there was water to provide but there isn't any, all SEQ dams are low so development in greenfield sites has been held up by councils wanting developers to pay their share of infrastructure provision costs, which is , of course, at odds with a high profit bottom line.

Added to that is the fact tha many developers contribute millions of dollars to the electoral funds of politicians and even though they get huge taxation advantages from it they still want a second return on that money and the enormous profit as well.

The utter arrogance and self intrest of the Qld Labor Party Leader, Anna Bligh, just defies description and if this is an example of what we can expect in the Federal Labor Leader then No thanks.

Will the candidate for Forde resign, NOW ?

These are some paragraphs from an article in the Courier Mail, about Councillors and doing the right thing for those they represent.


STAR Labor candidate Kerry Rea has finally quit her $110,000-a-year council job to devote 100 per cent to winning the ultra-marginal Brisbane seat of Bonner.But two other local government representatives running for Federal Parliament have refused to relinquish their civic posts.
After a 10-year stint as the councillor for Holland Park, Cr Rea yesterday decided it was time to make the transition to full-time federal candidate.

While Labor's Eddy Sarroff has no plans to quit his job on the Gold Coast City Council, he has agreed to forgo his salary while he battles to wrestle the seat of McPherson from the Liberal's Margaret May.

Ms May said Cr Sarroff's refusal to step down from the council was unfair to the residents he was meant to represent.

Nationals candidate Hajnal Ban is also being paid as a councillor while she campaigns to win the seat of Forde.


The actions of councillors who continue to take ratepayers money while effectively doing something else is deplorable and arrogant, and of the three in Qld who are running for federal seats there is now only one who continues to draw ratepayer money while campaigning.

Now that Kerry Rea has resigned from Council and Eddy Sarroff has decided to forgo his salary while campaigning, only Hajnal Ban continues to suck ratepayer money out of a very troubled and future financially weak council to pursue her own aspirations.

Maybe this is a matter for a CMC investigation, to determine whether it's appropriate to draw a salary from the ratepayers , whilst actually campaigning for a federal seat, although with all the changes it probably is legal even if it is morally wrong and unfair to ratepayers in division 4.

Bromelton --- This is Scary

I know a number of people in the community are looking at the Bromelton proposal and worrying that it will have a large footprint to the west of Beaudesert, and that it will also have an impact there as discussed in a previous comment about heavy Truck traffic through the centre of beaudesert itself, but since the State Government has taken over it is beginning to be seen and it is huge, in fact scarey huge.

From what I rceived in an email the following is proposed:
1. The area west of the rail line and south of Undullah Rd at Kagaru is designated as an intermodal transport hub, This will extend to approx the Barnes Rd area.
2. The area between Brookland Rd and the rail line is designated as rail dependant industry
3. The area between Brookland Rd and the river is non rail dependant industry
4.This pattern is followed south to the Boonah/ Beaudesert Rd Around Struss' the rail dependant industry extends further east.
5. The area south of the Boonah/Beaudesert Rd is to be an investigation area looking at industries that require a buffer.
(Thanks to the Author)

See what it looks like from this Map of the Proposal The real concern, apart from the outright size and the amount of dollars the State Government is willing to spend here, is How much of this was a trade off for our council keeping quiet about amalgamations and shire boundary realignments?, and, How long have our councillors known about this ( and I mean the full extent of this proposal on the map)?

Add to that the item 5 above, and Ask just exactly what kinds of noxious industries , and hazardous industries does the State Government intend to put down on our precious Border Range doorstep.

A reply to Jenny Freeman, of Carbrook.

In a letter to the Editor of the Logan &Albert News which was printed in the Friday edition (7th Sept.) Ex Mayor, John Freeman's wife Jenny has submitted what I consider to be an arrogant letter which is patronising to the people of the proposed annexed area of Beaudesert Shire who feel they have a right to a say on their choice of lifestyle and shire of residence.

Due to the difficulty in being published if the view opposes those preferred, I'll make a reply here;

Jenny Freeman of Carbrook,

Feel free to say it is inevitable that boundary realignments will occur, so far that is the view of almost everyone associated with the State Government and the Logan Council and if actions speak louder than words, inaction by you all for our democratic rights speaks volumes.

The shame I would feel as an elected representative of the people or a recently past one would prevent me going public asking people to give up all hope and actually failing to represent the real views of the community, and yet here you are doing just that and asking us to accept the loss of democratic rights accept a compromised future for ourselves and our children, accept the potential ravaging of the environment here and accept expansive population sprawling across our rural and rural residential area.

I'm sure you have the mandate of the residents of Logan (not) to offer us a warm welcome, as you chide us for having negative and reactive attitudes rather that positive and proactive ones , I expect you also wrote to the Press in Scotland and told them after all these years to accept the Rule Britannia.

As far as sharing our hopes and dreams to make Logan one city (exactly where is the city centre anyway, do you have one?) that is absolutely ludicrous when the idea seems to be to continue the rambling urban sprawl with some commercial areas, where will our dreams of retiring on our property in peace be? where will our dreams of leaving them to our children? and what will be the point of continuing to garden and maintain them as we are rated out ?

Let some of the future residents of the caravan parks your mayor wants to dump here answer maybe.

Jenny, you are basically saying, You WILL be assimilated, best you learn to like it and just shut up.

Sorry to disappoint you, I will never like paying higher insurance, having hundreds of cars up and down my street and seeing lights all night long instead of darkness and the stars, and, I will never vote for you and your husband after such an arrogant , patronising and condescending letter.

Regards Unowho

How Logan sees it's annexed area.

The Mayor of Logan, Graham Able, has announced his big new idea for fixing housing affordability in his shire, by dumping the poor into Caravan parks built in the North of Beaudesert shire.

This statement comes before consultation with his Council, Beaudesert Shire Council, or even a quick look at the town plan or SEQ Regional plan. but it is indicative of the mindset of Logan City council and representative of the intent for the use of our rural and rural residential areas as the assimilation process begins.

The fact that only 20 submissions to the LGMS for the Parkridge to Logan reserve MDA were "correctly" submitted along with letters of concern from residents within the area also shows that the people of Logan accept that they have no recourse to councils plans, actions or intents when it comes to development at all costs.

Unfortunately Logan sees the annexed area as simply a resource to be exploited with some people who are simply in the way of the future expansion of the ugly urban sprawl that replaces trees with house roofs in estates called Gumleaf or Treeview and have neither.

I don't accept that this is a done deal, if it was why are the State Government spending thousands in TV adds trying to tell us it will be for the best.

At this point I'd like to say how disappointing some of Beaudesert Shire Councillors have been on this matter especially a couple of those in the north with only Bob and John openly criticizing the way the reform process went about this Machiavellian sham and communicating it to residents.

PUBLIC MEETING - AMALGAMATION RALLY

There will be a meeting to let people know whats going on and update you on progress and further developments and directions.


The meeting will be on ; Friday 31st August - 7 pm

The venue will be ; Jimboomba Public Hall

The hall is located on the corner of Honora and Johanna sts.
UBD page 302 g- 15

It will be great to see everyone there.

Welcome to Logan ( and the 21st Century)

When Graham Able made the swipe the Logan would bring the North of Beaudesert to the 21st Century, I hope it was meant as humorous because if Lower than average income, higher than average crime rates, lower than average resale values, higher than average rates and lower than ideal appearence and amenity, is meant to be better than what we have now, paradice, I rather not have it.

From the outset the North has been described as a liability , in financial terms, even though we effectively proped up the Beaudesert shire by two thirds of the rating revenue, and it seems that already the annexed North is being made scapegoat for Rates rises that will have to happen to allow for the huge amount of infrastructure requirement of the Yarrabilba development, because after all thats what this whole thing is about.

Reading local News in Logan is depressing for anyone from the anexed area you can almost be sure that we are just as unwanted by the people of Logan as we don't want to be a part of it.

Rate rise on cards for city


■ Rate rise possible for Logan residents as city absorbs new areas.
■
Both councils dispute claims of ‘‘negative impact’’.
■ Financial analysis is
yet to be finalised.
By DANIEL TANG

RATEPAYERS may face an increase in local government
tariffs when
Logan City expands next year.
The Local Government Reform Commission report
stated that
‘‘based on the likely negative financial impact of
North
Beaudesert Shire’’, the new council would be rated ‘‘moderate with
a
developing outlook’’.
Beaudesert Shire Council
finance and executive
chairman Don Petersen, whose current
d i v i s i o n i s i n
n o r t h e r n Beaudesert, said there was a likelihood
of increased
rates for the new Logan residents. ‘‘There is a likelihood that it
(rates)
will go up, but this will need really good discussions in
the lead-up to the
budget,’’ he said. ‘‘There will be a number of
things that will be required
to bedone, particularly some roads and
community infrastructure such as parks
and things like that,’’
Cr Petersen disagreed with the commission’s negative
statement
on the impact of Beaudesert and said it was likely the
commission
did not even read the shire’s submission.
‘‘It’s a bit hard to
swallow given the north of Beaudesert Shire was
the rate base for the whole
of Beaudesert Shire previously,’’
Logan City Council acting chief executive
officer Mike Pickering
said he could not comment on possible rate changes
because no
financial analysis had been done. ‘‘This is something we will
have
to be looking at with duediligence,’’
The current financial details
of the areas to be absorbed into
Logan did not ‘‘sound off any alarms,’’ Mr
Pickering said.
‘‘Certainly nothing to indicate anything negative.
‘‘There
is a huge asset base (in the new council area) and
relatively small
debt.’’

On that same page in the Logan West Leader there is also a story about Land being resumed, and claims of inaction and unavailability of the local Councillor to the residents involved it seems, and I was under the beleif that land could be resumed only for raods and services, so maybe in Logan they have the power to resume for any reason, could that be so?

Councillor denies abandoning residents

A LOGAN City councillor has
come under fire for declaring a
conflict of interest and ‘‘failing to
represent her constituents’’ in a
development that could close a local
park.
Browns Plains resident Ann Neuendorf said residents living
close to
Sussex Park and Acacia Park were ‘‘disgusted’’ at the lack
of representation
by Councillor Cherie Dalley.
Ms Neuendorf said a land swap before council
could see several
homes demolished near Acacia Park to create more space
in
exchange for the closure of Sussex Park.
However, Cr Dalley said she
had not abandoned her constituents
and said her declaration was ‘‘a matter of
ethics’’ as she lived
within the area.
She said any decision on the
development plan would have an
impact on her personal life. ‘‘This is a
matter of ethics for me
as any decision has a possible benefit in relation to
property
values,’’ she said.
‘‘Councillor John Grant will be taking over
to represent the interests
of the residents,’’ she said.
Ms Neuendorf said
residents were upset with the lack of
consultation provided by council. She
said a petition signed by
more than 100 people carried objections for safety,
lifestyle, economic
and environmental reasons.
Ms Neuendorf said Cr Dalley
had ‘‘made promises’’ 10 months ago
that no such development would go
ahead.
‘‘But now we find out it is before council.’’
Ms Neuendorf said a
woman living in a rented home to be
demolished as part of the proposal had
not been advised of the plan.
‘‘The first she heard of it was from me and
when the notice was
placed on her front fence while she was at work,’’ she
said.
Aletter sent to residents recently was ‘‘very one-sided’’ and
made
the proposal ‘‘sound wonderful’’,
Ms Neuendorf said. A decision on
the development is
expected in coming months.

So this is our first experience with a Council that may become ours by March Next year, when Local government elections are held on the 15th of that month. I am positively sick to my stomach at the thought of starting another fight, but I certainly will not back away from it.

John Howard declares war on Beattie over Amalgamations

JOHN Howard has announced that the Australian Electoral Commission will be allowed to conduct referenda on amalgamations of local governments. Mr Howard made the announcement in federal parliament after criticising Queensland Premier Peter Beattie's controversial decision to force the merger of local councils across the state.

"The government has decided to allow the Australian Electoral Commission to undertake any plebiscite on the amalgamation of any local government body in any part of Australia," Mr Howard told parliament. "At the expense of the commonwealth, the Australian Electoral Commission will conduct referenda or plebiscite in any of the local government areas about the amalgamation proposals of the Beattie government."

The prime minister accused Mr Beattie of threatening to sack councils which tried to defy the mergers and denying Queenslanders a democratic choice. "Mr Beattie has said that is, 'if you dare to have a vote we will threaten your jobs, we will threaten your livelihood'."

"We do not intend to remain idle and silent while the wishes of the people in these local government areas are denied," Mr Howard said. "We're not trying to compel a ballot in every shire and every council area. We're saying that if you want to vote, the AEC will conduct it and we will pay for it. "I challenge the premier of Queensland, let the people speak on your amalgamation proposal. "

Let this be a reminder that if you remove the check and balance in our system and if you have Labor governments at every level, this sort of behaviour will become the norm." The Queensland government today introduced draft laws which would overhaul the state's local government boundaries, more than halving the number of councils from 156 to 72.

So can John Howard restore democracy to this embattled state, and will there be any result from referenda conducted before the federal elections that cannot be acted on after they are held. I'm one of those who would prefer not to have the amalgamations, but you may have a different opinion, all that aside, this is an interesting scenario isn't it.

Noosa amalgamation march

As you will all know this march which started off as about a thousand Noosa people coming to Brisbane to present Beattie with a card from their area, grew to over six thousand people from all over the state and as far away as Atherton and Port Douglas, outstanding, the only downside for us was the lack of almost anyone from Beaudesert, so does everyone want this?

I met Vince from RAIDE, Resident Action on Infrastructure, Development and Environment and only one other person from our area that I recognised and it was a surprise to me, This image was provided by Vince, thanks, but how is it that our Mayor and two others can attend such an important display of our anger over having our rights taken away, don't we care?

I fear that unless we can get off our Butts, we are lost.

Where to From Here

It seems as though Our Shire is about to be ripped apart and I'm not seeing anyone doing a thing about it, so do any of them care.

The brief time to make submissions to the process of Local Government Reform really should have been enough for our Council to make a convincing enough argument to leaving this shire be, that's assuming that the Commission was truly independent, and I have serious doubts on that front.

The Beaudesert shire Council Submission was based on the increased revenue from the general rate expected in the upcoming year and the continued growth of our rate base due to the large areas of Urban Footprint forced upon our predominantly rural Shire by the OUM.

If that didn't show a continued sustainability for strong and stable council provision of local services there was also the Whole of Shire Planning Process ( WoSPP) which showed Councils vision for up to 40 years into the future could be planned out and managed for our residents.



So, the question I'm asking is, Where to from here?

In Noosa Shire, the Residents and Ratepayers Association along with Council are standing up and being counted, they are being vocal and putting their issues and concerns right in the face of the protagonists for amalgamation, Peter Beattie, Anna Bligh and Andrew Fraser, even busing a thousand people into Brisbane to make their point.

We can do that, isn't the rural lifestyle worth protecting, isn't our amenity worth saving, or are we the residents just a piece of garbage to be taken form one Shire and simply given to another without even a 'by your leave' let alone us having a say and having our rights acknowledged.

I want to urge people to think about what is good for the community , not just a themselves and a promised glimmer of opportunism, which is never going to happen, we can't all be James Packer.

I want you to think about how this came about, what turned those wheels, whats still turning them, and why such a drastic attack on this shire in particular, one of the few to be really treated savagely by the commissions recommendations.

Consider emailing the Labor Candidate for PM. Kevin Rudd. because he's already against this plan and if he sees enough emails saying no vote, he may help .

Kevin.Rudd.MP@aph.gov.au