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