Message From Nicole
What's in the Budget Locally
City-Wide Budget Update
What's Not in the Budget Locally
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WHAT'S ON
Items marked with * require bookings.
 
Library Live Stream Events
 
7:30-8:30pm, Thu 18 June
Join debut novelist and winner of the Penguin Literary Prize in 2019, Imbi Neeme as she discusses her book The Spill during this special online event.
 
Meet Maya Linnell
7:30-8:30pm, Thu 9 July
Join author Maya Linnell in-conversation with writer and poet Tabitha Bird as she discusses her latest novel Bottlebrush Creek.
 
The Chook Masterclass with Claire Bickle*
1:30-2pm, Sat 25 July
Are you already keeping backyard chickens, but want more detailed information about breeds, raising chooks from various ages, introducing new chooks to the flock, chook health, growing great greens and more? Join horticulturist Claire Bickle for answers to your questions. This event is presented via Zoom. To book phone Phone Garden City Library on 07 3403 7745.
 
Food consultant Alison Alexander talks about how to use these readily available winter fruits in the kitchen while demonstrating some easy to prepare dishes. Participants will receive a collection of delicious recipes to try at home. 
 

Active and Healthy

Kayak Games*
Sunday 5 July, 9am-12pm
Simpsons Playground, Graceville
Suitable for ages 10-17. $5.
To book visit qld.paddle.org.au

School Holiday Lawn Bowls with the Grandkids*
8,9 and 10 July, 9:30-11am
Graceville Bowls Club
To book phone David on 0407 894 727

Fun Soccer*
Monday 6 July, 9:30-10:30am
Ken Fletcher Park, Tennyson
Gold'n'Kids event suitable for seniors and children aged 4+
To book visit gingersport.com.au

Hungry, Hungry Caterpillars*
Friday 10 July, 10am-12pm
Yeronga Memorial Park
Enjoy a story, then get active with sack races and a wiggly caterpillar race.
Gold'n'Kids event suitable for seniors and children aged 4+
To book visit bazilgrumble.com

Yoga
Saturdays from 18 July, 7:30-8:30am
Vallely St Park, Annerley

Beginning Lawn Bowls
Fridays from 17 July to 21 August, 2:30-4pm
Graceville Bowls Club
Come and try the fun and social sport of Lawn Bowls

 

MESSAGE FROM NICOLE
Hi everyone
 
The Council Budget for 2020-21 was handed down today and it is a doozy. Whilst rates are frozen until Christmas then there's a whopping 2.5% average increase in the New Year for six months, with some suburbs likely to be much higher.  There's also a debt blowout from $2.6 billion to $4.3 billion.  For those wondering, Council is actually projecting to increase the amount of revenue it receives from rates and charges this year.

The signature Brisbane Metro project, costing $944million, has blown out to approx. $1.5 billion and the tunnel and underground station under QPAC on the Southside has been cut.  The project actually delivers much less in new infrastructure but is costing ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars more.  Right now you're probably thinking, what on earth did we do on Saturday, 28 March re-electing the Lord Mayor and I don't blame you. This Budget is alive with funny money and it doesn't stack up.    

The devastating part of the Budget is the local grant funding has been slashed by 55% from $75,000 to just $34,000 meaning there will be little support available for all the wonderful community activities that happen locally. Instead, school, clubs and community groups will now have to apply for grant funding from a central pool and compete against projects around the City.

Locally, there is good news and bad for Tennyson Ward projects. The good news is there is some $530,000 for the Sherwood Arboretum this year for capital and maintenance works and planning for the centenary in 2025, five years away. Graceville Memorial Park which is 100 this year gets nothing. Great for Sherwood and shocking for Graceville.

The hits and misses continue with long overdue resurfacing for Wylie St, Graceville and Victoria Ave, Chelmer finally delivered but nothing for Berry St, Sherwood.  There's 2.1m for an intersection upgrade, most likely traffic lights, at the intersection of Ponsonby St and Ipswich Rd, Annerley but nothing at all for the dangerous Ipswich Rd/Venner Rd intersection.  The long overdue intersection upgrades along Oxley Rd at The Graceville Fiveways, Cliveden Ave Corinda or Cook St, Oxley are also MIA. The congestion busting project to extend the turning lane on Ipswich Rd at Cracknell St has been rolled over another year and the costs have blown out to $330,000 up from $198,000 last year. 

As always I will be ensuring that the discretionary funds for footpaths and parks are stretched as far as possible this year.  In a silver lining, it looks like there will be an extra $270,000 per ward for COVID-19 footpath and parks projects but no details on how this will be allocated.  I will keep you updated.

Regards, Nicole.
WHAT'S IN THE BUDGET LOCALLY

Road Resurfacing

  • Cornwall St, Annerley $601,000
  • Erinvale St, Corinda $88,000
  • Fairfield Rd, Yeerongpilly $525,000
  • Frederick St, Annerley $173,000
  • Jaora St, Graceville $48,000
  • Kingsley Pde, Yeronga $127,000
  • Rhyndarra St, Yeronga $136,000
  • Varley St, Yeerongpilly  $275,000
  • Victoria Ave, Chelmer $83,000
  • Walker St, Tennyson $203,000
  • Waverley St, Annerley  $161,000
  • Wylie St, Graceville $115,000

Kerb and Channel and Ramps

  • Cornwall St, Annerley $230,000
  • Frederick St, Annerley $65,000

Footpath Reconstruction

  • Cornwall St, Annerley $485,000
  • Equity St, Annerley $40,000
  • Oxley Rd, Corinda $224,000

Local Traffic Improvements

  • Honour Ave near Chelmer Station, Chelmer $124,000 
  • Fairfield Rd at Sherwood Rd, Yeerongpilly $68,000 intersection upgrade 
  • Ipswich Rd at Cracknell Rd, Annerley $331,000 (rolled over from last year)
  • Ipswich Rd and Ponsonby St, Annerley $2.1 million intersection upgrade

Safer Paths to Schools

  • Oxley State School, Oxley $72,000 for footpath missing links and active travel

Park and Footpath Upgrades

  • Faulkner Park, Graceville $75,000
  • Norm Rose Park, Fairfield $81,000 for lighting (continued from last year)
  • Sherwood Arboretum, Sherwood $319,000 for capital works and maintenance
  • Sherwood Arboretum, Sherwood $216,000 for 2025 Anniversary planning

Drainage

  • Park Drive, Graceville $291,000 for stormwater upgrade

Park, Tree and Waterway Maintenance (Bushcare)

  • Laurel Ave, Chelmer $841,000 heritage tree project (inc. rollovers from last year)
  • Hall Ave, Oxley Creek, Corinda $24,000 
  • Pratten St, Oxley Creek, Corinda $29,000

Festivals and Grants

  • Lord Mayor's Community Fund $34,000 (55% cut)
  • various community, senior's, environmental and sporting club grants by application

Land Management and Remediation

  • Graceville Ave, Graceville $202,000 contaminated land management

What's In the Budget Nearby

  • Indooroopilly roundabout upgrade $4.6 million this year, totalling $126 million across four years
  • $330,000 for Witton Barracks, Indooroopilly community hub + $2.5 million over the following two years
  • Junction Park State School, Annerley $97,000 for footpath missing links and active travel
  • Sherwood Rd, Rocklea $71,000 new footpath ramps
  • Sherwood Rd, Rocklea $517,000 minor road upgrades
  • Ipswich Rd at Longueval St, Moorooka $238,000 intersection upgrade
  • Walter Taylor Bridge $1.3 million maintenance works
  • Eleanor Schonell Bridge $166,000 maintenance works
  • Annand St, Oxley $81,000 road resurfacing
  • Blunder Rd, Oxley $402,000 road resurfacing
  • Lewisham St, Annerley $225,000 road resurfacing
  • Waterton St, Annerley $732,000 road resurfacing
  • Wonderlost Outlook, Annerley $56,000 road resurfacing
CITY-WIDE BUDGET UPDATE
Budget at a Glance
  • rates freeze for 6 months followed by average rates increase 2.5% (owner occupiers)
  • $4.3 billion in debt blow out up from $2.6 billion last year
  • $250 rates rebate for JobSeeker recipients
  • 40% pensioner rates rebates
  • first home buyer rates remission, first year 50% discount for homes up to $750,000 and first year 100% discount for purchase of newly-built homes
  • $90 million for road resurfacing
  • $88 million for Brisbane Metro with budget blow out to approx. $1.5 billion
  • $23.2 million for four green bridges (Centenary Bridge cut), including Kangaroo Point, with $550 million scheduled over the life of the projects
  • $40.2 million for bikeway projects, including Indooroopilly Riverwalk
  • $25.6 million for new CityCats and ferry terminals
  • $19.3 million for new sports parks at Runcorn, Nudgee and Heathwood
  • $15.2 million for delivering iconic parks in Brisbane including $3.3 million for Victoria Park and $83 million over four years
  • $13 million for new parks for Brisbane
  • $13 million for upgrading neighbourhood parks
  • $9.3 million for sportsfields and hardcourt surfaces rehabilitation
  • $9.2 million for suburban shopping precincts
  • $8.8 million for Greener Suburbs landscape and tree-planting activities in Paddington, Manly West and Riverhills
  • $7 million for park and footpath projects across Brisbane
  • $5.6 million Oxley Creek transformation project
  • $4.8 million for city-wide festivals and cultural events
  • $4.2 million for congestion busting projects
  • $3.5 million dollars to wipe out weeds
  • $3 million to support community groups on Council leased land
  • $2.9 million for SAMs for Schools signs
  • 50% rebate on infrastructure charges for energy-efficient buildings
  • 60 new buses including four trial electric buses
  • continued free off-peak travel for eligible seniors
  • waste vouchers for all Brisbane residents
  • kerbside collections cut for three years
  • larger recycling bins as standard for all households
 
Click here to view the budget online.
 
 
Comparative Budget at a Glance
 
Projects City- Wide $ City-Wide Projects 
Tennyson Projects 
 Tennyson $ Ave. per Ward $
Dog off-leash areas 1.164m 13 0 0 44,800
Safer Paths to School 1.6m 20 1 72,000 61,538
Drainage and backflow valves 38m 50 1 291,000 1.46m
Road and intersection projects 37.5m 46 3 3.1m 1.45m
Kerb and channel 7.38m 46 2 295,000 283,846
Footpath repairs 11.1m 60 3 749,000 426,923
Playgrounds and parks 14.93m 113 3 475,000 574,230
Traffic calming 1.7m 11 0 0 65,384
Road resurfacing 90m 407 12 2.535m 3.46m

 

QUU Budget Update

From July 1, QUU will be freezing its water and sewerage prices for six months. Price changes will come into effect on 1 Janurary 2021, and QUU's component of the average residential bill in the Brisbane region will increase by an average of 2.7% per quarter. 

WHAT'S NOT IN THE BUDGET LOCALLY

Each year, as your local Councillor, I put together a budget submission based on feedback from local residents, community groups, schools, Council officers and my own observations. This is submitted to the Lord Mayor who then personally determines what is funded in the Budget.

Some of the projects the Lord Mayor has refused to fund, in some cases now for many years, include:

  • Berry St, Sherwood road resurfacing;
  • safe school projects around Graceville State School, Christ the King and Yeronga State School;
  • dozens of local road safety and traffic calming projects;
  • a new Sherwood Rd dedicated off-road bikeway and footpath;
  • major footpath repairs to Oxley Rd, Sherwood and Graceville;
  • Graceville Fiveways and Annerley Junction shopping centre improvements;
  • backflow valves in Chelmer, Graceville, Yeronga, Fairfield and Tennyson; and
  • intersection upgrades to Oxley Rd/Cliveden Ave, Corinda, Ipswich Rd/Venner Rd, Annerley and the Graceville Fiveways.

Budget estimates information sessions will be held on Friday and Monday and I may have a further update next week. I will keep fighting for important local projects in next year's budget. A full copy of my local budget submission is available here.