Ordinary meeting brings year to end

Last Tuesday's Ordinary Meeting of council got under way at 10.03 am, which is near-enough to on time. There were 11 people in the gallery and the Mayor announced that Crs Clarke and H Black would be late. I keep having this really bad feeling about councillors who cannot make it to a meeting on time. Especially if it is the only meeting, of the series, that they're going to show-up for!

The usual Prayers, Condolences, Minutes, Business arising, and Congratulations were announced and passed through.

During the processing of the City Roads Infrastructure business Cr Power wanted to vent about the Hyperdome parking—you'd think that he was warning patrons not to go shop there!—Bradley was concerned about Rochedale and Underwood Roads connecting with the Gateway upgrade and Lutton was a little acid about the Bicycle Way near Winnetts Road at Daisy Hill and Loganlea Road. He was commenting to Item IN7, Bicycle Facilities at the Loganlea Interchange Upgrade of Pacific Highway, and said it was, "a case of speaking best practice but not achieving it". He added that the cycleway just ends at bad points on the road, and that Main Roads has had the problems pointed out—but offered no solutions.

You have to say that these sorts of comments are for the benefit of the journalists sitting-in for this meeting, the only one they will go to. It's probably too late to make any sort of impression for publication this year.

Moving on, the Environment & Sustainability recommendations were up for confirmation next. Cr Bradley, in speaking to her meeting recommendations took some time to say how the council was opposed to the Coal Seam Gas industry in general and Arrow Energy in particular. She also detailed concerns about other issues in her committee. Crs S Black, Pidgeon and the Mayor were keen to add to the vilification of Arrow too. I was somewhat sad that we'd done away with the pillory so long ago now.

For Item ES5, Flinders Karawatha Corridor, Cr Dalley declared a Conflict of Interest (CoI) because the corridor bounds one side of her property and decided to stay and vote. The recommendation that council support the creation of the corridor was adopted unanimously.

To introduce the Animals & City Standards recommendations Cr Able had a long speech telling us that they are going to write to Uncle Tom Cobley and All about the effect of the Animals (Datsun Cogs) Act 2008, Item AS2, that will send us all to hell—if we're lucky.

One thing I was surprised about was Item GB1, Acknowledgement of the Animal & Pest Services Branch, by this committee. There was nothing to acknowledge the others, City Standards nor any other branch, and I wonder if it is just Cr Able in his dotage, guiding a bit of frippery from his colleagues, or is there something more sinister in this?

What were the rest of them thinking?

The Planning & Development recommendations were modified by an amendment to Item PD2, Development Assessment Resolved Appeals, and we were told it was a minor amendment that the councillors had in front of them. Cr Dalley said that they had already had positive and generous feedback from Coles and Woolworths about Item GB3, a Standard Design for Shopping Cart Bays (Stalls). I can think of many, not that far away, that could be improved by a redesign.

Most of the councillors had a shot at adding their twopence to the P&D melee. I was shocked at one stage to hear Cr Black say, "I'm on Cr Lutton's side!" You could have knocked me down with a feather!

During the introduction of the Health, Sport & Community Services recommendations Cr Pidgeon said there were amendments to Item HC9, Request for Financial Assistance from Radio Logan Inc (Trading as 101FM), to tidy up the wording that had been found wanting.

You'd think that tidying up that had to be moved as an amendment would have been important enough to be explained to the attending public in enough detail to be comprehensible to us. But, no, its a case of We have the right to do it and we will just do it. I think that the Mayor is abandoning her principles by allowing councillors to ride rough-shod over the public's right to know.

The Customer Service, Marketing & Parks recommendations were breezed through. The only hiccup being Item CS6, Landscape Maintenance Arrangements for Beenleigh- Redland Bay Road, Cornubia, when Cr Power made a lengthy speech about the issues and blamed Main Roads for much of the damage to his division's pristine landscape. When he had finished the Mayor asked whether he had written to any of the State members for the area and Power said he had. This particular area is the confluence of the electorates for three MLAs and it is almost impossible to get any sort of politician to help another, not just at State level, but at any level of government.

We just about have to force them to marry to get them to work together, and even that is counterproductive at times, maybe too often.

Suddenly the Mayor woke to the fact that the usual Mother Xmas has been sitting patiently to do her rounds and adjourned the meeting at 11.17 so that the little ceremony could go ahead. Everybody got a little cadeau, I couldn't help noticing that those for councillors were not as little as for the hoi polloi. Maybe it is just the Scrooge in me? I'll have to be more Christmassy for a while now. The meeting resumed at 11.20 am.

With the exception of Items GF5 and GF9 the Governance stuff was adopted in a trice! Item GF9, Mayor's and Councillors' Community Benefit Fund, had Cr Bradley excused for her CoI because of her children. The other saw Cr Smith leave for CoI too. Both were adopted without preamble.

The round-the-table general business was protracted. It started about 11.30 and finished about 45 minutes later. I would give you the highlights, except that there were none to speak of. There was a lot of back-slapping and trumpeting with the Mayor offering encouragement throughout. Cr Power was asking where all the kids were that used to be on the streets at this time of the year and answered his own proposition that they were all inside crouched over gaming machines.

Cr Black moved a request to the Financial Manager for a report of some kind, her other half seconded it and they all Yea'd without pause. Cr Hackwood offered that, "This was teamwork." He also offered that of the three council's he's served this was the best. Bradley told us the trials of being awarded a Company Director's certificate. The Mayor thought that 2012 will be the time for Logan to shine. The meeting closed at 12.14 pm.