On 21/02/2020 2:11 pm, Donna Burns wrote:

Dear Peter,

 

Please accept our sincerest thanks to you and the team at Mt Coot-tha Protection Alliance for inviting us to comment on your document “A Program for the Closure and Rehabilitation of the Mt Coot-tha Quarry”. It is clear that an extraordinary amount of work has gone into this document and it’s heartening to see such active and committed local advocacy from the community.

 

As the group of Greens candidates whose Council Wards are most affected by the quarry, we would like to express our strong support for the broad aims, principles and programme of work set out in your report. We acknowledge the significant impacts the current operations of the quarry are having on local residents, the fauna and flora of Mt Coot-tha, and the wider Brisbane population. We are committed to working together as a team to take immediate action on closing and rehabilitating the quarry. As you will be aware, our State MP for Maiwar, Michael Berkman, has previously called on Council to close the quarry by 2025, with public consultation and a process for rehabilitation underway this year, 2020. This is in line with the proposed date in the current Mt Coot-tha Neighbourhood Plan and is the absolute latest date by which closure should occur.

 

1. We endorse fully the set of principles outlined in your program.

2. We agree broadly that closure and rehabilitation should follow the timeframe outlined in your program, with the caveat that some of the finer detail may not be optimal. If elected, we would have access to professionals within Council who could advise on best practice.

3. We agree that planning for closure and rehabilitation should commence as soon as possible after the 2020 election.

4. We give in principle support to the concept of a design competition to “attract a variety of conceptual ideas and their design solutions, for independent comparison and judging, with full transparency and community input”. However, there may be other appropriate avenues which may become apparent once we have access to advice from experts within Council’s workforce. We are reluctant to exclude any other options that could allow for community-led, collaborative approach to designing the future use of the site. We would like to commend you on your inclusion of extensive and multiple stages of community consultation. This is vital to ensure the quarry site is rehabilitated in a way that serves the community.

 

Thank you for your efforts to stand up for the local environment and residents by taking this proactive approach. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss the detail of your program.

 

Best regards,

Donna Burns, Greens candidate for Paddington

Michaela Sargent, Greens candidate for Walter Taylor

Charles Druckmann, Greens candidate for Pullenvale

[and, added recently:

Kath Angus (our Lord Mayor Candidate)

Rebecca Haley (our Candidate for the Gap)]

 

DONNA BURNS
Candidate for Paddington

Phone: 0422198482 | email: donna.burns@qld.greens.org.au

Facebook: /DonnaBurnsPaddoGreens

Instagram: /donna_burns.the_greens

Webpage: www.donnaburnspaddington.com.au