Thank you Chair.
I rise to speak briefly about Item B – the petition for a footpath on Bielby Road, Kenmore Hills between Advanx St and Morningview Street.
This particular part of the Ward is well known to me.
For the 29 years we’ve lived at Chapel Hill, my wife and I have walked this section of the road most mornings of every week.
On one side of Bielby Road, the footpath is fine, but this petition calls on Council to address the other side of the road.
It took the head petitioner Dr. Kamal Puri all of about two days after I was elected to lobby for some action.
This was also around the time the COVID 19 pandemic had kicked in and with families pretty much confined to their homes, a lot more people and pets than usual were out and about walking in the morning.
It became almost impossible to properly socially distance so people started crossing what can be a pretty busy suburban road to walk on the other side.
This created a further problem with the number of motorists not observing the 60km speed limit, despite the fact a SAM sign was in place 400 metres away.
There is no easy or quick fix but I undertook to see what could be done, and suggested to Dr. Puri that he arrange a petition to give me something to work with. Which he did.
Mr. Chair, there are some challenges with this particular section of Biebly Road, with trees, light poles and gradient issues. I’ve had Council officers provide me with an estimate of how much it will cost to undertake this work and its not cheap.
I will most certainly list this for consideration in next year’s Council Budget, and depending on how successful that is, I’m happy to consider allocating funds from a future Suburban Enhancement allocation to address it.
Mr. Chair, on this subject, I want to acknowledge the Schrinner Administration’s significant commitment to the maintenance and creation of new footpaths in Brisbane – $13 million this year alone.