Chair
I rise to speak about two landmark occasions in my Ward over the weekend.
First, our new skatepark at Booker Place Park, Bellbowrie is now open, ticking off another 2020 election commitment delivered by the Schrinner Council.
And it was appropriate the Lord Mayor was on hand to officially open the new facility and witness the gratitude and excitement from the number of riders from the local community.
Leading up to the 2020 election, the Lord Mayor and I inspected the old skatebowl and agreed it was in need of some major maintenance.
A financial commitment was given but after undertaking some initial community consultation, it became apparent that undertaking repair work would only be a band-aid solution. We had a once-only opportunity to start from scratch and deliver a new facility that not only catered for skateboarders but other users such as scooters and non-motorised bike riders.
The number of young boarders were supportive of that idea and became involved in the process, providing feedback to us on what should be included.
They enthusiastically embraced the concept created by our design team, so the next challenge was to secure the additional funding necessary to upgrade to a new facility. That came from my Suburban Enhancement Fund, and the rest as they say is history.
Chair, its timely to offer some thank-you’s to those who helped bring this project to reality.
First, the Lord Mayor for supporting this project from day one.
Second, the officer in charge of the Bellbowrie Police Beat, Senior Constable Chris Tetley who initially raised concerns about anti-social behaviour around the old bowl and who worked with Council to include elements in the new design to address this issue.
Third to Shane Klepper, our local Parks Manager, whose advice and support was invaluable. The CPO team for delivering the project.
To the local boarders who were part of the journey from the beginning and whose input was invaluable in creating the finished product, thank you.
And finally to those involved in last Saturday’s opening – the Karana Bellbowrie Rotary Club for providing the sausage sizzle, Council’s Connected Communities team for providing the entertainment and skateboard demonstrations, local Queensland Police officers, 4070 Neighbourhood Watch and Bellbowrie Sports and Community Club for their contributions on the day.
Chair, last Sunday was National Tree Day and like a number of Councillors on this side of the Chamber, and particularly the Queensland President of Men of Trees, Cr. Toomey, I was involved in two local tree planting activities during the morning.
The first was organised by the Pullen Pullen Catchment Group at Anstead and the other was at Cicada Park, Chapel Hill, organised by the Cubberla Witton Catchment Group.
It was great to see so many volunteers out supporting the Schrinner Council’s vision for a cleaner, greener Brisbane.
And on the subject of tree planting in my Ward, it was a pleasure to attend a meeting of the Karana Bellbowrie Rotary Club last week where two officers from our NEWS team, Nic Holmes and Greg Johnstone were presented with Paul Harris Fellowship Awards.
This award is the highest honour that can be bestowed by Rotary and both Nic and Greg were recognised for their many years working with the Club with local tree plantings and the recent District Tree Planting Challenge.
Congratulations to both Nic and Greg and thanks for the great work you’re doing in this space.
Thank you.