Update about State Budget 2010

The recent State budget contained no funding for the Kenmore Bypass (aka Stage 1 of the Warrego to Centenary Motorway Freeway).  This year, the State Government has delivered the Park’n'Ride at Kenmore with 200 car park spaces for $2 Million to encourage public transport use, and an exclusive right turn into Witton Road from Moggill Road at Chapel Hill has been delivered at a cost of around $1 Million.  This is on top the $40 Million spent on upgrading Moggill Road from Pullenvale Road to Kilkivian avenue and monies expended on integrated traffic lights signalling on Moggill Road and expanded funding for bus services. (continued »)

Kenmore Bypass announcement to come “in May”

From Westside News:

AN official response to the State Government’s Kenmore Bypass study is due to be released in May.

Read more online at the Westside News article. Please keep leaving comments on the blog to alert us as to any news we should publish… help keep your neighbours informed!

Westside news article

Thanks to Westside News for their August 5 article, on page 5. It reports on the change in plan to keep Gem Road open due to community pressure. This shows that community pressure works, and also shows that the Kenmore Bypass is becoming even more of a cash boondoggle than ever before, which will have an even greater negative impact than previously thought. Please take action to stop the Bypass; every bit helps!

Blog post mentioning Kenmore Bypass

Nice to see other blogs taking on this issue:

Bruce Flegg has worked quite hard to be visible but his vision of transport and congestion solutions is exceptionally limited, focussing largely on a Kenmore bypass.  As an educated medical man in an area where education and health are close to people’s hearts, he has nothing novel to say about either. No longer part of the leadership, we cannot expect back-bencher Bruce to have much luck in persuading them to focus on our area and issues.

You can read the rest here.

News article mentioning Bypass

We thank the Westside News for publishing an article discussing the Kenmore Bypass. No matter what our political affiliations, we all need this issue to be visible to the community, and Westside News has been a great boon. Read the whole article here.

Candidates debate 18 March, Uniting Church Hall

Reposting a notice from http://moggill.nnub.net/ . Word is that MP Bruce Flegg has accepted the invitation.

State Election Candidates’ Debate - The only candidates’ debate in Moggill this election

Transition Town: Kenmore District? - Upcoming Meeting: Wed March 18th 7:30 pm? Uniting Church Hall, 982 Moggill Road Kenmore

Candidates Unplugged! Forum topics: Food security — Land use – Transport — Local economy — Energy descent

Sustainable Living forum 8 March 2PM at KSSS

On Sunday 8 March will be a forum on sustainable living at 2pm, Kenmore South State School. Speakers include frequent blog comment contributor Philip Machanick (Greens). More detail at http://greenupmoggill.org/events/.

A contributor’s analysis

John Craig wrote this analysis of the Kenmore Bypass:

I was fascinated to learn from your recent circular of the debate in state Parliament on 10 February 2009 about whether the route of the (so called) Kenmore Bypass had been preserved. (continued »)

Analysis of the Kenmore Bypass

A supporter (who asked not to be identified) sent us this exhaustive analysis of the Bypass. Take a look and leave comments here! It’s a Microsoft Word document. If you don’t have Word you can download a free viewer here.

Koala population drops 40 per cent

The Herald-Sun posted this article about the drop in koala population. Excerpts follow. Note that koalas live in the Kenmore Bypass corridor and would be badly affected. Please urge Anna Bligh to take this into account and find an alternative to the destructive Bypass.

…It is believed there are less than 20,000 koalas now in the wild in southeast Queensland…The surveys reveal that since 2001, koala numbers have dropped by 45 per cent in Pine Rivers….

…[Sustainability and Climate Change Minister Andrew McNamara said] the Government’s current koala plan was not working and the koala population was on the edge of an irreversible decline…

Report on Stage 2 of Kenmore Bypass

Main Roads have moved to Stage 2 of the Kenmore Bypass Study.

It is my opinion, the impact of the options proposed by Main Roads Kenmore Bypass Study are far too great on the environment, individuals and the community to be considered.

At our recent meeting it was suggested that we should not support any of the Main Roads options and draw a line through their options, and instead take the opportunity to list your concerns on the comment section of the form.

From my CRG report you can see just some of the concerns I have of the impacts and the inadequate mitigation attempts by the Engineering company advising Main Roads have proposed. (continued »)

Ronan Lee speaks at our meeting

Ronan Lee, Greens MP for Indooroopilly, speaks at the Kenmore Bypass Walk Meeting hosted by Save Our Suburbs - Kenmore to Karalee. Ronan discusses Main Roads’ proposal for the Kenmore Bypass. You can see the video at http://video.aol.com/video-detail/ronan-lee-speaks-at-the-kenmore-bypass-walk/2955897756/?icid=VIDURVNWS08 .

Article on Bruce Flegg’s phone poll

The Westside news has an article reporting on the results of a phone poll conducted by Bruce Flegg. Please read the full article and leave comments. Many people polled must not know how drastically the Bypass will affect the area, and how little it will actually affect commute times. It is our job to inform people by directing them to the Save Our Kenmore site and this blog.

Notes from CRG Meeting 3 November

Here are my thoughts/notes on the CRG meeting held on 3 November.

Generally my opinion is the Project team will let nothing stop this project.  My input has not been incorporated into the study.  They still have done nothing about a representative from Fig Tree Pocket.  The last meeting will be February 2009.  Politicians are the only people who will stop this project and provide the better alternatives the western suburbs of Brisbane need. (continued »)

Corridor walk was a huge success!

1000 concerned local residents joined wildlife expert and media personality, Ric Nattrass, for a walk through part of the Kenmore Bypass Corridor. A report Ric undertook for concerned local residents showed that should the Kenmore Bypass proceed, it would not take long for all traces of local koalas to disappear. (continued »)

Article in Brisbane Times

Thanks to the Brisbane Times for this article. Here are highlights or see it all here.

Eighty-five homes would be resumed and a local koala population wiped out by a $500 million Kenmore Bypass plan preferred by the State Government…

…the bypass gave time savings of a maximum of only six minutes for local residents using the road…

The plan does not feature a bikeway… Gem Road at Kenmore would no longer be a through road…

See the whole article here.

Kenmore bypass threat to koalas: Westside News

We appreciate this coverage from the Westside News and Courier-Mail about how the Bypass threatens koalas:

A study undertaken by wildlife expert Ric Nattrass has found that land earmarked for felling to provide a high speed, high volume road will interfere with the koala habitat. … “Should the proposed Kenmore Bypass be constructed, it would not take long for all traces of koalas to disappear forever especially from Kenmore to Moggill.”

Let’s counter the comments which are being written online — we too can express our views! Please read and leave comments on the articles here and here. And remember to take our survey!

Impact survey by Uni of QLD

The students at Uni of Qld have asked us to promote an independent survey they are doing into the impacts of the Kenmore Bypass.  They need to complete it to get their assignment finished by November.  Please complete ASAP and ask others to complete it also.  It only takes a couple of minutes and is so important.

Go to http://www.geocities.com/kenmore_sia

Notes from Second Community Reference Group Meeting

These are notes from the Second Community Reference Group Meeting – Kenmore Bypass Study  on 18 September 2008. This meeting largely focused on presenting the studies that are underway and reveal a lot of very interesting, and at times upsetting, information about the process. (continued »)

Northern Link Tunnel Forum report - Also: Greens meeting 5 October 2PM

On 7 August 2008, the West Brisbane Greens hosted the Northern Link Tunnel Forum. Here is a summary of the meeting and links to more resources. Also: The West Brisbane Greens Branch will be hold its AGM and pre-selection for the State electorates of Indooroopilly and Moggill at 2pm on Sunday 5th of October 2008 at the Indooroopilly Library meeting room, Indooroopilly Shoppingtown - all welcome. (continued »)

Bypass plan still on table

From the Courier-Mail:

THE State Government has resurrected a controversial Howard government plan to build a road bypass across the Brisbane River in the city’s west.

The so-called Goodna bypass was understood to have been mothballed when Labor won the federal election.

The Rudd Government instead opted for a billion-dollar upgrade of the treacherous Ipswich Motorway.

But now the state’s Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt has admitted in a letter that the Goodna bypass is back on the agenda.

Click here to read the full article on the website

Underground plan for Brisbane

From the Courier-Mail:

AN underground rail system for Brisbane’s CBD is now being considered by the State Government following a year-long feasibility study into the project.

Transport Minister John Mickel’s spokesman this morning confirmed the subway option was a possibility.

The confirmation came after Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg announced he would consider public opinion about moving the inner-city rail network underground if elected.

Click here to read the full article on the website

Suburbs hit as city thrives

From the Courier-Mail:

PEOPLE living in suburbs on Brisbane’s outskirts remain highly vulnerable to soaring fuel and housing costs.

However, some inner-city suburbs are coping better than five years ago, says Griffith University research.

A report by Griffith’s urban research program found Brisbane was dealing much better with higher costs of living than Sydney, Melbourne or Perth, where socio-economic stress was creeping into inner suburban households.

Click here to read the full article on the website

Updated presentation of issues and alternatives

Penny and Grant have updated the main presentation of the Kenmore Bypass issues and alternatives. It’s a good way to review things from a high level. Check it out! If this link does not lead you to the PDF, try this one instead. If you need a reader for the PDF document, you can get it here.

Koala extinction article

There is an article about koala extinction threats in our area:

“We do have to provide wildlife corridors, we do have to protect open space and with the rate of urban growth in the south-east corner we’re losing big parts of their habitat.”

New video by Sarah Atkins

Thanks for the new effort, Sarah!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0y8uj_LHNE

Green light for traffic system

This is a great article. It is one of the suggestions I raised 10 years ago as a way to improve travel times on Moggill Road. It is making a huge improvement to travel times. Now we want the rest of the suggestions. (continued »)

New video by Sarah Atkins

Sarah has made another video for YouTube!

Living near roads ‘bad for kids health’

There is an article in the Sydney Morning Herald which may be of interest:

Children who live near busy streets and highways have more respiratory problems and hay-fever allergies than children who live in more bucolic settings, according to findings of a group of German researchers.

See the rest of the article here.

Neighbourhood Watch invites everyone to attend 20th anniversary: 29 June 11AM, Akuna St Park

The organisers of the Neighbourhood Watch 20th anniversary event would like everyone to know you are more than welcome to attend.  It is this Sunday 29th June, at Akuna Street Park (Moggill Road end) from 11am to 2pm.

There will be a $1 sausage sizzle and lots of attractions and displays including the Fire Brigade, SES, Police, Kenmore South Primary School, Kenmore History Group, Girl Guides, Brisbane City Council, Vintage Cars, Lupus Sufferers Society, Tai Chi, Craft Groups and lots more.

Please be aware you are encouraged to attend by Neighbourhood Watch.