17th Mar 2009 | 04:42 pm | Filed under Government
Today the Courier Mail has highlighted Bruce Flegg does not have a congestion plan for our area, just an unfunded “commitment”. See page 17 for the whole article, and once we get an online link for it, we will link to it. Here are some highlights:
- Flegg yesterday confirmed he would get the road built, but admitted there was no money to build it.
- LNP Leader Lawrence Springborg was forced to furiously back away from the promise.
- “feasibility study put the cost at between $400 Million and $770 Million”
Bruce Flegg doesn’t have a plan to tackle congestion in our area – just more empty rhetoric. Bruce can’t even get his own party leader to support it.
There are quicker, better and cheaper measures, which could be implemented quickly to improve traffic in our area:
- Replacing Kenmore Roundabout with Traffic lights -Cost $2 Million, deliverable within 1 year
- Pedestrian overpasses on Moggill Road to keep our kids safe and keep traffic moving – cost $1 to $5 million per location, deliverable within 6 months (for which there is existing funding available)
- Better school drop offs and better school travel arrangements – cost less than $2 million per annum
- More bikeways and cycle paths locally (Brisbane City Council already has a promise to deliver this)
Make your voice heard:
- Email the courier mail at: letters@couriermail.com.au
- phone ABC talkback: 1300 222 612
- phone 4BC: 13 13 32
Sick of spin and lies from Flegg, we need commonsense solutions.
12 Comments to “Courier-Mail article on Bypass and Flegg”
Craig
I just received an Email from Flegg’s website. On transport he has this to say:
SCARE CAMPAIGN ON ROADS
Nothing like a good old fashion scare campaign during election week!
A large number of “crazy” misleading flyers are being circulated suggesting the road reserve thru Moggill/Pullenvale
will be used.
Let me make a few things clear:-
?? I am, have always been and will remain a vocal opponent of building this road.
?? The Government (to the best of my knowledge) are not considering it. They certainly couldn’t afford it.
?? No one is proposing to use that road corridor – this is just an election scare campaign.
?? The “Kenmore Bypass” is a separate issue. I am committed to supporting it. It’s about time we got some
transport infrastructure we actually need.
It will be a hard enough fight just to get budget funding for the 3 kilometre Kenmore Bypass.
We are not being lavished with billions on roads we don’t want. We are actually having a fight to get roads and public
transport we desperately need.
Now, the fliers I have seen have not been ‘crazy’. And if the Government is not planning to complete the full freeway, why are they purchasing land along the route?
Flegg does oppose stage 2 of the road. But how will he stop it once stage 1 is completed? Stage 1 costs up to $770 Million and services perhaps 8000 cars. Stage 2 costs an additional $400 Million and would provide a major national trunk route servicing 75000 cars. My question to Flegg is ‘having spent a ridiculous sum on stage 1, what logical reason can be put forward to oppose stage 2?’ To put this in everyday tersm, if you have spent $7 on a small fries, why would you not spend an extra $4 to upsize the fries and get the burger and drink?
Flegg is deluded if he thinks he can deliver stage 1 and stop stage 2.
Craig
Flegg continues to split our electorate between the western suburbs who may benefit from the Kenmore Bypass (without cost) and the inner suburbs who bear all of the cost and derive no benefit.
But, consider this: Springfield is twice as far from the CBD as Pullenvale. The two factors stopping unrestricted development in Pullenvale are State Government policy and the lack of infrastructure, particularly transport. If Flegg manages to drive a Freeway to Pullenvale the only brake on unrestricted development will be Government policy. How long will you trust Government policy to stop medium density development in Pullenvale? All it will take is for one acreage property to subdivide to see Pullenvale go from ‘Dress Circle’ to ‘The Stalls (partical view obstruction)’.
No-one in our electorate will escape the effect of this monstrous road. For those of us in Kenmore the effect will be immediate. For those in Pullenvale, Bellbowrie and Moggill, over time your suburbs will become synonymous with Morayfield.
Penny
I agree with you Craig.
It is no coincidence that all the correspondence and interviews with the ALP Deputy Premier talk about future growth in the Pullenvale area. As you may know the review of the SEQ Regional Plan is occuring currently. Surprise surprise…
Also in every letter the Deputy Premier drives the ‘knife’ further into Flegg, saying it is Flegg’s fault and his idea.
SOS has also received abusive emails from property developers claiming SOS are stopping them from achieving their dreams of high density development in Pullenvale.
Well I have a message for them. I am not going to stand by and let some selfish money hungry slug put a freeway through my suburbs. A freeway that will result in traffic chaos and the ripple effect of destroying whole suburbs, families, and the environment.
I agree with Flegg on one point - anyone who thinks this freeway will not connect to the Warrego Highway is a fool.
The thing that is so disappointing is the wedge politics being played out and people not understanding the facts of what Main Roads and Queensland Transports research are actually showing. It is obvious that there are better alternatives that could be quickly delivered and at such a reduced cost! That is the outrage - why they have NEVER been considered by Queensland Transport. Main Roads department have proven time and time again that they aren’t capable of looking at these issues objectively.
Sarah
Perhaps we’re expecting too much from Main Roads? Why would Main Roads want to look at public transport…that doesn’t build roads. Maybe there’s a bit of political survival going on in the Department of Main Roads?
I also agree with you, Craig. Flegg is dividing the community and that is poor leadership. When I read that post on moggill.net I saw red, bright red. He happily states that he opposes the road through Pullenvale, and is in favour of the road through Kenmore. What a hypocrite!
Democracy Under Attack
Last night, every anti motorway sign in the kenmore area was stolen. This is how much some people value free speech.
This occured sometime between 9 pm last night and 6 am this morning.
Last night, a flyer was distributed to people’s letter boxes attacking the independent candidate Barry Searle, which was authorised by Bruce Flegg’s campagin. It was dropped in this area within the same timeframe.
This may just be a co-incidence, but people can form there own views. Given the scale of this attack on this area, it is clear it was a part of an orchestrated plan.
Mr Flegg has failed our area by failing to consult, by failing to stand up for local residents, and for failing to have a plan to address congestion locally.
This saturday is your opportunity to let him know - its just not good enough.
Save Our Suburbs
Supporters:
thank you for all your efforts:
the objective of our campaign was to:
-> ensure Flegg did not get a swing above his peers
-> ensure he did not get a majority of first preference votes
-> put him under pressure.
We achieved all three.
Bruce set this election up as a referendum on the bypass. He failed to get 50%, achieving 48.2%. This compares to the 50.7% of the primary vote he secured last election.
His vote went backwards, when the LNP’s vote went forwards.
His primary vote has decreased by 2.5%, in an election when his parties vote across the state has increased by 3.3% (that is, his primary result was 5.8% less than that of his colleagues).
On LNP primary votes, his seat is now ranked 23rd, when it should be ranked 6th, based on historic senate voting across many elections.
In case he tries to describe this as a Brisbane problem, sitting member in Clayfield, Tim Nicholls, secured a 3.5% swing in
his favour, and now has a higher primary vote (49.6%), in a seat that was notionally labor after redistribution.
The seats around this all achieved favourable swings to the LNP, of 2 to 4 per cent.
Most pleasing, Bruce Flegg only got 35% of the primary vote at Kenmore South, a booth he should have got 60% in this election.
Bruce’s support for the bypass has cost him around 1500 primary votes. While there is still more work to do, this is a large kick.
the electorate in this area also punished the ALP with a swing of 7.4% against them, in an election where 4% would have been expected.
It is your efforts that have delivered this message to Mr Flegg and to the Government.
Thankyou from save our suburbs.
SWING VERSUS LAST TIME FLEGG ALP
1 Bellbowrie 0.64 -10.07
2 Brisbane -1.15 -13.05
3 Brookfield -1.34 -7.09
4 Chapel Hill 2.72 -8.76
5 Chapel Hill South -1.12 -3.96
6 Indooroopilly 0.57 -9.29
7 Indooroopilly West 1.37 -5.69
8 Kenmore -1.41 -6.74
9 Kenmore South -14.28 -10.42
10 Moggill -2.09 -5.44
11 Mount Crosby -0.08 -9.05
12 Pullenvale -3.22 -5.17
13 Upper Brookfield -3.32 -3.85
Total Booth - 2.4 - 7.4
Flegg and the bypass are a dud!
Primary Electorate Primary Swing
41.1 LNP state 3.3
49.6 Clayfield 3.5
40.3 Mt Ommaney 3.4
48.2 Flegg -2.4
44.5 Indooroopilly 1.9
36.3 Mt Coot-tha 3.0
The fight for taxpayers, koalas, residents and commuters continues. We will never surrender.
Julie
We will never surrender.
This suburb and all of Moggill deserve better. It’s a white elephant economically. It’s environmental vandalism and will severely impact on all that live here health and well being.
There are better solutions to the Kenmore Bypass, if the current representative and government are to thick to see this, then people power will continue until we get the best result for all.
Sarah
I agree, Julie. The Moggill electorate deserve better and so does the rest of QLD.
If the environmental argument isn’t hitting the mark, then we need to remind them that $1billion is a lot of money for a 3km road to nowhere. Surely there are other priorities in the Smart State?
It’s disappointing that we didn’t bypass Flegg, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up. No Warrego Highway extension through the Western Suburbs!!
Sarah
Uh…I’m not sure if anyone else can stomach to visit moggill.net, but Flegg is stating that he’s been returned for a third time with an **increased majority**?
Marie
Like Sarah, I was amazed at what Flegg has written on his website. Not only was he deaf to our logic and appeals from support from ‘our’ local MP, the poor man obviously can’t read or count properly either. Otherwise he would know the swing was AGAINST him.
I read his statement yesterday morning and actually copied it to email to a friend. At that stage, there was no sentence thanking his supporters - someone had to remind him to do that too and he added it later on.
Take heart Sarah - and everyone else - the swing was AGAINST him (just look at the official Moggill voting figures) and he has slid all the way down to 23rd on the LNP scale.
And there WILL be another election in 3 years (unless Anna takes another short cut and calls it sooner).
Fred
sarah
we know the guy is deaf - he hasn’t listened to anything we have said. Looks like he can’t count either. 48% primary he got this time from the booths is less than the almost 51% he got last time.
But then again, we knew he couldn’t add up. $770 Million into 4000 people using the road in the morning peak - it would be cheaper to buy them all a new range rover (or maybe that is the clown’s next promise).
SEQ REGIONAL PLAN Have your say by Friday 3 April from Julie Hagans
The Queensland Government has asked for public comment on the Draft SEQ Regional Plan 2009-2031
The Plan determines the future of SEQ:
What is developed and what is not.
Which habitat is saved and which is destroyed
The SEQ Regional Plan overrides all other plans such as local plans or master plans.
If you only decide to do one thing for the the environment this year, make a submission today.
I have tailor made submissions ready to go that pertain to the loss of our greenspace and biodiversity in regards to the Kenmore Bypass. Please contact Save Our Suburbs for details or we can deliver to you this weekend.
Submissions close this Friday 3 April, 2009