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Cr Hammond uses her general business to whinge about the northern busway being built along Gympie Rd “killing businesses”.
Some talk about emobility, particularly Neuron and Beam e-scooters.
They are restricted between midnight and 5:00 am on Friday & Saturday nights in the CBD and the Valley for safety.
Cr Murphy points out that they have incentive for the use of hire scooters for last mile trips (connecting to public transport). Over 50,000 trips to dedicated parking zones at busway stations and 40,000 trips to ferry terminals in Bulimba and Hawthorne. There are now incentivised fares with reduced prices for people doing this, starting 1st August this year.
Over 12,000 trips went to or from Lang Park for the State of Origin game this year, representing 23% of the game’s total attendance.
Cr Cassidy criticises the inability to use e-scooters for last mile trips in the bayside areas. “Almost no one” is using them for that purpose in the two bayside areas, he says “it’s been confirmed”.
He says they’ve worked on improving where they get parked so they don’t get in people’s way, but he hasn’t seen any wider footpaths or dedicated parking areas in his area (Deagon).
Cr Massey speaks in favour of their ability to get people out of cars and also for tourism. She’s frustrated at how poor the connectivity of paths can be and how dangerous it can be when active transport users are on a path and then get to the end of the safe path. There needs to be a greater focus on these missing links. She also emphasises the problem with where they get parked, particularly on the riverwalk around Kangaroo Point.
Cr Griffiths is concerned about their safety. He saw a scooter user on the road without a helmet. Sure whatever. “What concerned me most was the baby that was strapped to his back.”
He mentions concerns about pedestrian safety on footpaths. “We haven’t really thought this out. We aren’t seeing the spend in infrastructure that I think that we as a city need to do.” He’s worried particular about the outer suburbs away from the CBD. In his ward he has 100 footpaths waiting to be built that he doesn’t have the budget for.
In summing up, Cr Murphy says that they are spending more on public and active transport infrastructure than they ever have before.
Regarding missing links he says “we know this is a city built for cars, we’re retrofitting it for other modes, that’s difficult it will take time and significant expense so there are missing links all over the city that we are endeavouring to fix.”
I wonder how he would respond if the amount this city spends on car infrastructure is pointed out in comparison to active transport infrastructure? Or if projects like Stage 5 of the North Brisbane Bikeway, the connections on Lambert Rd, and Witton Rd, their recent “upgrade” to the intersection between Fig Tree Pocket Rd and Kenmore Rd, or Moggill Rd, and Council’s failure to act on those, was pointed out. NBB was designed and then arbitrarily cancelled. FTP is seeing changes made to the intersection including road widening but somehow there’s “not enough room” for safe cycling infrastructure. The Witton Rd link is one they were told was necessary at the time the Indooroopilly Riverwalk it will connect to was being built, but they haven’t even started consultation on it yet today, over 2 years after the Riverwalk was completed. Moggill Rd is seeing enormous changes to it and is completely devoid of safe cycling infrastructure (paint is not infrastructure).
Cr Collier asks a question about why there are dozens of Brisbane City Council–owned sports facilities that do not have women’s change rooms, and why Council is not putting up the funding to address that issue.
The Lord Mayor waffles in response about a couple of specific places where they already do have women’s change rooms, and then talks about “women in business”.
Uhh, Chair of Council forgot to declare a result after the voice vote on Item A of the Infrastructure Committee report. It was obvious: the ayes have it, nobody spoke up for no. But I’m pretty sure as a matter of procedure he’s supposed to announce an official result…
Cr Mackay continues to show disrespect to Cr Johnston, this time by blowing raspberries at her. The chair called the behaviour out but not the councillor specifically (“whoever made that noise …”) but it was very obviously him. He’s an embarrassment.
Wait, it was him? I actually went back to rewatch that moment multiple times to try and figure out who it was, paying particularly close attention to Cr Mackay, but I couldn’t see any evidence of whom it was.
Hmm, I guess I can maybe see it? Like you say, unfortunately the quality is not very high, so it’s hard to say with any confidence.
Cr Johnston and someone else (maybe Cr Massey?) called him out specifically on Twitter.
Plus he has form: 14/06/2023 minutes (.doc file warning)
Councillor JOHNSTON: The LORD MAYOR stood up in this place and he put out a glossy brochure. He said, there’s going to be a second bridge and he and the Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward are on a unity ticket to see thousands more cars come through our area. Well I’m not—I mean the Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward is actually repeatedly blowing raspberries at the moment, which I think is kind of offensive but, you know, as he turns his chair and turns his back, I mean I guess that’s just how he rolls in this place.
