Brisbane Labor Councillor for Calamvale Ward Emily Kim has put forward a clear 3-stage plan on behalf of her community in this year’s budget submission to the Lord Mayor.
In what is now the Councillor’s second budget submission since being elected, Cr. Kim is demanding urgent action to ‘Fix the Pallara Disaster’, ‘Clean the Streets’, and ‘Connect our community’.
The ‘Pallara Disaster’ refers to the significant traffic congestion issue along Ritchie Road, that the current LNP Council refuses to act on. Kim claims that despite being an amazing community, Pallara is completely neglected by the Council administration, with the Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner refusing multiple requests from Kim to visit the area and see the issue himself.
“…despite BCC’s $4.1 billion annual budget, residents in Pallara continue to lack the most basic level of infrastructure and services, including safe pedestrian connectivity between the two campuses of Pallara State School (located more than 2 kilometres apart), adequate bus stops and service frequency, and critical road upgrades on Ritchie Road.”
The Australian Road Safety Foundation has directly expressed their concerns to Cr. Kim. Upgrades would require significant investment far beyond what the discretionary ‘Suburban Enhancement Fund’ for Calamvale Ward could manage.
In addition to increasing missed bin reports across Brisbane, Calamvale is also a hotspot for illegal dumping, and Cr. Kim believes the amount of rubbish found on the streets of the ward is a disgrace. Shopping trolleys, old tyres, and litter are scattered throughout the community. Cr Kim also notes that public toilet facilities are filthy and not fit for purpose for children, families, seniors and disabled residents who visit our parks. Additionally, there are blowouts on tree trimming times, with waits for inspections (not even the trimming itself) have blown out for up to 3 months.
Last year, the ABC reported that Schrinner LNP Council in Brisbane was failing to meet their own KPIs on tree maintenance and canopy planting across the City.
“My submission aims to deal with this filth and degradation, and ensure outer suburban Brisbane is catered for, not just the CBD and nearby inner-city suburbs”
Finally, Cr. Kim is calling for action on the poor state on most basic responsibility of Council– footpaths.
Calamvale Ward is full of unfinished footpaths, existing footpaths being ripped up by tree roots, unrepaired or poorly patched potholes, muddy dirt tracks that residents are forced to walk on and a lack of disability access.
Combined with inadequate public transport, my community experiences a severe lack of connectivity.
The Brisbane City Council budget will be handed down by the Lord Mayor in June.
