In the lead up to Brisbane City Council’s June budget, Councillors must submit a ‘budget submission’ to the Lord Mayor on behalf of their communities, highlighting the most pressing local issues that require investment.
Brisbane Labor Opposition Leader and Councillor for Deagon Ward Jared Cassidy is again fighting for overdue projects long ignored by LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, as well as new projects required to accommodate for the growing community.
Recently, Brisbane’s LNP Council moved ahead with the Sandgate Precinct Plan, which would allow medium-high density developments around the Sandgate Town Centre. However, they rejected a proposal from Cassidy to include an affordable housing target and inclusionary zoning trial, arguing that supply alone is the only way to stabilise unit price growth.
In the letter to the Lord Mayor, Cr. Cassidy accused the Lord Mayor of not using the rates collected from ratepayers by way of better infrastructure and service delivery, noting that several suburban projects remain unfunded.
A local survey organised by Cassidy found that just 16% of respondents believed they were getting good value for money from Council.
He also points out how Council’s staff levels are lower now than three years ago, which impacts on services and projects.
Another contentious issue is the Lord Mayor’s insistence that councillors increasingly rely on the discretionary Suburban Enhancement Fund (SEF) to fund typical Council infrastructure such as road upgrades, footpaths repairs, and park maintenance. However, this fund has not risen in line with inflation for years.
We recently toured Deagon Ward with Cr. Cassidy who showed us the biggest Council priorities according to his community:
- Increased investment into drainage, particularly the Brighton Catchment and full funding of recommendations post-investigation. Introduce telemetry gauges in Cabbage Tree Creek, CCTV and electronic signage to assist with early flood warnings.
- Widening of the Brighton Foreshore footpath after federally funded park upgrades. Council has topped up a footpath upgrade for the Wynnum foreshore, and Cassidy believes it’s only fair to do the same for Brighton.
- Ongoing maintenance of Dowse Lagoon, a RAMSAR site of international significance. Cassidy calls Council’s current lack of maintenance ‘appalling’.
- Fast track funding for the O’Callaghan Park Masterplan, fast becoming critical as PCYC plans to invest $6 million at their Zillmere site ahead of the 2032 Games. Cassidy says the current approach of leaving volunteer run clubs to organise major upgrades is a failed one.
- A boost to staff and funding for equipment in the mosquito spraying team.
- Sufficient staff across Sandgate and Zillmere Libraries and reversing cuts to the First Five Forever program.
Cassidy concluded his letter highlighting that Brisbane has become Australia’s most expensive city for housing and urged the Lord Mayor to pull more levers at Council’s disposal to help address the problem.
“This is a shocking legacy for your Council, and I implore you to work to find innovative solutions to this problem. This will require more work with community housing providers, peak organisations and the community, in addition to the development industry.”
“Council budgets should be about people and communities, not just glossy pages of big projects, that inevitably disappear.”
The Brisbane City Council budget will be handed down in June this year.
