Be part of the solution

As part of the State Government’s review, it has encouraged councils to engage with their communities and Redland City will be the first to do so through a month-long conversation which will inform the Redlands Local Government Infrastructure Plan to be developed next year. It is clear that transport congestion is a major issue but it is not the only issue. We want to hear what affects you the most and your views on how all tiers of government can alleviate them.

It is important that this conversation is driven by the community to ensure all concerns are canvassed and opportunities and ideas addressed.

At the end of it, Redlanders will have led the formation of a plan for problems which need fixing now, as well as safeguards for the future that the city can work towards through advocacy, lobbying, partnerships or funding.

Council has long pushed for major infrastructure such as duplication of rail services to the Redlands and extension of the Eastern Busway but these are neither within the scope of a city of our size to fund nor our responsibility. We want to know how important projects such as these are to Redlanders. We also want to hear your views on whether we should be prepared as a city to look for ways to fund major infrastructure ourselves, whether that is in the form of a loan from the state or capitalising on business growth generated by having more attractive infrastructure. No issue is too small or too big. As part of this conversation, there will be a series of forums in November headed by independent experts who will lead discussions on a range of transport and planning themes. They promise to be informative and, above all, engaging. They will be held across the city to give as many people as possible a chance to be involved.

In the meantime, Council is working on a cross-border connectivity project with Brisbane City Council and the

State Government, as well as building the business case needed to attract the funding needed to provide for our needs.