Council adopts advocacy plan ahead of State election

Redland City Council has adopted an advocacy plan aimed at partnering with the State Government ahead of next month’s State election.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the 2020 State Election Advocacy Plan provided a foundation to build strong relationships with the State beyond the October poll.

“This plan is about advocating on behalf of our community for the projects and initiatives they need and to deliver them in partnership with the State Government,” Cr Williams said.

“Key amongst these initiatives are the transport projects needed to help our community get around the city safer and faster, including the duplication of the Cleveland rail line and delivery of the full Eastern Busway from Capalaba to Carindale.

“We are also looking for the State Government to deliver an upgrade to their Cleveland Redland Bay Road, which delivers traffic to and from areas of the city they have identified as key growth areas under their SEQ Regional Plan.

“Council recognises there are existing commitments to upgrade parts of this road and we remain committed to working with the State Government to help deliver the full duplication for our community.”

Cr Williams said the Council advocacy document also sought a State Government commitment to exploring resource security for our islands.

“This is particularly timely given the fact that again our Southern Moreton Bay Islands lost water, which comes on top of consistent power outages to our islands,” Cr Williams said.

“We are also again repeating our call for our islands to be classified as regional under State Government grant opportunities in recognition of their regional challenges.” Cr Williams said the advocacy plan also included key projects to deliver economic recovery in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Council is already working on a number of exciting projects, including a white water rafting and adventure sports precinct, regional sporting facility and hydrogen project, that have the potential to deliver some exciting outcomes and jobs for locals,” she said.

“These projects have the potential to deliver regional and even state-wide benefits and so we are looking to partner with the State to deliver them for our community.

“As part of our advocacy plan, Council is also looking for the State Government to support our local tourism sector, including developing a Moreton Bay Tourism Strategy and delivering infrastructure to help residents and visitors access the bay.

“Our advocacy plan also includes some important social and environmental opportunities we are asking the State Government to partner with us to deliver.”

Cr Williams said Council was also again advocating for better planning laws to meet community expectation – a point that had been made a number of times to the State Government.

“The community has told us they need clearer planning legislation and infrastructure that meets State Government growth and this advocacy plan makes this request on behalf of the community,” she said.

Cr Williams said Council would send the advocacy plan to all candidates contesting the October State poll to request their support for each project and initiative.

“Advocacy is a key part of Council’s role and partnering with other levels of government is critical to delivering for our community, so we will publish the responses of each candidate so the community knows which candidates support these projects,” she said.

To view Council’s advocacy plan, visit redland.qld.gov.au/StateElectionAdvocacyPlan