Debra Yesberg Letter to the editor

Debra Yesberg wrote a letter to the editor of the Courier Mail and was published on the 10th July 2012.

Below is the original letter I submitted to the Courier Mail.
Dear Editor,

I am a member of the Protect the Shorncliffe Pier group. We had a rally on Saturday morning down at the pier, to try and reiterate to all concerned residents of Brisbane, that the promise made by the LM Graham Quirk, was not a promise to restore the iconic 130 year old pier. From the engineers reports, that have been obtained from Council, there appears to be plans afoot to demolish the pier and build a [soul less monstrosity] replacement in it's stead.

Why are we so upset about a pier? The Shorncliffe pier is one of the last of its kind - a deep water pier. It is one of the longest in Australia and has history written into every one of its timbers. It is a scenic spot as well, for fishing, for photography and just for a slow amble with the kids. It's not unusual to stand on that pier and look down to see dolphins looking up at you.

Brisbane has already lost Cloudland and the Belleview, the Hornibrook bridge was allowed to rot until it had to be demolished and the same is coming for the pier unless action is taken to stop the rot. Already a significant downturn in trade is being felt as the tourists and fishermen head elsewhere. Chatting after the rally, visitors from WA and the UK came by and expressed disappointment. A young family who had driven right across town to take their little boy out on the pier were also disappointed.

But more important - what are we leaving for our children? Go to Melbourne and you can see history... go to Sydney and you can see history. What of Brisbane? We have precious little to leave the kids to see now so why lose more?

There is still time to save the pier, if steps are taken to halt the termites and borers NOW. Since closing the bridge 3 months ago, NOTHING has been done to halt the continuing damage.

I would like this brought to the Brisbane community's attention. There was an engineer's report prepared for council in July 2011, advising council that the pier was in bad shape then. What happened to that report? Mr Newman was the LM at that juncture. Was it put on the back burner because he did not want any adverse publicity leading up to his run for Premier ? These reports are available for anyone to read. So now that all the council election furore is over and the new LM has handed down his budget, why is work still idle on the Pier ?

Only $200 000 has been allocated in this financial year and that is for planning and design. No real money is planned to be spent on the pier until 2014. Too late...

Why has only a miniscule amount of that $200 000 been allocated for pest treatment? We know why. The council is hoping the old Pier will do the right thing and collapse due to lack of attention and save the Council the trouble of lying to the community any longer regarding their intentions towards the Pier. It is past time for the Council to do the right thing by the rate payers of Brisbane and the people who elected them in the first place.