Meeting with Brisbane City Council

Meeting summary with Cr David McLachlan – Chairman Field Services Monday 16^th July 2012

Lawrie and Ian attended a meeting with Cr David McLachlan to discuss the Shorncliffe Pier in an attempt to clarify what the Council is doing in relation to the Pier. The following points to come out of the meeting

·         The Council is committed to keeping the Pier in its current Design and in the current position; there are no plans to build another Pier.

·         It will be restored in its current alignment, length and width

·         The only change that will be evident will be the placement of concrete piles instead of timber, to ensure that the Pier will not be subject to Marine borer infestation again.

·         The Council will reuse as much timber as possible in the structure, some timber will need replacement.

·         They are currently preparing documentation for a Tender for the work to be undertaken.

·         The Council have budgeted $18000 for termite treatment over the next 12 months, if more funding is needed for this task monies will be made available, they are aware of the need to protect the Pier from the termite infestation and are prepared to spend more if required, they emphasised this as they to do not want any further damage to spread.

·         Lawrie put a proposal to the meeting with regards to upgrading the Wall opposite so that it can be used for fishing and photo shoots e.g. resurfacing and a safety rail along the edges, concern was expresses as to who owns the wall and they have replied to us informing us that it is their responsibility. The Council are now looking at this.

·         Cr David McLachlan has promised to keep this group informed via email.

·         A flyer will be sent out to all residents regarding the Pier; we shall be getting a PDF copy to distribute electronically to all in the group.

·         They are now fully aware of the loss of tourism and the subsequent loss of business to our local community.

They were informed that we are not a political group, but a group of very concerned people whose lives and livelihood has been adversely effected by the now current condition and closure of the Pier. We shall still keep a close eye on what is happening. 

Shorncliffe Pier Buckles

Notice how the Pier is buckling, shows that the Pier is worse than what we have been told 

Click on image to Enlarge

Benign Neglect

Benign neglect – means that I really like you but I am not going to help you, that is what has happened to the Shorncliffe Pier.  In other words successive councils although they show and express kindness towards the Pier, if it falls down, who cares.  If it starts to fall down we will do the absolute minimum to keep it there.

The only problem with that argument is that people do care; we of the Protect the Shorncliffe Pier Group do, there are thousands of years of memories for people who have spent time there. People from all over the world have visited the Pier, thousands of people have had their wedding photos taken near and on the Pier, it cannot be counted the numbers of people who have relaxed there over the years it would be in the millions. It is an integral part of the Sandgate/ Shorncliffe precinct; it is part of the lifeblood of the area.

What is the BCC doing, plan to spend $20million on the Pier over a period of 4 years.

What is happening now to protect the Pier from falling down, very little.

What are they doing in relation to consulting with the people who really care, just fobbing us off, not keeping promises regarding meeting with the councillors in charge. They have generously given us reports to the condition of the Pier, but seem reluctant to talk with us face to face.

It is about time that the BCC practices what they regularly preach, to consult with the people, or are they just all talk and very little action! Can we trust these elected people; I doubt it, definitely not part of a CANDO team. 

Northside Chronicle - Effects on local businesses July 11 2012

This article is reporting the effects of the Pier closure on the local business community and tourism in the local  vicinity. Well written and concise on our situation here.

Click on this link to read the article: Northside Chronicle Article on the effects of the Pier's closure

Sandgate (Shorncliffe) Pier - a young man’s perspective

Sebastian Flynn is a young man in his first year of high school here in Sandgate. He was Sandgate State School’s 2011 Captain. Sebastian’s ‘Shorncliffe Pier’ SOSE assignment/presentation was ‘A’ graded this May, 2012. The pier issue is a topic he chose and researched himself. Read on, and witness how passion for our community is expressed by a younger member of society. His parents have much to be proud of, as does Sebastian.

___________________________

“The Shorncliffe Pier is unsafe and needs to be demolished”. This is what some politicians were thinking about the Shorncliffe pier. Recently the Shorncliffe Pier has been closed off from the public due to it being unsafe. They found some nuts and bolts missing, as well as the wood rotting away and being eaten by Marine Borers. This has affected the community in many different ways. The public was outraged at this and has already taken to action several solutions at what they can do to preserve it for us and future generations.

What’s the issue?-
The main thing that is causing the Shorncliffe Pier to be unsafe is what’s called ‘marine borers’. They are small insects that eat away at the wood to make a place to lay their eggs. This is causing the pier to be unstable and unsafe due to the fact that the pier is almost entirely made out of wood. There were also some nuts and bolts that were found missing or broken.

How does this affect our community?-
The Shorncliffe pier has always been a popular and iconic tourist attraction of our community and an ideal location for fishermen. When the pier was closed there were obviously many people outraged at this. The closing of the pier means many fishermen will have to find a new location to fish further away and less tourism in the area, which means less business for local businesses. Victoria Newton interviewed some of the local businesses close to the pier and they said, “Since the pier was closed, business has halved.” The closing of the pier have affected many people’s lives and changed them for the worse. That’s why people have been protesting to make sure the pier doesn’t get demolished.

How can we preserve the pier for the future?-       
It’s not just about saving the pier now; it’s also about protecting it for the future so generations to come won’t have to deal with the same problem. Lawrie Breitkreutz of the Facebook group ‘Protect the Shorncliffe Pier’ has applied on behalf of the community, to have the pier State heritage listed. This would ensure that the future generations of tourists, locals and fishermen will enjoy the pier for decades, and hopefully centuries, to come. What our grandparents enjoyed our grandchildren can also enjoy.

Sebastian Flynn

Concerns about our Pier from Ros Hutchison

Ros Hutchison

THE SHORNCLIFFE PIER IS STILL AT RISK. 130 years of history and a beloved playground for the community.

The council has told us all to calm down because they plan to 'fix' the pier. But they have still NOT done anything to halt the termites and marine borers despite knowing about them for at least 18 months and closing the pier in March. Of the $20 million they have budgetted for over the next 5 years for the project, $200,000 is all they have for this financial year. Some of that is for termite work but WHEN? We haven't been able to find out. The rest is for 'planning and design'. The real work is budgetted for in 2014!!!

More damage is being done daily. Are they hoping it will fall into the sea? I suspect it after reading their webpage. You don't use 'salvaged material' from a pier that is still standing...

It is our belief, having read the council webpage on the pier, that they do not intend to REPAIR it, but to REPLACE it. By holding off and letting the damage continue, it will rot to the point of being irreplaceable just like they did with the old Hornibrook Bridge.

Their project is called the Shorncliffe Pier Renewal Project and talks of using 'salvaged material wherever possible'.

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.