KURILPA FUTURES NEWSLETTER – JUNE, 2020
June, 2020 – In this Newsletter:
- The Highs and Lows of Politics
- West End Ferry Terminal Update
- South Brisbane Transport and Mobility Study
- Updating Boundary/Vulture St Planters
- Queensland Walks
- Lil and Jo – Two Remarkable Brisbane Women
The Highs and Lows of Politics
Local Government elections saw no change to our elected representatives.
Cr Sri won with an increase in primary votes. Kurilpa Futures looks forward to continuing to work with him as our local government representative.
Likewise, Cr Schrinner won another term as Lord Mayor, and his LNP team were returned as the primary party in the BCC. Kurilpa Futures wrote to the Lord Mayor seeking his support and action on local issues. Click here to see our letter of congratulations.
The news of Jackie Trad’s standing down as Deputy Premier and Treasurer came as a surprise to many. Without the full facts, and in keeping with our non-partisan approach to local matters, Kurilpa Futures wishes to acknowledge that Ms Trad has listened to us, and delivered significant infrastructure to our suburb: an extension to West End State School, a new high school, and the South Brisbane Transport and Mobility Study.
Kurilpa Futures’ objective is to redress the “apartment blocks only” approach to development of the Kurilpa Peninsula. We seek the provision of the vital, missing, public infrastructure including parks, affordable housing, schools and transport. We wish to thank our local members, both council and state, for their support in the pursuit of this objective.
West End Ferry Terminal Update
A ferry terminal at Victoria Street has been promised since 2010, but on 19th May, a petition of 700 signatures calling for the City Cat terminal was opposed by Council. There is to be no ferry but several days later Council said it may be built “some time in the future”.
This is very disappointing. Kurilpa Futures rejects Council’s argument that West End has better public transport than elsewhere in Brisbane and so there is no need for the ferry terminal. The Kurilpa Peninsula has had massive and rapid population increase, with a further quadrupling of population to 50,000 over the next 20 years allowed under the current South Brisbane Riverside Neighbourhood Plan, so a nexus between the development and new public transport must be respected.
Kurilpa Futures shares this disappointment with many unit owners in West End who were told of this commitment before they purchased their homes.
South Brisbane Transport and Mobility Study
In November 2019, the State Government released the South Brisbane Transport and Mobility Study Report. The study was proposed by local State member, Jacki Trad, MP in 2016 at the campaign forum that Kurilpa Futures ran prior to the State election. So, as a group, we are extremely interested in the content of this study. You may remember participating in an online survey of the ‘hot spots’ for transport in 2018. The trigger for the SBTMS was the unfettered unit development without any associated improvements to transport infrastructure in the peninsula.
There were 40 recommendations focused on active transport improvements (walking, cycling and public transport).
Kurilpa Futures believe the following recommendations should be given priority:
- corridor studies to enhance walking, cycling and public transport movements for Montague Road, Vulture Street ad Dornoch Terrace as these are the major roads within the peninsula.
- the introduction of a 40 kph speed limit throughout the peninsula
- a new ferry terminal in the vicinity or south of Davies Park
- management of emergent travel modes such as electric scooters.
Most actions require a partnership between the Council and State Government in order to achieve the best and most cost-effective outcome. Kurilpa Futures supports a partnership approach to be applied to the implementation of the SBTMS recommendations.
But we wish to hear from you. What do you think? What are your priorities? Please let us know by email to kurilpafuturesgroup@gmail.com. For more information you can see the Report at the Department of Transport and Main Roads website, and our Summary of the recommendations, and what we think are priorities.
Updating Boundary/Vulture Street Planter
In November 2018 Kurilpa Futures, under the guidance of John Mongard, updated the planters in Boundary and Vulture Streets. The planters now need refreshing again. We invite you to join us to maintain the greening of Boundary Street. Everyone is welcome on Sunday morning, 28th June at 9.00 am.
If you’d like to help please contact us at kurilpafuturesgroup@gmail.com
Queensland Walks
Kurilpa Futures has a fellow traveller in the advocacy group Queensland Walks. This community group believes walking can make a positive change to individuals and communities. This month they launched the Queensland Walking Alliance and Kurilpa Futures attended.
Many people have found the benefits of walking during our lock down. We have all seen more people walking, often enjoying informal chats, sharing a joke and just being outside in our parks and on our streets.
Queensland Walks is very keen that people keep walking once life becomes more ‘normal’. It is important not to lose the benefits and sense of wellbeing from walking.
Queensland Walk has written to State and Local Government politicians asking them to prioritise active transport projects with the Corvid 19 stimulus package funding. Click here They are asking everyone interested in “having wider footpaths separated cycleways and pedestrian-friendly street as the norm” should join us and write to your local and state politicians.
Kurilpa Futures will work with Queensland Walks to improve the shade trees, wider paths and improved safety for walkers in the Kurilpa peninsula. If you would more information go to www.queenslandwalks.org.au.
Lil and Jo – Two Remarkable Brisbane Women
While the Mayne Inheritance is well-known to Brisbane readers—and the associated sites of the Wesley Hospital and The University of Queensland—the legacy of Dr Lillian Cooper and Miss Josephine Bedford is not so well-known. Most Brisbane-ites are unaware of the contribution they made to the life of our city’s citizenry. Yet from the youngest children to those in palliative care, Brisbane families continue to benefit from their skills and passions; their work in establishing playgrounds for inner city children and a hospice for the aging would sit comfortably on any agenda for a Kurilpa Futures planning meeting.
Josephine Bedford arrived in Brisbane in 1891. With the city growing rapidly, Josephine noticed that the inner-suburbs, with their unpaved and unsewered streets, were unsafe for children to play. On an extended trip overseas, Josephine studied the concept of ‘supervised play’ and returned to Brisbane in 1918 to help open two supervised
playgrounds (in Paddington and Spring Hill). She was instrumental in founding the Crèche and Kindergarten Association in 1907 and the Playground Association in 1913. Of particular interest is the establishment of ‘supervised play’ and playgrounds for the children of impoverished Brisbane families. The Bedford Park and Spring Hill Playground (a heritage-listed playground at 8 Love Street, Spring Hill, designed by Frank Gibson Costello and built from 1927 onwards) commemorate Josephine’s outstanding contribution to Queensland children. Lilian Violet Cooper (1861-1947), came to Brisbane in May 1891 with her lifelong friend Josephine Bedford, and in June became the first female doctor registered in Queensland. After a two-year contested professional boycott, she was allowed to join the Medical Society of Queensland in 1893, and later became an honorary in the Hospital for Sick Children and the Lady Lamington Hospital for Women. In 1905 she became associated with the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and stayed with it for the rest of her life. In 1926 she bought a house called Old St Mary’s in Main Street, Kangaroo Point. Lilian retired in 1941 and died in her home on 18 August 1947, leaving all her assets to Josephine.
To commemorate the work of Queensland’s first female medical practitioner and her lifelong companion, Josephine Bedford donated their historic home, “Old St Mary’s”, at Kangaroo Point to the Sisters of Charity, on the proviso that it
be used to build a hospice for the sick and dying, now St Vincent’s Private Hospital.
In the late 1800s, Josephine was passionate about establishing green play spaces for children, while Lilian cut a tall determined figure on her cycle around the city. With their commitment to small inner-city parks and safer active transport options, how we wish they were here in 2020 as Brisbane city continues to grow.
Read more about these two remarkable women Lilian Cooper and Josephine Bedford.
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