Councillor’s Comment - Tamborine Mountain News

Amanda Hay, Division 1

These are my own personal views. I do not purport to speak on behalf of Council. Decisions of Council are made only by majority vote, legislative authority or under authority delegated by Council.

Congratulations – to local OAM recipient Jeanette Lockey, who has worked tirelessly for the local community for decades. The Fassifern Guardian paper (available at our local newsagency) printed an excellent article on 12 June which highlighted Jeanette’s life and contributions. Well done Jeanette.

Budget discussions continue, and at the time of writing several groups are yet to present their submissions to Council at a Special Meeting on 24 June, with the budget to be adopted at a further Special meeting on 28 June. These meetings are live streamed.

Unauthorised signs – you will have seen them everywhere – on Energex poles, traffic signs, trees and anywhere else they can be erected at night and with a ladder but without approval. These constitute visual pollution. Please let me know when you spot one and I will arrange to have them removed. If a sign does not contain a business name/ABN and the phone number stated does not come up on Reverse Lookup, the chances of the “business” being legitimate are slim, so please exercise due diligence prior to engaging these potentially fly-by-night people in roof restorations or bitumen reseals. Please also exercise a large degree of scepticism when asked to pay a deposit for an item advertised on facebook. A recent example: a canny purchaser asked for proof of identity/address from a vendor and was provided with a copy of a valid Qld driver’s licence, paid the $800 deposit and then found that the licence had been stolen. Also ask to see proof of ownership before purchasing motor bikes, generators or large items.

Landbanking – significant parcels of productive land on and near the Mountain have been acquired and allowed to fall into an unproductive state, there being far greater potential income from future subdivision/development than from agricultural crops.

Recent local issues/complaints – many enquiries to Council re using dwellings as bed & breakfast accommodation, drainage issues, the large double-fronted and graffitied sign near Hang Gliders – reported; dog issues; overgrown allotments (which may harbour fire ants); unapproved functions including weddings outside the approved activities on certain properties.

Short-Stay Accommodation Taskforce Report – Brisbane City Council – released June 2024. Objective: “To ensure that where this form of accommodation is offered, residential amenity of long-term neighbouring residents is not negatively affected”. This report was 12 months in the making and can be found at www.brisbane.qld.gov.au I intend to pursue the creation of a local law for SRRC as this was found by the Taskforce to be the most effective mechanism to address the amenity issue – we are after all primarily a residential area.

Animal Management (Cats & Dogs) Act 2008 – further changes to come into effect mid-2024. “Stronger Dog Laws: Safer Communities” 5-year project underway. I am now a member of the Taskforce.

Our local parks – I have visited most of our many local parks recently and have found them to be in a well-maintained state, which is down to the excellent work of Council’s outdoor staff. Hang Gliders would benefit from the ability of some visitors to actually walk the extra couple of metres and utilise the rubbish bin rather than the verge as a rubbish repository.

Out and about – The Clydesdale Spectacular at Boonah – an excellent annual event which offers the type of unique experiences visitors flock to our region to see; Eat Local Month continues; Council Works Depot breakfasts with a 6.30am start; site visits to the Scenic Rim Equine Centre, Boonah and the eye-opening Kalfresh vegetable processing facility at Kalbar.