Keeping Brisbane Clean, Green and Sustainable

NEWSLETTER 1 – MAY 2017

Northern Wetlands

EnvironmentCentre

Keeping Brisbane clean, green and sustainable

I am pleased to advise Brisbane City Council is currently in the early design stages for a new environment centre in the northern suburbs.

The purpose of this project is to establish a new environmental learning centre to showcase the ecological significance and values of Brisbane’s northern wetlands and its connection with Moreton Bay.

The centre will be built at the site of the existing Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre. It will teach people about the ecological significance of the Boondall and surrounding wetlands.

Being a showpiece environment education centre for Brisbane’s northside, the centre will establish a creative, learning and play space where visitors can explore, discover and be inspired by the area’s diverse wildlife and landscapes. This centre is part of my commitment to keep Brisbane clean, green and sustainable for our children, and their children to follow.

This centre is part of my commitment to keep Brisbane clean, green and sustainable for our children, and their children to follow.

The existing Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre

Since the current Boondall Wetlands Environment Centre facility was first relocated to the site 20 years ago, the approximately 90-year-old timber building has undergone a number of changes in an attempt to keep up with visitation numbers, community expectations, staff safety, and workplace health and safety requirements.

The design of the new environment centre will incorporate the existing structure into the new facility.

What will it be like?

Visitors to the new environment centre will be able to:

relax in a natural setting with family and friends

discover fascinating insights about the wetlands

learn about the wetlands in playful and interactive ways

be inspired to explore the wetland trails

come away with a special appreciation of the wetlands.

Exact features of the environment centre are yet to be decided.

The environment centre will be accessible to all Brisbane

residents and will be free to use.

What else does Council do to keep Brisbane clean, green and sustainable?

Together, we’re keeping Brisbane on track for a sustainable future, to make our city liveable for our children and their children to follow.

Council is 100% carbon neutral.

8000 hectares of bushland have been preserved.

Brisbane has 35% natural habitat, on track for 40% by 2031.

Brisbane has 2100 parks, with more created all the time.

Across Brisbane, more than 2 million new trees have been planted since November 2007.

Protecting international migration

Moreton Bay is included in the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention), which aims to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve, through wise use and management, those that remain.

Since 1998, Council and the City of Narashino, Japan, have had an agreement in relation to the protection of migratory shorebirds – The Narashino Agreement. This agreement was recently re-signed when the Mayor of Narashino visited Brisbane in February 2017.

Shorebirds fly the East Asian-Australasian Flyway route stopping off at Boondall Wetlands and Yatsu Higata Tidelands each year.

Preliminary project timeline

Community involvement is an important element of this project. Council has started gathering technical information and will involve residents, schools and community groups as the project progresses. Council will soon prepare a draft concept plan for the environment centre and community feedback will be sought on this plan in mid-2017.

There will be a number of ways to have your say, to ensure that everyone can be involved. To find out more or to register your interest to receive project updates, you can:

call the project team on 1800 669 416 (business hours)

email

write to Northern Wetlands Environment Centre project

City Projects Office, Brisbane City Council

GPO Box 1434, Brisbane QLD 4001

visit and search for

‘Northern Wetlands Environment Centre’

Brisbane City Council

Information

GPO Box 1434

Brisbane Qld 4001

Paper from responsible sources

CA17-110325-01-2442

© 2017 Brisbane City Council

or

call (07) 3403 8888

facebook.com/BrisbaneCityCouncil

@brisbanecityqld

instagram.com/brisbanecitycouncil

For more information or to register for project updates, please call the project team on 1800 884 681 or email

Community feedback

Council has received feedback from the community and a number of common themes have been raised. The below table summarises the feedback as well as Council’s response to this feedback.

Community feedback / Council’s response
Questions about the purpose of the project / Council is undertaking this project in response to community concern for the safety of pedestrians crossing Cavendish Road. The increasing popularity of this part of Coorparoo, both for pedestrians and motorists, requires the improvement of the existing facilities in the area. The aim of the project is to deliver a safer crossing option for pedestrians. Council investigated many options and determined the signalisation of Cavendish Road is the best option in delivering a safe crossing point.
Questions about location of the new signalised pedestrian crossing facility / Council undertook an analysis of current pedestrian movements and identified the existing pedestrian refuge is located on the desire line (i.e. preferred path) for the majority of pedestrians. The new signalised pedestrian crossing is located along the same desire line, in close proximity to the existing refuge, which will encourage pedestrian use of the safe crossing facility.
Suggestions to provide pedestrian signals at the existing pedestrian refuge location / While this was Council’s original preferred option, it did not meet engineering guidelines for vehicles exiting left from Goring Street and Marriott Street as motorists will not have adequate sightlines to identify pedestrians crossing at the traffic signals.
Suggestions to provide new pedestrian signals between the shops on Cavendish Road (west of Goring Street) / Due to design requirements for clear sightlines, this option requires substantial parking removal in front of businesses and relocation of the outbound bus stop, resulting in additional parking losses. This location is also a significant distance from the preferred crossing point for the majority of pedestrians, and moves the bus stop further away from the crossing point. Placing a crossing in this location is likely to lead to pedestrians crossing at non-signalised locations along Cavendish Road, and decreasing safety in the local area.
Suggestions to signalise the intersection of Cavendish Road and Marriott Street / This option would have the greatest impact on traffic congestion on adjacent streets as the signalisation of Marriot Street would require the closure of both right-turn-in and right-turn-out movements from Goring Street, which has a higher volume of traffic.
Suggestions to signalise the intersection of Cavendish Road and Goring and Marriott Streets / The signalisation of both intersections would cause significant delays and congestion to motorists on each approach due to the complexity of the signal phasing and size of the intersection.
Concerns about requirement to remove right-turn movement into Marriott Street / Council avoids placing restrictions on its road network, where possible. A number of scenarios were investigated for this project, however, the current location for the signalised crossing was considered the best solution based on motorist and pedestrian safety. Retaining the right-turn into Marriott Street would require vehicles to turn through traffic queuing to turn into Goring Street with limited visibility of oncoming traffic. This right-turn movement is considered unsafe and will be restricted for the safety of all road users.
Concerns about increases in traffic in adjacent streets and the ability for these streets to cater for this growth / Traffic analysis has indicated there will be no significant change to current traffic conditions at adjacent streets. Council will continue to monitor traffic in the local area following the completion of the project and will provide further improvements, as required. Council will deliver the additional traffic improvements outlined on the first page of this newsletter including improved line marking, traffic islands and advanced warning signage in adjacent streets off Cavendish Road as well as liaising directly with local residents in proximity to Kanumbra Street to discuss opportunities to improve the street layout.

Project Timing

Phase / Start date / End date
Project consultation / Late February / Late March
Project review / Late March / Mid-April
Community information sessions / Early May / N/A
Construction / Mid-May / Mid-2017

Council will liaise directly with local residents in proximity to Kanumbra Street to discuss opportunities to improve the street layout in coming months.

Community information sessions

The project team will be available to answer questions you may have about the upgrade at community information sessions. Please refer to the table below for date, times and locations.

Date / Time / Venue
Thursday 4 May 2017 / 12pm-2pm / St Stephen’s Anglican Church
343 Cavendish Rd,
Coorparoo QLD 4151
(Hall located at the back of the Church, entrance to carpark
from Stirrat Street)
Thursday 4 May 2017 / 5pm-7pm / St Stephen’s Anglican Church 343 Cavendish Rd, Coorparoo QLD 4151 (Hall located at the back of the Church, entrance to carpark from Stirrat Street)

For more information

To find out more about this project, you can:

• phone the project team on 1800 884 681 (during business hours)
• phone Council on 07 3403 8888 (after hours)
• email the project team
• visit Council’s website at and search for ‘Cavendish Rd and Goring St intersection upgrade’
• write to: Cavendish Rd and Goring St intersection upgrade City Projects Office, Brisbane City Council GPO Box 1434, Brisbane Qld 4001.