MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
The 4547 meeting of the Brisbane City Council,
held at City Hall, Brisbane
on Tuesday 13 February 2018
at 2pm
Prepared by:
Council and Committee Liaison Office
City Administration and Governance
[4547 (Ordinary) Meeting – 13 February 2018]
/
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THE 4547 MEETING OF THE BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL,HELD AT CITY HALL, BRISBANE,
ON TUESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2018
AT 2PM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRESENT:
OPENING OF MEETING:
MINUTES:
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
QUESTION TIME:
CONSIDERATION OF COMMITTEE REPORTS:
ESTABLISHMENT AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE
ATABLING OF DEEDS FOR LEGACY WAY, GO BETWEEN BRIDGE AND CLEM JONES TUNNEL
BCONTRACTS AND TENDERING – REPORT TO COUNCIL OF CONTRACTS ACCEPTED BY DELEGATES FOR JANUARY 2018
PUBLIC AND ACTIVE TRANSPORT COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – DELIVERY OF 20 NEW ‘SUPER BUSES’
INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – PORTABLE SPEED WARNING SIGN UPDATE
BPETITIONS – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INSTALL A FULL LENGTH BI-DIRECTIONAL PEAK HOUR CLEARWAY ON KEDRON BROOK ROAD, WILSTON
CPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL IMPLEMENT SAFETY MEASURES TO THE INTERSECTION OF SAMUEL STREET, BOUNDARY ROAD, CHATSWORTH ROAD AND THOMAS STREET, CAMP HILL
DPETITIONS – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL TRIAL THE CLOSURE OF GRAY STREET TO MOTORISED TRAFFIC TURNING OFF MERTHYR ROAD AND MACQUARIE STREET, NEW FARM
EPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INSTALL TRAFFIC CALMING IN COCHRANE STREET, PADDINGTON/RED HILL
CITY PLANNING COMMITTEE
ADEVELOPMENT APPLICATION UNDER THE SUSTAINABLE PLANNING ACT2009 – DEVELOPMENT PERMIT - MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR A MULTIPLE DWELLING (67 UNITS), THEATRE, SHOP AND FOOD AND DRINK OUTLET ON LAND AT 73, 75 AND 77 BRIDE STREET AND 82, 84, 86 AND 90BERRIMA STREET, WYNNUM
BPETITION – SEEKING TO BAN THE DEVELOPMENT AT 724 BLUNDER ROAD, DURACK
ENVIRONMENT, PARKS AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – REGIONAL ECOSYSTEMS OF BRISBANE
BPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL ESTABLISH A DOG OFF-LEASH SWIMMING AREA AT THE END OF DAVENPORT DRIVE, MANLY
FIELD SERVICES COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – GORDON ROAD BARDON DETENTION BASIN
BPETITIONS – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL REMOVE THE SEAGRASS FROM THE MUDFLATS ALONG THE WYNNUM FORESHORE
CPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL REMOVE THE LEOPARD TREES IN DAFFODIL CLOSE, ZILLMERE
DPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL TRIAL THE COOL STREETS PROJECT IN THE DEMIGRE STREET AND NEIGHBOURS NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH AREA, EIGHT MILE PLAINS
EPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL CONSTRUCT A FOOTPATH WITHIN THE STREET VERGE OUTSIDE 58 AND 60 HAKEA CRESCENT, CHAPEL HILL
FPETITION – REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL CONSTRUCT A CONCRETE FOOTPATH ON THE CORNER OF JESMOND ROAD AND GUNNIN STREET, FIG TREE POCKET
LIFESTYLE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION – LORD MAYOR’S CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS 2017
FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
ACOMMITTEE PRESENTATION AND REPORT – NET BORROWINGS – CASH INVESTMENTS AND FUNDING FOR THE DECEMBER 2017 QUARTER
BCOMMITTEE REPORT – BANK AND INVESTMENT REPORT – 1DECEMBER 2017
CCOMMITTEE REPORT – BANK AND INVESTMENT REPORT – 29DECEMBER 2017
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS:
GENERAL BUSINESS:
QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF WHICH DUE NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN:
[4547 (Ordinary) Meeting – 13 February 2018]
- 1 -
PRESENT:
The Right Honourable, the LORD MAYOR (Councillor Graham QUIRK) – LNP
The Chairman of Council, Councillor Angela OWEN (Calamvale Ward) – LNP
LNP Councillors (and Wards) / ALP Councillors (and Wards)Krista ADAMS (Holland Park)
Adam ALLAN (Northgate)
Matthew BOURKE (Jamboree)
Amanda COOPER (Bracken Ridge)
Vicki HOWARD (Central) (Deputy Chairman of Council)
Steven HUANG (Macgregor)
Fiona KING (Marchant)
Kim MARX (Runcorn)
PeterMATIC (Paddington)
Ian McKENZIE (Coorparoo)
David McLACHLAN (Hamilton)
Ryan MURPHY (Doboy)
Kate RICHARDS (Pullenvale)
Adrian SCHRINNER (Chandler) (Deputy Mayor)
Julian SIMMONDS (Walter Taylor)
Steven TOOMEY (The Gap)
Andrew WINES (Enoggera)
NormWYNDHAM (McDowall) / PeterCUMMING (Wynnum Manly) (The Leader of the Opposition)
Jared CASSIDY (Deagon) (Deputy Leader of the Opposition)
Kara COOK (Morningside)
SteveGRIFFITHS (Moorooka)
Charles STRUNK (Forest Lake)
Queensland Greens Councillor (and Ward)
Jonathan SRI (The Gabba)
Independent Councillor (and Ward)
Nicole JOHNSTON (Tennyson)
OPENING OF MEETING:
The Chairman, Councillor Angela OWEN, opened the meeting with prayer and acknowledged the traditional custodians, and then proceeded with the business set out in the Agenda.
MINUTES:
378/2017-18
The Minutes of the 4546 meeting of Council held on 6 February 2018, copies of which had been forwarded to each Councillor, were presented, taken as read and confirmed on the motion of Councillor Andrew WINES, seconded by Councillor Steven TOOMEY.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Mr Jon Okulicz – Request for an amendment to Indoor Sports and Recreation Zoning requirements. Relaxed or removed approval requirements.
Chairman:I would now like to call on Mr Jon Okulicz who will address the Chamber on a request for an amendment to the Indoor sports and recreation zoning requirements. Orderly, please show him in.
Mr Okulicz:Madam Chairman, LORD MAYOR and Councillors—
Chairman:Sorry, please proceed; you now have five minutes—I’ll ask the Orderly to turn your microphone on for you.
Mr Okulicz:Madam Chairman, LORD MAYOR and Councillors. Thank you for this opportunity to speak today. My name is Jon Okulicz, and I’m the owner of Epic Win PT (personal training), a small personal training studio in Newmarket. Given I’ve emailed every single one of your offices, I should hope that you know why I’m here.
I have a PT studio in Newmarket and I’ve had it since 2009. In 2013 I was told that the owner of my building had lied and we did not have zoning. Thus began my foray into dealing with a relocation and the incredible prices of zoning charges. I simply could not afford a similar facility due to these fees, so I had to downgrade my business into a space half the size. With restrictions I could only ever have four patrons in my business from 5am to 5.30pm, and that all business must take place inside.
Yay for approval. But unwittingly my business was handed a slow death, and restrictions effectively made it so that I could never grow as a business and I would likely fold due to being simply bottlenecked by restricted client numbers. I was given off-the-record instructions by my then property manager and owner to just ignore the restrictions and not rock the boat. Just hide, and it won’t be a problem. Well, here I am. It is a problem.
I can’t operate in the park outside due to park time restrictions, and I can’t operate my classes inside because I can’t have more than four people. I can’t use the car park that I pay rent and body corporate fees for. I’ve hired a town planner, but it’s looking like one of my options is that I’m going to have to leave and try and find another space.
Given the current process and the costs, harvesting a kidney to pay for this isn’t an option. Aggressive kidney cancer took one of my kidneys in 2016, and I kind of need the other. My financial options are limited, but let’s be honest: my focus should be on client health and fitness and my own, not battling Council laws and costs that are out of touch with the community.
The zoning costs for setting up a studio are ridiculous. Part of the fee structure is about square metreage. Did you know that the cost per square metre for a gym is $150, and yet the extrapolated cost for setting up a McDonalds or a KFC is less than $16 per square metre? A depressing comparison, I think you can agree. One business is about making a community healthier, tackling an obesity epidemic and reducing the burden on our health system, and the other, well, isn’t. I don’t think I need to tell you which one is which.
The majority of fitness businesses do their best to fly under the radar and operate without indoor sports and recreation zoning because of these costs and restrictions. From an insurance point of view, most fitness businesses may in fact have voided their insurance due to not adhering to the policy that states that all Council permits must be in place and complied with.
It has been brought to my attention that the creation of a taskforce is in its infancy. While this is good news, it doesn’t help the people who are currently under investigation now. Rather than just having a temper tantrum and wanting someone else to fix this problem, I have come up with a number of proposed steps to resolving these issues and thus strengthening small business in the community and ultimately benefitting it too.
One; provide a hold action to all affected businesses until this issue can be fully investigated by this taskforce. A temporary local planning instrument would be a suitable approach to do this. Two; an internal audit on the existing zoning application procedures, those current rules, processes and formulas which are not in line with the community anymore. They need to be amended. Three; a suitable and fair amendment would be to grant permission for us to use industrial properties under 400 square metres without requiring a zoning permit. This could be done by providing exemptions, exclusions, exceptions—call it what you will—which would be a somewhat easier process than changing the laws.
My proposed solutions are sound and realistic. They are rough around the edges, but I think we can all agree that my focus should remain on my own business and not becoming an expert in yours.
There is definitely room for improvement, and I will gladly help Council where allowed. A car manufacturer will freeze or recall a faulty car. Here we have a Council law that no longer functions correctly or at all. The Council’s current approach is reactive and its stance that changing laws is really hard, and thus the poorly fitted wheel on this bus continues to go round and round. If we approached the way that I’ve explained, I think we can fix this wheel and it will be a win-win situation for everyone involved. Or, if the Council feels that the status quo is fine, shall we break the wheel and level the playing field in the other direction where all PT and yoga studios, CrossFit, boxes and other similar related businesses can now be in the position I am now?
Across all 26 wards, that is hundreds of businesses and thousands of employers and employees and tens of thousands of clients—more effectively known as voters. Let me be clear; my reason for coming here is to fix this problem; it’s not to break it further. Given that no one else in the industry is stepping up, it falls on me. So be it. The cycle needs to end. If I have to comply, we all have to comply. But how could we make it easier for everyone to do this? The best solution is to act on my proposals and make these changes so that good hardworking and much-needed small businesses can do their thing and improve this amazing city. Thank you.
Chairman:Thank you, Mr Okulicz.
Councillor SIMMONDS, would you like to respond, please?
Response by Councillor Julian Simmonds, Chairman of the City Planning Committee
Councillor SIMMONDS:Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and thank you, Mr Okulicz, for taking the time to address Council today and outlining what you see as issues for gyms and fitness studios within industrial zone land and right across the city. I appreciate your obvious passion for your business and for the fitness industry as a whole.
In regards to your specific approval, I can inform Councillors in the Chamber that an approval for indoor sport and recreation, being a gym business, was granted on 9 July 2015. The approval has a number of conditions, as stated, including that no more than four patrons can use the gym at any one time between 5am and 5.30pm. The number of patrons was conditioned due to the limited number of onsite car parking spaces allocated to the industrial unit that you are located in, and that other tenants’ car parking spaces were not available to you during normal business hours.
Council also considered it necessary to limit the length of the approval to seven years to maintain the primary purpose of the zoning as industrial land, although you may apply to extend that approval. To ensure a level playing field, it is important that all businesses and residents comply with the conditions of any relevant development approvals, and any non-compliance, when brought to Council’s attention, will always be enforced.
This Administration recognises there is a strong level of demand for industrial land for both industrial and non-industrial uses. However, it is important that we continually strive for a balance that also preserves industry uses as it contributes some 15% of all employment in Brisbane, and is a significant contributor to domestic production and exports.
As you and other Councillors in the Chamber know, I released a draft Brisbane Industrial Strategy in October 2017. As part of this draft Industrial Strategy, Council is looking at the potential to create more worker-friendly industrial precincts, with uses such as gyms, cafes and micro-breweries as ancillary to existing industrial uses. Council is currently seeking feedback on this draft strategy, and I will ensure that the ideas you have proposed today are fed into that process.
I think it is also important to note that, in a number of zones throughout the suburbs of Brisbane, no development application would be required to start a gym. We are simply talking about a situation where you are applying to start a gym which is outside the requirements of that particular zone.
In regards to your own existing development approval, if you would like to amend the conditions of approval, I can certainly provide you with an appropriate person in our Development Services team to assist you in lodging a change application that will then be independently assessed by Council officers. Once again, sir, thank you very much for taking the time to address Council today, and I, along with the Administration, sincerely appreciate the issues you have raised today and the feedback and practical suggestions that you have provided.
Chairman:Thank you, Mr Okulicz. We appreciate you coming in today.
QUESTION TIME:
Chairman:Are there any questions of the LORD MAYOR or a Chairman of any of the Standing Committees?
Councillor ALLAN.
Question 1
Councillor ALLAN:Thank you, Madam Chairman. My question is to the LORD MAYOR. Construction will soon begin on the brand new Bracken Ridge BMX facility, a 2016 election commitment of this Administration, along with a BMX facility at Darra. Can you please outline for the Chamber the next stages of this project, and how it will contribute to our city’s lifestyle and leisure opportunities?
Chairman:LORD MAYOR.
LORD MAYOR:Yes, thanks very much, Madam Chairman, and I thank Councillor ALLAN for the question. Well, during the 2016 election campaign, this Administration, the Quirk Administration, made a commitment to establish two new BMX facilities in our city. Madam Chairman, the BMX facility at the suburb of Bracken Ridge is well and truly into it.
The facilities—these two BMX tracks—attracted a great deal of attention at the time, I recall. In fact, you can go around making commitments that involve a lot of money, and often it is the smaller amounts of money that attract the most attention. So it was with these BMX tracks and facilities.
This Council, Madam Chairman, is committed to embracing new lifestyle and leisure opportunities in our New World City. This new BMX facility on Telegraph Road at Fitzgibbon in Bracken Ridge Ward will deliver yet another opportunity for the residents of Brisbane. This facility will be the city’s first leading-edge BMX track, providing opportunities for local riders to improve their skills and techniques in a world-class facility.
The track will also cater for diverse range of riders, from young children and beginners to professional riders, that will include freestyle jump riding, race training and pump tracks for recreational riding. In September of last year, Council called out to local residents to have their say through the project’s community reference group. Residents were able to share a range of ideas, views and local knowledge to inform the development of the facility. MadamChairman, those ideas are reflected in what is before us in the E&C agenda of Contracts and Tendering today to progress this facility.
In addition to the community reference group, Council also engaged with locals through a community information kiosk where visitors were able to view the draft concept plan and provide feedback on what they would like to see included in that new facility. Following community feedback, the tender for construction of the new facility opened in late 2017, and of course, later today we will be able to announce and vote on the recommendation that PentaCon Pty Ltd be the approved entity, Madam Chairman, to undertake this construction.
The construction of the Bracken Ridge Ward site there at Fitzgibbon, MadamChairman, will begin next week, and Council anticipates completion of the facility by mid to late this year. The facility will include the track, a new shade shelter, signage and landscaping, and stormwater connections to service the new BMX track. The existing car park and toilet facilities at the Skate Plaza and Pool will service the new facility. The commitment in 2016 of $2.3 million also includes a new BMX facility to be built at Monier Road, Darra. That will service the south-west of the city.
Council, Madam Chairman, is currently in the process of finalising the concept plan and the detailed design for the Darra facility, and we look forward to this track being progressed with completion projected to finish in mid-2019. Like Bracken Ridge, the Darra BMX track will cater for all levels of riders, and will be a great recreational asset to the south-east and southside of Brisbane. MadamChairman, this world-class track is just another example of how Brisbane is continuing to offer a new range of lifestyle and leisure opportunities, and make Brisbane our New World City that we seek.