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Location: Mt Ommaney | Greetings Members and Associates – GREAT NEWS!
At the Community Cabinet meeting held at Forest Lake on Sunday 29th November, members of the environmental action groups, Centenary and District Environment Action Inc, Friends of Pooh Corner and Save Our Riverfront Bushland met with the Premier and members of the Cabinet regarding a variety of issues.
The meeting resulted in a renewed commitment from the government to work towards turning 200 hectares of land, previously the Wacol Prison Farm, into an area of public open space for conservation and recreation, in the terms of a 2006 promise made by then Premier Peter Beattie. A meeting between the members of the delegation and staff of the Department of Corrective Services has already been scheduled for this Friday 4 December.
The delegation was also able to present its views on a range of issues surrounding nature conservation, including the Wacol Kangaroo Management Plan, koala habitat, the Flinders Peak–Greenbank–Karawatha Corridor and the Southern Freight Rail Corridor, with the result that we expect our environmental concerns to be considered in the development of government decisions.
The meeting was held in sweltering heat which was somewhat relieved by a most impressive downpour while Premier Anna Bligh was taking questions from the floor. That proved difficult so the public was given more time to talk to the ministers and DGs. This meant we had about half an hour with the Director General of the Dept of Environment and Resource Management which was very worthwhile.
Many thanks to Warner Dakin, Ed Parker, Nikki Parker and Elizabeth Ryan who all attended the Community Cabinet. Quite a bit of work went into our preparation beforehand as we only had a 15 minute time slot and had to know exactly who was going to say what to whom.
All in all, a most successful meeting!
In the evening Warner and I attended a reception where we had the opportunity to talk informally to some of the ministers so that we could all get to know each other better. We talked to Premier Anna Bligh, Stirling Hinchliffe Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Neil Roberts Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services, Cameron Dick Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations and Annastacia Palaszczuk Minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs.
During the day we also talked with Cr Milton Dick, Cr Matthew Bourke and local press representatives.
It was a long day but with very good outcomes!
Shealagh Walker
President, Centenary and District Environment Action Inc.
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Premier agrees to honour Peter Beatie's promise of 200 ha at Wacol!
