The Redland City Council has already started to turn The Transit Hub at Redland Bay Marina into a picnic place for tourists at the expense of all islanders. Our rates are being used by the council for the enjoyment of mainlanders whilst leaving us stranded without our cars which we need to travel to work, appointments, essential shopping and socialisation on the mainland. This is likened to the car parks at all train stations in Queensland being cleared out and made into scenic picnic grounds. What would train commuters do without parking? We, the islanders, also need our parking.

 

In 2018 we were promised 2,000 car spaces for islanders and 400 shared-use car spaces by the Redland City Council and now those plans are scrapped. Instead, the council plans to make 1,200 car spaces for shared-use at the expense of existing car parking infrastructure - completely cutting off parking availability for our 7,000 residents. In addition, the council has seen to rezone of nearby areas and approved high-density apartments flooding our streets with even more cars. Our islands cater to some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community and the council plans to cut off critical connections to the islands. They plan to make it even more impossible to find parking and shift the problem to proposed commercial projects that hold inaccessible commercial rates - a critical strike to our pensioners, disabled and vulnerable community members.

 

Our islands, Macleay, Karragarra, Lamb and Russell Islands, are situated near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. We have a combined population of approximately 7,000 residents many of whom are frail and/or in the lower socioeconomic status. Our residents need to travel regularly to the mainland for work, appointments, shopping and socially isolating issues. We catch ferries to the mainland and some 1,200 use their mainland cars to travel to their daily destinations. Those who can,  catch buses. Islanders pay for their travel and they pay the same rates as mainlanders. Our transit hub, where the ferries arrive and depart, is like a train station where private cars are used for transport to mainland destinations.

However, despite it being a Transit Hub the Redland City Council has decided to and have started building a shopping centre. Our parking spots will be gone.  Imagine if councils scrapped the car parking at train stations and, instead, built shopping centres there! Incredibly, this is what we are up against.

 

"Redland City Council have provided parking for SMBI (South Moreton Bay Islands) for over 30 years.

Without the required parking many people would not have moved here.

These existing use rights cannot be simply taken away because RCC & developers want foreshore $$$$.

This is at the islander’s expense."

~ Gayle Nemeth

 

"As the population of our Bay Islands continues to grow, the parking spaces available, consistently fail to meet the demand.

With the Weimar Creek PDA proposal and construction already underway it is an increasingly dire situation and action to change the PDA is critical to the future of our islands."

~ Julie Bow 

 

Already, there are not enough parking spaces for essential workers needed on the island.  Doctors, teachers, police, paramedics and support care workers are ringing their employers on the islands despairing that they are unable to get to the islands due to no parking available.  This is a real crisis and councillors are not listening. 

 

You can find out more information about the issue, including a video of our presentation given at one of our local halls to over 600 people, on our website https://OurParkingSpots.com

Please support us by leaving your name.  The more people we have behind us the better. 

 

We have a goal to reach 1,200 signatures - the same amount of signatures as there are proposed car spaces for everyone in that area to share. If you live on the islands, work on the islands or have friends or family on the islands and know how incredibly difficult it is to find a car space, let alone in the future as our population booms, then please sign this petition and share with anyone and everyone you can. We must get the council to hear us because we don't have much time to stop this development!