A septic sonnet
Does sewage by any other name smell the same?
Apologies to Shakespeare but Albion residents are wondering just that after reading a flyer that was dropped into their letterboxes by Urban Utilities advising them that a “temporary monitoring hub” would be installed behind a fenced enclosure in Yulestar Street and be in place for up to two years.
The flyer says this is to monitor “wastewater” in the S1 pipeline. This is one of the city’s main sewage pipes but nowhere does the flyer mention the “s” word, referring only to wastewater.
Wastewater, according to Australian Standards, is spent or used water generated on premises from industrial, commercial or manufacturing activities or animal husbandry activities.
Sewage is what the S1 pipe carries. It comes from households and “contains, or may contain, faecal, urinary or other human waste.”
True story
You might wonder at the priorities and forward planning of the Brisbane City Council which spent $299 million on the Kangaroo Point pedestrian bridge, up from the $190 million originally announced, but says it can’t afford to maintain the Story Bridge without government handouts.
The Story Bridge carries 100,000 vehicles a day and without it the city would quite literally grind to a halt. Suddenly, to its apparent horror and surprise, council discovers that there are rust issues with this vital piece of infrastructure and it can’t afford to fix them.
It’s 84 years old, made of steel and built over water. Rust? Who would have thought?
Hoping for an e-mobility e-xit
It is to be hoped that when the electoral dust settles, the new state government will give some thought to banning e-bikes and e-scooters from footpaths and pedestrian walkways such as the Teneriffe-New Farm riverwalk.
Eight e-bike and e-scooter riders have died in Queensland this year and many more have suffered life threatening injuries with more than 37,000 infringement notices issued.
Queensland has some of the nation’s most relaxed laws covering e-mobility devices with anyone over the age of 12 able to ride one under adult supervision and to go solo from the age of 16.
Among the long list of the previous state government’s thought bubble policies was the handing out of $2 million in $200 subsidies towards the cost of an e-bike to help reduce emissions. What a masterstroke!
I’m one of the many who have experienced near misses from speeding e-scooters on footpaths. As a senior police highway patrol officer said recently, “these aren’t toys, these are basically motorbikes.” The law needs to change.
Culinary happenings
One of Teneriffe’s culinary landmarks, Beccofinos, is to expand into Newstead with plans to shortly open on the corner of Longland Street and Festival Place.
Your correspondent also understands that the baked goods being sold by the recently opened and much anticipated Baker D.Cherico in Newstead are beyond compare. Perhaps, but the day has yet to dawn that will see me queue for half an hour to buy a loaf of bread.
Olympic rationalisations
Where has the year gone? I’ve no idea but its passage has seen more apartments built, more traffic on the roads and more people on the streets with thousands more apartments in the pipeline. You’d like to think that someone somewhere has our best interests at heart but l’ve got my doubts.
Beware the rhetoric that seeks to justify the erosion of life quality and the trashing of planning regulations by trumpeting the “housing crisis” and the need to create a “world class” city for the Olympic Games.
There’ll be plenty of that next year but in the meantime may I wish you and yours a happy and a holy Christmas and if that offends anyone I really don’t care. God bless and stay safe.
