By Mike O’Connor
Skyring terrors
Those residents who are wondering what the council plans to do about ever increasing traffic congestion along Skyring Terrace and surrounding streets and the impact of the seemingly endless number of high-rise towers being approved have no need for concern.
In response to queries, a spokesperson for the council revealed that “Brisbane City Council has a transport plan for Skyring Terrace and this is factored into the assessment of any development application for the area. This is a long-term vision and subject to future planning.”
So there you have it. Nothing to see here. All under control thanks to the council’s long-term vision.
Not blessed with the council’s visionary powers, your correspondent possesses but a short-term view in which he sees cars from at least a thousand approved apartments in Newstead accessing Skyring Terrace in coming years, a vision that does not consider an application recently lodged for a further 1000 apartments in three towers in nearby Longland Street.
You could, of course, download the council’s Transport Plan for Brisbane and Brisbane’s Inner City Strategy, documents which employ several million words to say “we hope more people catch the bus.” Now there’s a vision splendid for you.
Pet toilets
This column’s suggestion that the neighbourhood is slowly being transformed into a canine urinal caused one reader to suggest that developers should be compelled to include pet toilet
facilities in their plans.
Not such a bad idea, perhaps.
Hard knocks
Everyone has a cost of living complaint so here’s mine. The reverse cycle aircon stopped working recently, exposing your correspondent to the Arctic temperatures of the Queensland winter.
A technician was summonsed who charged $60 to knock on the door and $100 for every fifteen minutes he was on the job. Donations to the Keep O’Connor Warm fund can be sent care of the magazine.
Sub-standard walkway
A petition has been organised complaining that the proposed extension of the riverfront bikeway and walkway from the Teneriffe CityCat terminal along the front of the former Riverside Marine industrial sands site in Skyring Terrace fails to comply with Transport and Main Roads and AustRoads guidelines.
The petitioners say that the current pathway, shared between pedestrians and bikes and the dreaded e-scooters, is running at three times the patronage recommended by the two authorities, is non-compliant and sub-standard and ask that the extension be a segregated facility similar to the Bicentennial Bikeway and Kingsford Smith Bikeway.
Sounds reasonable. What is the point of having standards if they can be ignored when it suits those with vested interests?
Food, wine and queues
Last month’s James Street food and wine festival was a spectacular victim of its own success with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds stretching from the Queen’s Arms Hotel to McLachlan Street and lengthy queues for meals and drinks.
The overcrowding was exacerbated by people who had arrived early, occupied all the available chairs and tables and then draped scarves, jackets and jumpers over unoccupied chairs to reserve them for their late-arriving friends.
As a result many of the tables for six or more were occupied by two people “minding” the table and vacant chairs. We queued for 20 minutes for a beer and then realising the impossibility of ever finding a seat, left.
Note to organisers: Next time get security staff to police the seating arrangements and enforce a no-reserving-chairs policy backed up by appropriate signage.
A breakfast tipple
The random breath testing team in operation in Vernon Terrace, Teneriffe one recent weekday morn was seemingly of the opinion that we locals like to start the day with a champagne gargle.
“Did you have anything to drink at breakfast”? the officer who pulled over my wife asked.
“Not today” she replied with a smile.