LET US CHANGE THE LIVES OF OUR MUCH LOVED CHILDREN!! Dasera Solutions are raising money for the Mater Little Miracles 5km walk on 3rd June 2012. You can make a difference as every cent counts…. Simply log on to Mater Little Miracles and donate to the Dasera team at http://materlittlemiracles5ks.org.au/dasera_solutions

Sculptor Mark Andrews with his soon-to-be-completed sculpture of 'Gloria" - the wool store ewe

A VISIT to sculpture Mark Andrews’ studio in the Gold Coast hinterland brought immediate surprise at the size and enormity of Gloria, a piece commissioned by Brisbane City Council and destined for the streets of Teneriffe.

Mark put an enormous amount of effort and intricate detail into the stainless-steel commissioned sculpture which many believe will become a tourist attraction for Teneriffe.

Gloria is a wool store ewe, complete with handbag which Mark says, with a wry smile, is “a Gucci original”.

Local artist and former Central Ward councillor, David Hinchliffe, said the sculpture he commissioned from his Central Ward Trust Fund was named Gloria in honour of local historian Gerard Benjamin’s late partner Gloria Grant.

He said Gerard and New Farm & Districts Historical Society president Ross Garnett support the name.

“I think it’s great to have a name for (it) and I think Gloria Grant’s sense of the irreverent would have been tickled. I hope one day that this sculpture will be joined by a ram, perhaps with the name ‘Gerard’ to complete the picture,” David said.

“The whole idea of having sheep sculpture is to remind residents and visitors to Teneriffe that this suburb was built on the sheep’s back. Teneriffe’s magnificent wool stores made countless millions of export dollars in selling wool from outback Australia to the world and shipping it out from local wharves,” he said.

Mark said that, after several delays over two years, due to personal problems, the council decided to cancel the contract which was originally for two sculptures – of a sheep and a ram standing up and with a suitcase reading to board the boat at the Teneriffe wharves.

Mark said that, despite the delays and the tearing up of the contract, he wanted to complete what he had already started – even at great personal and financial hardship.

He said the $7000 he has received, which was the original deposit, would see him deliver the sculpture to the council at an enormous financial loss as his materials alone were well over that.

David Hinchliffe, said he was initially surprised at the amount of detail in the sculpture and, considering what the council had paid for others sculptures Mark had been hard done by.

A happy LNP team lead by Vicki Howard with new State Member Robert Cavallucci, left, and Federal Member Teresa Gambaro

THE Liberal National Party’s Vicki Howard’s win in April 28’s Local Government elections was five years in the making.

Vicki said she had worked hard to turn around a 100-vote loss in Central Ward in 2008 into a resounding victory second time around: “It’s so what I want to do”.

Now about to be Cr Vicki Howard, she defeated Dr Heather Beattie, the wife of a former Queensland premier, and the Green’s candidate Rachael Jacobs to claim victory in the poll in what some in the media described as a drubbing for the Australian Labor Party.

The seat was held by Labor councillor David Hinchliffe for 20 years. He did not seek re-election.

David Hinchliffe said, on his first day of his retirement from politics, the Labor Party had a long road back after the election defeat.

David said that, while he was disappointed for Dr Beattie, given the decision by the ALP’s Paul Crowther to pull out of the race just three weeks before poll date, “the result was inevitable”.

He said that, despite residents and business owners being unhappy with the LNP-led council on important issues such as parking, development, drainage and bus routes, still they “overwhelmingly endorsed” Lord Mayor Graham Quirk and “strongly backed” the LNP candidate.

Vicki Howard, a New Farm resident and mother of two, told the media the win was a long time coming: “I’ve been campaigning since 2007,” she said, describing her electorate as `diverse and wonderful’.

She described the win as fantastic and, despite being overwhelmed with the result and the attention immediately after her win, promised to tackle the “diverse issues” of the ward with enthusiasm.

She also congratulated the LNP’s Cr David McLachlan, from the neighbouring Hamilton Ward, who was returned in another clear result, and said she looked forward to working alongside him in council especially on delivering the policies which would benefit both wards – and on such events as the Teneriffe Festival.

Dr Beattie congratulated Ms Howard on her win and thanked David Hinchliffe for his role in the community over many years and the help he was to her in the election campaign.

Dr Beattie said she would not stand again.

She said she was surprised that so many still trusted the LNP council.

Dr Beattie said that many people were frustrated with the LNP on many issues but returned it to power.

While she said she believed the ALP had a lot of soul-searching to do, Dr Beattie said it was not time to give up.

She said the ALP faithful needed to continue to be part of the community, part of action groups, part of neighbourhood groups.

“We can’t retreat,” she said.

Dr Beattie said she now would focus on spending a lot of time with her 80-year-old mother “who’ve I’ve ignored for three weeks” and then she and husband Peter would look at taking a nice, long holiday.

Over in Hamilton Ward, which covers Teneriffe south and Newstead, it is to be business as usual as the LNP’s David McLachlan cruised to an easy victory ahead of the ALP’s Philip Anthony and the Greens’ Alex Cousner.

Cr McLachlan, said he had to reacquaint himself with his dogs and mow the lawn after spending most of his time campaigning.

He said he also looked forward to working the his colleague over the ward fence in Vicki Howard who he said had worked hard over the past five years to “get the ID necessary” to have the electorate confident she would do a good job as their representative.

Jennifer Lockley & Richard Bodley in their Teneriffe Realty office

THE name Richard Bodley has become synonymous with Teneriffe.

He and his wife, Jennifer Lockley, have “grown up” with the buzzing little suburb on the banks of the Brisbane River and they both want to put it fairly and squarely “on the map”.

Richard’s eyes light up and the adrenalin begins to pump when he is asked to talk about what life is like living and working in the suburb which was only a locality up until a couple of years ago.

“We’ve grown with Teneriffe,” he said adding that Jennifer’s drive and enthusiasm for the area matched his.

The couple, who married 12 years ago, first moved into the area from Clayfield when the locality on the edge of Newstead was derelict buildings and historic wool stores.

Across the road from the offices of his modern real estate business were timber wharves “right up to the road” and railway lines “snaked their way” up Macquarie Street and Paddy’s Market was a thriving enigma.

“No one lived here,” Richard said. “That’s what confronted us.” That was in 1994 – less than 20 years ago. Since then, the area has been transformed, thanks mainly to the Urban Renewal Program initiated by the late Trevor Reddacliff.

Richard said Baulderstone Hornibrook began to develop land along the riverfront and its first project was to breathe new life into the Mactaggarts wool store which was the only such building on the riverbank when he arrived.

Richard and Jennifer became immersed in the development with Jennifer, as an agent with L.J. Hooker, selling apartments off the plan.

That was the catalyst to begin Teneriffe Realty and they opened a shop front in Goldsborough Place – which is across the road from where the agency’s modern office suite is housed in the London Wool Stores.

Richard said some of the residents of the Cutters Landing development upstream on the Brisbane River were originally owners of apartments in Mactaggarts.

He said that, back then, a one-bedroom apartment cost $95,000 and a new two-bedroom riverfront floorplan $195,000. In 2000, the average price was $300,000 and, by 2008, $800,000. Today a wool store apartment costs more like
$1 million.

“Teneriffe has its own vibrant community,” he said adding that it had “a certain demographic” that was attracted to the style of architecture, the style of living and the lifestyle that had been created.

He said it was “a unique area” so close to the city with “fantastic transport infrastructure” with the catalyst for that being the Brisbane River.

“There is no suburb like Teneriffe anywhere in Australia which combined such a flexibility of lifestyle,” he said.

He said development in the area sought to maintain the heritage aspects while transforming Teneriffe into a modern precinct.

Two of Richard’s passions are the annual Teneriffe Festival, which, as its inaugural chairman, he was instrumental in getting started two years ago (and now has a “six-figure budget”), and the Teneriffe Chamber of Commerce, which was launched on Thursday, March 29, at Claret House Wine Bar. The launch was addressed by the newly elected LNP member for Brisbane Central, Rob Cavallucci.

Richard and another name synonymous with Teneriffe – Murray Sutherland from the Basis Group advertising agency – have a strong mateship and forming the chamber was an idea they hatched about 12 months ago.

Richard is the inaugural chamber chairman with Carol Gordon, from the VCC (Valley Chamber of Commerce), the treasurer. Murray also is on the board, along with Ben Pritchard, from Pritchard Planning and Property, Julie Bulle, from Zinc Recruitment, and Lily Dyer, from Claret House

Richard said that being part of the chamber and being on the board of the Teneriffe Festival went some way to giving back to the community which had given so much to he and Jennifer.

“It gives me great satisfaction to give to the community,” he said.

He said the TCC would compliment the recently started Teneriffe Progress Association and applauded the people who had the vision to begin it: “It’s great (starting the TPA). It shows how passionate people are of our community.”

“The association has an important role to play in maintaining the legacy put in place by Trevor Reddacliff; maintaining the integrity of his vision.

“Someone needs to worry about trees, parking, congestion and parks,” he said.

He said the chamber would give business owners in the suburb a forum to meet together informally, “network” and have a collective commercial voice.

The TCC has been aligned with the Fortitude Valley Chamber of Commerce – “a branch in effect”.

He said he had tried to form a business association about eight years ago but there were not enough businesses in the area to sustain it. “There certainly is now,” he said, adding that there were more than 150 prominent street-front businesses trading today.

For further information on the Teneriffe Chamber of Commerce, telephone 3854 0860 or email admin@teneriffechamber.com.au

Dr Heather Beattie tells the media of her bid for Central Ward with the help of lord mayoral candidate Ray Smith

WITH the ALP still licking its significant wounds from the mauling it got in the state election on March 24, the party has turned its attention to the battle for City Hall – which is controlled by the LNP.

Almost before the last of the cardboard voting stands in polling booths had been packed away, the party had moved to ensure defeated Brisbane Central MP Grace Grace’s role in public life lived on, seeking to persuade her to stand as a candidate in the council election scheduled for April 28.

Ms Grace lost the seat the LNP newcomer Rob Cavallucci,

The endorsed candidate for Central Ward, Paul Crowther, voluntarily stood aside for personal reasons and offered Ms Grace the candidacy but the Electoral Commission put an end to that gesture. By law, people who stood for the state poll in 2012 are ineligible to stand for a council seat in the same year. Also, a candidate in the state poll is unable to stand for a council ward until the poll in the electorate in which they stood is declared.

By the time the closing date for nominations for the local government elections closed on March 27, the result in Brisbane Central had not been declared, ruling her out.

Mr Crowther said he was disappointed from a personal perspective he would not be contesting the election as he had worked hard in the electorate to ensure he had a grasp of all the issues facing constituents but it was his decision to withdraw to, in the first instance, allow Ms Grace to stand.

He said that it was too late to reverse his decision once it was learnt Ms Grace could not contest the seat.

Up stepped Dr Heather Beattie, the wife of former Queensland premier, Peter Beattie. Dr Beattie announced on March 26 she would stand in Central Ward, which is described as marginal with about 100 votes having decided the outcome at the last election.

Dr Beattie stressed strongly that Mr Crowther was not pushed to give up his political aspirations. On the contrary, she said. She and several party colleagues had tried to persuade him to stay in the race.

She said that, while she initially had reservations about standing for the seat, she believed the ALP needed now more than ever a strong voice in Local Government in Brisbane.

She took poetic license with the  phrase: Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.

Dr Beattie has not always been as keen. She is believed to have declined an approach by the ALP in 2007 to run against Campbell Newman for mayor – the same year her husband stepped down from Queensland’s top job.

Central Ward is held by long-serving councillor, David Hinchliffe, who decided last year to not seek re-election and to retire from politics to concentrate on, among other things, his paintings.

The race now is on for Dr Beattie to get a grasp on the issues most concerning to New Farm peninsula residents including the lack of parking and the spread of parking meters, traffic management, CityCycle, clean suburbs, development rights and protecting the area’s heritage.

Dr Beattie’s main opponent in the battle is the LNP’s Vicki Howard.

Ironically, Brisbane Central, which Ms Grace lost at the state poll, was held by Peter Beattie until he quit politics in 2007 forcing a by-election which Ms Grace, who lives at New Farm, won.

POWERING through some of Queensland and northern New South Wales’ toughest terrain may not be most people’s idea of fun but that is the cornerstone of David Inglis and Carlos Rolfo’s 27:28 cycling team.

Despite that, team manager David demands commitment and passion.

He is quick to point out that 27:28 cycling is not a club: “It’s a race team.”

27:28 has just launched its new-look team’s assault on the Queensland Teams Series with an expanded list of riders – many of them new faces – and a new captain.

The launch was held at Howard Cameron’s Teneriffe Chiro, on Commercial Road at Newstead, mid-last month and was attended by many of the team’s riders, some of last year’s team who have gone elsewhere and sponsors, which include peninsula businesses Di Bella Coffee and Teneriffe Chiro, and cycling great Henk Vogels who is to provide coaching and training advice and technical support.

Vogels lives on the Sunshine Coast after having returned to Australia following a number of years with the highly successful Fly V Australia team based in the United States.

Team captain, French-born Brit Tom Collier, said the team planned to build on last year’s successful inaugural season at the elite level in the QTS and selected rounds of the National Road Series during which it notched up 70 wins across several age groups and in several different racing disciplines.

Tom, who has just moved from New Farm to Ascot, said the team was  team in 2011. “We had a successful campaign.”

He was the 2010 British Masters Road Race Champion, 2008 4000m Welsh pursuit champion, 1995 junior British 10-mile time trial champion and a Cheshire two-day stage race winner in 2008.

The team has been re-branded team Pensar-Hawk Racing. Last year’s major sponsor Tineli is to continue to supply clothing.

Its elite men’s squad is to ride Unovelo bikes this season as part of the sponsorship deal with ismotion, the Australian importer of Hawk Racing and Unovelo products.

David said he had a three-year plan for the team to become one of the state’s leading teams.

The team began in 2008 when a group of middle-aged men keen to take their cycling further, competed in their first race.

The name 27:28 came about when one of the group was asked what speed they normally rode at: “27/28” (km/h) was the reply and that stuck.

As well being a team developing elite young riders, 27:28 Racing aims to cater for the mature cyclist who has recently discovered the sport.

Two dot points on the team’s long list of goals this year are: 1. To fill the gap left by Peter Thompson who turned professional and the rival Virgin Blue team in the off season; and 2: To beat Peter Thompson.

There are 10 riders in the men’s elite team and seven in the women’s team.

The team also has French rider Maxime Ruphy who is to compete in the under 23 age group.

Among the women riders is Teneriffe’s Nicole Moerig. Her fellow team-members are captain Kirsty Broun, who lists among her accomplishments a podium finish in the Tour of Qatar, Jodie Willett, a former Queenslands elite female road cyclist of the year, Zoe Watters, who has finished second at the Tour of Geelong TT, Ruth Corset, from Townsville, who is a former Australian Road Race Champion, and Katrin Garfoot.

The team has riders spread from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast who are employed as lawyers, engineers, teachers and in bike shops to name a few. Nicole is a high school teacher.

Tom said the team was not a professional one, running on a fraction of the budget of teams such as the new Australian team Green Edge.

Proposal to close Grey Street access

A PETITION is being circulated on the New Farm peninsula seeking signatures to “Make Gray Street Safe”.

Resident Alessandra Chenier is a driving force behind the campaign calling on Brisbane City Council to close the road at New Farm within the next financial year.

Ms Chenier said she planned to send the completed document to Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, sitting councillors and candidates contesting the city council election next month.

Protesters are concerned that motorists are ignoring the “Local Traffic Only” sign attached to a pole next to the old bus shelter on a “quiet, little street” they share with cyclists and pedestrians.

They claim the street is fast becoming “a speedway” for rat runners avoiding the James Street traffic lights.

Ms Chenier said that more than 160 people so far had signed the petition.

People signing the petition had added comments such as “it’s too dangerous for kids”, “rat running is dangerous, someone will get killed”, “as an 82-year old I find crossing the road very difficult”, “many near misses” and “The present situation is very dangerous”.

A public meeting has already been held on the issue. That meeting, held late last year, was attended by retiring Central Ward councillor David Hinchliffe and the ALP’s candidate to replace him, Paul Crowther.

The petition proposes to turn Gray Street into a cul-de-sac on the Gray Street/Macquarie Street end or the Gray Street/Lamington Street end. A “good compromise” would be to close off Gray Street in the middle, in front of the park.

Ms Chenier said Gray Street served the community as a vital link to the Arbor Walk, Boardwalk, Powerhouse, Casa Italia and New Farm Park.

“The street is signed as a shared area for pedestrians, cyclists and local traffic only,” she said.

“Currently, there are no traffic calming constructions on Gray Street. As a consequence, cars use Gray Street as a shortcut to avoid the traffic lights at the James Street intersection and the speeding traffic is diverted into Gray Street.

“The cars coming from Macquarie Street – which is a long, large and straight street – turn into Gray Street at full speed, which presents a danger to all residents, pedestrians, bicycles, parents with prams and children.

“If Gray Street was turned into a cul-se-sac dead end, speeding traffic would stay on the major thoroughfares and make Gray Street safe for its length and location,”
Ms Chenier said.

It has been dormant more than four years.

De Rel Gelato owners Luigi and Franca Accornero said their nine-year-old business, on Brunswick Street, has never been the same since the cinema closed for refurbishment in 2003.

“Before nine or 10 o’clock, everything is closed now but, when the cinema was open, it was alive here. We were open to midnight.

According to 2008 news reports, property developer Dare Power began demolition work on the heritage-listed building only to discover poorly built foundations from the 1970s which resulted in the rear half of the building being torn down.

The Village Twin has since stood untouched while developers try to recover from the setback which is believed to have cost them millions of dollars.

Luigi said he believed the only way to bring people back to the Village was to rebuild the cinema.

To add insult to injury, he lamented over the installation of a roadside CityCycle station, on Barker Street, that eliminated five parking spaces in an already limited area, driving customers away.

“The CityCycle is in a bad place. The next street (Balfour Street) already has a station so we don’t need one here. If a footpath is wide enough, why don’t they put them there?” Luigi said.

Parking meter signs along Brunswick Street were put up in 2011 but have not yet been activated, sparking further parking concerns.

“We need spaces for the benefit of the businesses here because, from 4pm-6pm on, Brunswick Street is a ‘clearway’,” Luigi said. “Now people are being fined if they stay more than half an hour or they have to park far away to get here.”

ALP candidate for Brisbane City Council’s Central Ward, Paul Crowther, slammed the council for not consulting with residents and businesses before installing the Barker Street CityCycle station on the road.

He said the station exacerbated the area’s issues, as the corner continued to lay dormant and create a “drag”.

If victorious at next month’s elections, Mr Crowther promised to assist in restarting the Village Twin development, as well as championing the relocation of the CityCycle station to a suitable footpath – a cost that should be covered by JCDecaux and not ratepayers.

“I know that, in terms of private developments, personal conditions and finances have an effect on your ability to develop. What I want the council to do is to find out if there’s any way to assist in getting this development off the ground,” Mr Crowther said. “If that means allowing some discounts on council infrastructure charges as an encouragement or incentive to start developing, then I think that’s what they have to do. They have to be proactive.”

He said reactivating the “derelict building” was paramount to the success of New Farm Village and the council had a responsibility to help the community.

“The business owners want to see something happening with that corner. If the owner doesn’t have the ability to develop it, maybe he should offload it to someone who can actually do it,” he said. “The whole (of Fortitude) Valley is like this. I’ve already outlined my plan to revalue the Valley which includes incentives like I’ve just explained to get the right developments happening.”

Gertie’s bar and lounge owner, Carrie McCarthy, said the council should step in to help the development, which added nothing to the once vibrant and thriving strip.

“People don’t want to sit on one side of the restaurant because they don’t want to stare at the building and all the graffiti. I hear all the time customers talking about its potential,” Carrie said. “They should make this place look more like James Street but it’s hard to drive customers here because the area is already limited in parking and the CityCycle has barely been used.”

She believed the entire CityCycle scheme should be abolished, as relocating the bikes would only cause issues elsewhere.

An artist’s impression of what the “Dragon’s Teeth” road markings could look like on roads in Brisbane school zones.

ZEBRAS are out; dragons are in if the ALP wins back City Hall at the local government elections later this year.

Paul Crowther, who hopes to win retiring councillor David Hinchliffe’s seat of Central, and Lord Mayoral candidate Ray Smith promise they will enlist the help of dragons to help make Brisbane ’s school zones safer.

They plan to use “Dragon’s Teeth” road safety markings around each of Brisbane’s 309 schools – in the first term. The “Dragons Teeth” are white triangle markings painted on either side of the road, coupled with large, brightly-coloured speeds signs on the road.

Mr Crowther said the markings were used extensively throughout New South Wales.

“I have driven on these roads and you simply cannot miss that you are entering a school zone,” Mr Crowther said.

“The idea came from concerned parents with school age kids and also the many complaints from motorists that the school zones are not clearly marked and subsequently are fined for exceeding the speed limit.

“This project would remove any ambiguity or indeed any excuse for speeding through these school zones,” he said.

The ALP believes the “Dragon’s Teeth” road markings are a simple and cost-effective way to ensure every motorist know exactly when they had entered a school zone and knew to slow down.

It has promised that the Dragon’s Teeth rollout would be completed within four years at a cost of $800,000.

Mr Crowther said the road markings increased the visibility of school zones for motorists and provided a constant reminder of 40km/h speed limit around schools.

The plan would be combined with a $150 million Connecting Neighbourhoods footpaths policy to create safer pathways to schools and safer pathways around schools.

Mr Crowther said anything that improved safety for children around schools was “a great initiative”.

“This is one practical way we can slow the traffic in school zones,” Mr Crowther said.

The Dragon’s Teeth initiative is aimed to complement the State Government’s recently introduced school safety initiatives of standardised school zone times (7am-9am and 2-4pm) and flashing lights on signs.

Paul Crowther discussing plans with local residents

THE Ramsay Health Clinic at New Farm usually receives accolades for helping people get over their hurts, habits and hang-ups but it is being challenged on a number of fronts on planned extensions.

The 90-bed psychiatric private hospital, credited with having turned former Brisbane Lions Australian rules bad boy footballer Brendan Fevola’s life around, is to be extended.

The clinic, which is bounded by Oxlade Drive, Sargent Street and Mountford Road, on the point of the New Farm Peninsula, is owned by Ramsay Health Care, which is regarded as one of the largest private hospital operators in Australia.

The New Farm Clinic was purpose built in 1986 as a replacement for an older facility and recently underwent a major refurbishment and expansion program with an additional 16 beds, additional car parking, group rooms and executive suites.

The original plans to redevelop the remaining section of the hospital would see it expand to 42 beds in a building that was 19m high. Angry nearby residents said the height of the building would ruin the character of the area.

Residents, at a recent public meeting, said they were concerned their “sleepy, little area of New Farm” was to vanish as the clinic grew and became increasingly busier.

Later at a meeting convened by ALP candidate for Brisbane City Council’s Central Ward, Paul Crowther and attended by clinic chief executive officer Ken Craig, Ramsay Health Care’s state development manager Dean Clough and an architect.

Mr Craig said that, in recognition of the “excellent relationship” that had existed between the hospital and the community of the area for 25 years, clinic management had engaged with the community about development “in good faith”.

Mr Crowther said he wanted to ensure the views of all stakeholders were heard and what eventually was constructed was the culmination of those discussions.

The original development application was put to council in August last year.

Ramsay said there was a growing demand for mental health services in Brisbane and the clinic needed to expand to meet that need.

Mr Crowther said it was not his intention to have the redevelopment stopped, which the locals wanted.

“We have already saved a significant fig tree on the site that was planned to be removed and this is a major victory for the local community,” he said.

Mr Crowther said residents received concessions and commitments from the clinic at the meeting on a range of issues including noise levels, landscaping, the building height and maintaining the character of the area.

He said the original plans were that the building would be 19m high. After discussion at the meeting, it was agreed the three-level building would be reduced to less than 14m high. One level would be for car parking.

Eaves would be added to better reflect the character of the suburb and the roof would be non-glare with a darker colour in keeping with others in the neighbourhood.

While residents fear the extra patronage the clinic will create a parking shortage on the streets, little headway was made on that issue.

The small “park” on the corner is to be maintained “as is” and not the large concrete wall as the original plans indicated.

The clinic said there would not be any more day programs after the re-development. The new rooms being built were to compensate for the loss of consulting rooms in the main building, which was to be retrofitted for increased administration.

During construction, the clinic day programs and consulting rooms are to be temporarily relocated to another site.

Concerned residents have formed the New Farm Clinic Neighbourhood Group (NFCNG) to collectively and efficiently express their concerns to Council, planners and the New Farm Clinic.

Any residents wanting further information on the proposed development can contact Paul Crowther on 0411 516 635 or email him at paul@raysmith.com.au