Sue Brooks December 23rd, 2008
I can’t help but smile on reading the wonderful pages devoted to Santa courtesy of Air Services. It’s nice to have a rest from the trials and tribulations of the past few months and simply enjoy the peace that this time of year can bring to us.
I’m sure you will enjoy this site be you young or simply young at heart! http://mirror.airservicesaustralia.com/santa08/santa.asp
Sue Brooks December 22nd, 2008
I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy Christmas and New Year holiday season. I am off to the shops to finish my Christmas shopping and then to concentrate on some rest and relaxation I hope that this time of year is a joyous one for everyone and that it brings you a time to relax and be content. I am lucky to be able to share Christmas with my partner Graham and my daughter, and to know that my son is safe in Harbin, China. He gets to experience a very ‘white’ Christmas with temperatures below freezing at this time of year.
Thank you for your support throughout the year and for your interest in community issues. It is pleasing to note that the great majority of comment I receive via this site is positive in nature. My last post was a bit ’scathing’ I have been told so I look forward to stepping back and having a rest during January. My New Years resolution is to get less upset about negative media stories!
I do want to wish all of you a peaceful time. Graham and I are most likely to try out some of the ’staycation’ offerings and be tourists within our own region this year. Aren’t we lucky to live full time in a region that so many other people can only holiday in! Lucky us!
Do take care, drive that little bit more slowly to arrive safely into the New Year.
As always, many cheers, Sue
Sue Brooks December 18th, 2008
David King works tirelessly for this Council and I think it is irresponsible to cast him in such a negative light as is done via the front page of our daily. I personally have never felt that ‘my house is under threat’ due to any decision I have ever made during my time as a Councillor and cannot believe that the Chronicle sees fit to publish such stories. David King provides legal advice to Council (not to individual Councillors) as that is his job. It is my experience that if a Councillor requires his or her own personal legal advice then Mr King advises us to seek independant legal advice.
A letter writer also seems to think that staff providing advice to Councillors somehow constitutes poor meeting procedure. Staff are employed to give professional advice to Councillors and thank goodness that this advice is available to us. No Councillor, in my experience, is an expert at every aspect of Council operations. As a Councillor I appreciate the advice given to me. if I disagree with it I can do so. I am not bound to accept the advice provided to me but I hasten to add that in the vast majority of cases I do agree with staff recommendations. This ability to shift through the professional advice given to us and make decisions in the best interest of the community is, in my opinion, the chief role of a Councillor. In other words it is what a Councillor does day in day out.
Lastly I did not ask Cr Nioa to ‘be quiet’ as I recall. When a Councillor is speaking then he/she ‘has the floor’ and should not be interrupted other than by the chairperson or another Councillor calling a ‘point of order’. At the meeting in question neither of these things occurred. I simply asked Cr Nioa if she wanted to contribute as I thought she was making hand gestures out of my line of sight while I was speaking about my reasons to not support the water park development application. My recollection is that Cr Nioa was simply trying to call the attention of the Mayor so that she could speak next. I simply thanked her. I did not ask her ‘to be quiet’ as she had not made any noise! What a ridiculous amount of good newspaper space taken up by such trivial matters. A big fuss out of nothing which does nothing more than undermine the public confidence in this Council.
Sue Brooks December 16th, 2008
The writer (a resident) asked Keith if he was happy for his email to be circulated and he replied that he was happy for this to happen.
—– Original Message —–
From: Morgan, Keith
To: **** Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 10:05 AM Subject: RE: FTS
Dear **** , Firstly the discussion may not be really useful as we no lomger plan to build at Maryborough and have withdrawn our Development Application. In my last email I wanted to highlight not the commercial success but rather the fact that we have provided 50 additional jobs in our area in the last three years. This to me is the most valuable measure. The history is that members of both the old and the new councils have visited our site at Parafield to assess activity levels and noise. All were impressed by the low impact. It could be argued the vehicle traffic on the highway near by has a greater impact. In July 2007 we advertised an information day to be held at Maryborough Airport in both the Fraser Coast and Maryborough news papers and then flew two aircraft to Maryborough. We also had a letter box drop in Maryborough. I think it was Sat 14 July we were there to answer all and any questions and we took anyone who wanted to go flying for a fly in our new Diamond DA42 twin engine training aircraft. We received overwhelming support. Even from some people who came with serious objections were happy to hear the noise first hand and see it measured. As I said, all left content. I think we flew about 150 residents on the day. I saw this as a responsible and transparent approach to inform and involve the community. In response to your questions, had we continued with our plans: * Will the take off and landings be carried out from Hervey Bay airport? Yes. The primary visual circuit training would be at Maryborough. We would have had an Instrument Landing System Approach (ILS) installed on the runway at Hervey Bay. This would allow practice ILS approaces where the aircraft lines up with the main runway at 13 miles out 3000 ft then flying and landing to the east on a steady straight line decent to the threshold. There would be occassional visual circuit traffic at Hervey Bay with the aircraft always landing into the prevailing headwind which is typically Sout East. Some touch and go circuits would be required but the aim was to use all runways in the region to spread the activity. If so, estimated amount per day? We planned around 100 movements per day to be shared with all alternate airports other than Maryborough. A movement is a touch and go, a take off or a full stop landing. Remember these are only small, light training aircraft. * What curfew will be placed on night time flights? Ab 11 pm curfew would be imposed. Training would not take place every night. In a typical 200 hour syllabus there may only be about 15 vto 20 hours of night flying – some of it cross country navigation. The student do however have to learn to land safely at night. * What flight paths, if any, are to be used? Aircraft always try to take off and land into wind. Circuits are usually flown at 1000 to 1500 feet above the airfield around a race track pattern on one side of the runway. The aircraft take off and climb straight ahead to 500 feet. they then turn crosswind and continue their climb to 1000 feet. They establish downwind parallell to the runway about a half a mile displaced. They fly downwind to allow enough distance to turn, decend and line up on finals to land or touch and go. The track over the ground will often vary depending on strength and direction of the wind. The ILS traffic will fly the straight in approach from 13 miles.
* What control over the trainee pilots will be used in the airspace above Hervey Bay? The low level airspace above Hervey Bay is uncontrolled. Aircraft used published procedures to maintain visual separation from each other. Our aircraft are also equipped with a collision warning devise as an extra safety feature. This warns the pilot if another aircrat is in close proximity. The current level of activity at Hervey Bay is such that with only a modest increase in passengers and movements, Air Services Australia may review the need for controlled Airspace and the introduction of a Control Tower. Thank you for your interest. I believe the project would have delivered considerably more benefits than disadvantages to the community and in the interest of the majority of the rate payers. This however means little now as the project has be stopped. Very best regards, Keith
Sue Brooks December 13th, 2008
I think I am nearly immune to sensationalist Chronicle headlines but then I awoke to the front page effort last Thursday. Cr Nioa and I actually exchanged early morning emails to see if we had been at the same meeting! There was no spat. Each of us spoke up about our views on the development application for the water park. I was against it because of the sensative nature of the site and the number of trees destined for the chop. I wanted the park located further East. Cr Nioa spoke for the current proposal. I was the only no vote.
There was no antagonism, no nasty name calling and indeed each Councillor who wanted to speak for or against the motion did so in a clear and articulate manner. I thank Ms R. Skinner who wrote a letter that was published on Friday for also questioning the highly emotive and ridiculous front page headline. Our Council meetings generally run smoothly with an adherence to manners and protocol. If anyone takes the time to read Hansard I can assure you that your local Councillors don’t lower themselves to the spiteful name calling and unnecessary personal attacks that is heard within the halls of our State Government leaders!
I don’t want to even try to guess the motives behind such media reporting so I ask that residents please don’t believe these headlines. There was no spat. These headlines do nothing to promote a sense of community spirit and confidence in our Council. No we are not perfect and yes these times have been turbulent and frequently unsettling but on the whole I think everyone has achieved well under the circumstances.
To use an analogy. When a blended family comes together, for example, two parents and their respective children from previous relationships, there is an adjustment period. Even when two people start living together under the one roof there is an adjustment period which entails learning about each other and deciding on the best way to accomodate each others needs. This is an ongoing process of learning, adjustment and compromise. We have joined 4 Councils together and are going through this very same process. I think we are well on the way to the needed adjustments and compromises and, to quote a song line, ‘times will only get better’.
So I ask our local print media to please provide some accurate and balanced reporting. Our community deserves it and the opposite does nothing to instill pride and confidence and a sense of rolling up our sleeves and working together. Let us be free to express our differing points of view, but at the end of the day, we must compromise, stick to the issues and respect each other. I think we are doing this very well and I am sad that the media does not see the need to assist this process but rather seems focussed on dividing our cities and causing undue hurt to some very good and hard working people.
Sue Brooks December 10th, 2008
Media release.
Councillor Sue Brooks is concerned that Fraser Coast mainland residents want to attend the Dingo forum on FI. She says “The Dingo forum being organised by the RSPCA at Eurong on Monday, is designed so that the RSPCA can hear first hand from Fraser Island residents. The RSPCA is concerned that, despite the public reaction after recent photographs showing a dingo with ribs protruding was published, they have received no specific information from locals which could assist their investigation”.
Cr Brooks is very concerned that many people she talks to tell her that in years gone by dingos on Fraser Island weren’t ’skinny’. She says “While I don’t have the personal experience about the dogs on Fraser Island, time after time, people tell me that in the not too distant past no one ever saw a skinny dingo. I want to see an independent enquiry to properly assess the condition of the dingos on FI”.
Cr Brooks says “The RSPCA do excellent work throughout our community and I am sad that some people are blaming them for not protecting the dingos. The RSPCA is not responsible for this situation and has been working closely with the EPA and QPW to have any welfare concerns addressed. I am very pleased that they continue to listen and investigate the community concerns by conducting this forum’.
Cr Brooks asks that residents await further information from the RSPCA after the forum. “Please don’t try to get across to the island to attend the forum unless you have first hand experience of the dogs on Fraser Island”. While we all have opinions and believe we know what is best for the dogs the RSPCA is compiling factual details about the condition of the dogs. Let’s support them and provide them with factual information that they can use. You can email the RSPCA at cruelty_complaints@rspcaqld.org.au or write via RSPCA Qld Inc, PO Box 6177, Fairfield Gardens QLD 4103
If necessary I will ask for a forum on the mainland but lets wait and see what outcomes we receive from the Monday FI forum.
Sue Brooks December 7th, 2008
Hear the story of Steve’s three journeys along our Rivers. Includes wine and cheese (at Fraser Coast events), musical entertainment by Jon Vea Vea, comedy, campaign update and a free Love, Mary book to all adults. Entry $10 adults (includes copy of the book) , free for children. Let’s show support for Steve by having a big turn out at these events.
Monday, 8 December – 6:30pm, Urangan Community Centre, Elizabeth St,
Tuesday, 9 December – 6:30pm, Maryborough Town Hall
Wednesday, 10 December – 6:30pm Kandanga Hall
Sue Brooks December 6th, 2008
Contrary to newspaper headlines I have an excellent grasp on the issues surrounding the flying school because I have been continually briefed as to the progress of negotiations as have my fellow Councillors. I am sad to say that while journalists often do totally understand my point of view and, I am sure, write their stories with every intention of providing an accurate and balanced analysis of facts, they are at the mercy of sub editors and editors. Editors often sensationalise and selectively alter stories to create the headlines that ’sell the paper’.
This was the Council initiated process outlined here as per a unanimous Council decision -
Minutes of the FCRC Ordinary Meeting No. 8 held on Wednesday 6 August 2008 Page 21
#843588
ORD 15 CONFIDENTIAL
ORD 15.4 Flight Training Queensland
RESOLUTION ( Dalgleish / MucKan )
That:
1. the Chief Executive Officer be delegated power to commence negotiations on lease terms with Flight Training Queensland for the provision of an Airline Pilot Training Facility at the Maryborough Airport.
The negotiations will not be completed until satisfactory resolution of the following matters –
a) obtaining the relevant exemption pursuant to section 492(1) of the Local Government Act 1993, in relation to the lease to Flight Training Queensland from the Minister for Local Government, Planning & Sport;
b) the applicant (Flight Training Queensland) obtaining all relevant development approvals for the project; and
c) the lease terms including commercial lease payments.
2. the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to engage a relevant company to undertake a Risk Assessment and develop a Risk Management Strategy for the project to ensure that Council takes all appropriate steps to either mitigate, reduce and/or manage the likelihood of identified risks for Council consideration.
3. Regular status reports be provided to Council on the progress of the negotiations and resolution of actions 1(a) to 1(c) and 2 above.
4. Prior to finalisation of the lease negotiations a report be brought back to Council for consideration and approval within three months.
Carried Unanimously
Councillors were awaiting the report to come to Council which would have occurred prior to Christmas. The report would have outlines the pros and cons and contained advice to Councillors in the form of a recommendation on how best to proceed.
No Councillor has stood up within the Council Chamber and formally asked for this process to be changed which is what one does when one isn’t happy!
Now that the development application has been withdrawn I look forward to the details of the negotiations prior to amalgamation and post amalgamation being made available.
Sue Brooks December 2nd, 2008
I am so tired of reading about Councillors Dalgleish and Muckan whining about the HBCC Planning Scheme within the pages of the FCC. I await a motion coming from either of them to amend the scheme or to review the delegations Council has given to the CEO. The new FCRC decided on these delegations. Councillors are then bound to support the majority decision. If Councillors aren’t happy with these decisions the correct process to follow is to raise a motion in Council. The silence is deafening!
