Category: General news

Six residences in Spring St, West End now convert waste from the Boundary St food precinct into eggs and vegetables, building the dream of a sustainable urban environment.

“We can sit and make plans for a zero waste suburb or we can go out and do stuff … or both” says Buzolic.  “Planning feels a lot better when you’re doing something as well.”

This time last year Buzolic approached Charlie and Liz’s Fruit Shop on Boundary Street to see if they were wasting their waste.  And what do you know – they were.

“The good folks at Charlie and Liz’s are very community minded, always helping out with events like the Kurilpa Derby.  Good deeds are the best form of advertising but they didn’t even look at it that way  – if they could help then they would.”

“Be careful what you wish for” says Buzolic “They became so effective at channelling their waste in my direction there was a point when I couldn’t cope with the volume.  That’s when I had to enlist the support of my neighbours.  There started to be so much compost my chickens and worms couldn’t keep up with it and it was piling up in the back yard.  So I letterbox dropped the street to get some help.  Now, while the Council is busily removing rubbish from our street I’m delivering it!”

Buzolic and his neighbours love the results.

“I don’t know if there is a financial benefit” says Buzolic, “but  I want to live in a community where people interact.  I want the local fruit and veg shop and my neighbours to get to know each other and work together to make our collective lives better.”

“The system is simple” says Jamie, who works and Charlie and Liz’s.

“Adrian brought us a new rubbish bin and I make sure all the fruit and vegetable rubbish goes in there.  He comes in every day with his bucket and picks it up.  But sometimes it a whole bin full so I send him away to get his truck.”

“I help out too”, says Matthew, Jamie’s offsider, “I think I’m stronger than Adrian so I lift the bin into his ute for him.  We don’t want the poor old guy to do his back in.”

There are now six residences that benefit from Charlie and Liz’s generosity and there is an estimated 1000 litres of organic material a year that no longer has to be transported out of the local community.

“The eggs from my chickens are not just free range; they’re happy eggs from happy chickens.  I’d like to think that the bright yellow of their yolks is the happiness shining through but I’m told that it’s the green leafy material in their diet.  They’re so bright I can almost see to read by them at night time”.

Do you know of someone who is taking the initiative with a community recycling project or some other project?

Readers wanting to recycle their organic waste can visit Jane St or Paradise Park Community Gardens.

With less than 12 months to go until the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) is progressing with our security preparations.

More than 30 Internationally Protected Persons will be attending the Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane, as well as 4,000 delegates, 3,000 media representatives from across Australia and the world.

Around 5,000 police officers will also be based in Brisbane during the Leaders’ Summit.

The G20 (Safety and Security) Act 2013, which was recently passed through the Queensland Parliament, will allow police increased powers to effectively protect the dignity of the G20 meetings, and providing a safe and secure environment for residents, members of the public, business owners and infrastructure within our community.

Members of the QPS G20 Group External Engagement Team have started liaising with members of the public, residents, business owners and infrastructure providers, as well as protest/issue motivated groups (PMGs/IMGs), to give information about how the declared and restricted areas under the legislation may impact them.

As the G20 Leaders’ Summit draws closer, the External Engagement Team is aiming to liaise with everyone who may be impacted by the security arrangements for the Summit.

Within the Legislation, there are 12 restricted areas which incorporate delegate meeting and accommodation venues. The restricted areas will be clearly marked, and will only be accessible to people with Commonwealth accreditation passes. It is expected that there will be some impacts in the immediate areas surrounding restricted or motorcade areas as part of the Leaders’ Summit.

The broader declared area spans from Bowen Hills to Kangaroo Point and South Brisbane and Woolloongabba. G20 powers will be applicable within this declared area for a specified period of time and within this area, people will be able to go about their business as normal with minimal impact. There will be no signage or delineation indicating that people are entering or are within the declared area.

It is expected that there will be some changes to both rail and bus services through the declared area in the week leading up to and during the Summit, however planning is still ongoing. As details are confirmed, information will be provided to people within impacted areas and the wider community.

Detailed maps of the declared and restricted areas along with a link to the legislation are available at www.police.qld.gov.au/G20

If you have any questions regarding possible G20 impacts, please email the QPS External Engagement Team at G20.info@police.qld.gov.au or call us on 07 3015 3460.

Westender columnist Sidonie Bouchet has been banned from facebook – much to the disappointment of her 207,000 fans.

Her internationally popular facebook page Soul Sex has offended the faceless folk at facebook by posting a picture of a sculpture of an indigenous woman gathering roots by digging in the ground. The woman’s breasts are exposed which triggers the “naked sculpture” definition of banned content.

The official notice from facebook offered Sidonie the option of having her page deleted for ever and bans her from any activity on facebook for one month. Here is their actual wording.

“You recently posted the above post which violates Facebook policies, so you’re temporarily blocked from posting for 30 days. Would you like to remove your page?

“Nudity and Pornography – Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved. We also impose limitations on the display of nudity. We aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo’s David or family photos of a child breastfeeding.”

Sidonie is, of course, welcome to keep posting to the Westender.

Her article on Twin Flames – is your sexual partner your soul mate?, summarises another facebook controversy the writer found herself in recently. You can read the article on page 15 of December’s print edition, or read the full version live online.

Boundary St markets organiser Fred Drake is praying for a break in the rain as the markets enter their third weekend.

Last week’s high temperature and humidity saw crowds thin out a little in the afternoon but the stall holders remained optimistic, assuring Westender that “markets take time to build” and that “no-one controls the weather – not even Fred!”

The $3 parking on the Absoe property in Mollison St is a big drawcard for punters and assuming the rain clouds do break as the bureau predicts it could be a great place to do the Christmas shopping.

The markets are open from 7:00am until 2:00pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Straws in the wind – three sites that will carry West End’s future

From the middle of last century, West End has welcomed successive waves of migrants. The latest wave of change, however, has been economic.

Within the peninsula there are sites that have the potential to either advance the suburb or, equally, to undermine its future. Proponents carry a very real responsibility.

North by North West

City Council has recently declared the process for master planning the 26 hectares of riverfront from the milk factory down to the concrete plant in Montague Road. The sheer scale of this land so close to our river and city underscores its significance. It lies in the middle of flood prone lands, thus demanding a responsible and sensitive response.

Smack bang in the middle

The second site on our watch list is the current ABSOE location on Boundary Street. This collection of industrial and heritage buildings will be an attractive canvas to the creative developer, with imagination enough to embrace the values and spirit of West End. The project will also fundamentally shift the centre of gravity on our main street.

Central Park

The third site, although not large in square metres, is equally as significant. The small lot at 68 Vulture Street was declared public open space by City Council in 2011. It was just one of three new parks identified by council (See councillor Abraham’s story – this page) to meet the extra 25,000 residents projected for growth in the neighbourhood. The Lord Mayor deserves credit and support for delivering on the legal planning scheme, notwithstanding 11th hour lobbying from the owners of the longstanding dirt car park.

As the increased density of extra residents is approved by Council, the pressure on urban social infrastructure increases. Parks, even small urban open spaces, are essential. Lord Mayor Quirk deserves our support in his efforts to deliver this one small space.

These three developments are illustrative and emblematic of the urban development of our exciting suburb. They deserve your attention, ideas and comment.

Readers of Westender enjoy a regular breakfast with the South West Chamber of Commerce as we promote those who promote local business. Until now, I have failed to mention the bottles of wine that I have scooped each visit as the regular winner of the local door prize.

Scott McDonald from McGarry’s (featured in October) has banned me from dropping a Westender card into the lucky door prize.

The impact on the West End Trader’s Association has been somewhat more measurable. The membership of the organisation has more than doubled since we started promoting it regularly back in July. Welcome to the host of new members and we look forward to getting a similar increase in the traffic through your doors.