Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Councillor Shayne Sutton, Di Farmer MP and I have recently called on the federal government to contribute 10 percent of the proceeds of the sale of Defence land in my electorate to funding local infrastructure. Recently the Army's Joint Logistics Unit left the Bulimba Barracks. Though the Navy is staying, under Commander Peter Tedman, the Department of Defence no longer needs the majority of the site, which is about 21 hectares.

Locals have known that a relocation was on the cards for years. In 2010 Councillor Sutton finalised a community planning process. The Bulimba neighbourhood plan calls for heritage to be conserved. It calls for the land to have a mix of uses and a mix of housing types and densities, including affordable housing. It would be possible to fit a lot of new residences on a 21-hectare site—but any development must be sustainable. There is already a lot of pressure on local schools, roads and public transport facilities so the plan recognises that local infrastructure needs improving—like the facilities at the Apollo Road ferry terminal.

The road needs upgrading too—for example, we need traffic lights at the Apollo and Lytton Road intersection, which is right next to the pedestrian crossing that the local school kids use. A cyclist was killed there some years ago. Through Councillor Sutton's work, the design has been done and the plans and costings exist for those traffic lights so the project could readily commence. I am informed it would cost about $2½ million for the upgrade because of all the services that would need relocating, and the relocation of the services would cost more than the construction of the lights themselves.

My fellow local representatives and I are asking for a contribution to defray the local infrastructure costs—that is why we have called on the federal government to contribute 10 per cent of the proceeds of any sale. The defence department has enjoyed the support of the local community for many years—the facility has been there since the Second World War. I am informed that some long-term locals' families contributed land to the department at the time of the Second World War, apparently for no compensation at all. From the US army presence that we had in the 1940s, from the shipyards, from the foreign labour at the time, through the years of logistics work at the barracks, through the rest of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, this site has been a big part of Bulimba life.

Now that the Joint Logistics Unit is moving on, it would be fitting for the department to recognise its role within the community and the effect of the change on our local community as well. It would be great if the department would make a modest but significant contribution to the cost of making the necessary infrastructure improvements so if there are a lot of new residences on the site—which is a possibility although obviously that is yet to be determined—then the roads, the schools, the parks, the public transport, the footpaths and the bikeways can keep up with the increasing demands of the local community and in the interests of the community and with respect for the community's wishes.