Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like every outer metropolitan city, Redlands struggles with increasing population and threats to the local environment. The Redland City Council has just approved a $1.2 million bridge that connects two suburbs through bushland, but you wouldn't believe the coalition of opponents to this very simple idea of taking people off the roads and getting them to use their feet and their bicycles a little more. Non-motorised infrastructure is utterly critical in outer metropolitan areas to get people exercising and to get us off our roadways. But they managed to almost kill off this project, and I'm very disappointed that our local newspaper likened the notion of a bush track and pedestrian bridge to a chicken-poo-incinerating biomass incinerator that was knocked back by the council in the last 12 months. They're fundamentally different things, in case I have to point that out so literally.

But, at the same time, we have Chef's Inc being approved. This is a dining-under-the-stars concept that you may find in any city, but I'm utterly delighted for it to be in an outer metropolitan location like Cleveland. Imagine 12 places; their modified shipping containers. We've got Oliver Findlay, who is the driving force behind it. You pay your two bucks and can go in there and dine in a way we haven't been able to before in our city. Obviously, that puts a bit of pressure on our local restaurants, but it's about pulling into our civic area new people who haven't been there before and trying something a little more cosmopolitan.

Well done to the council for having that vision. Five out of 10 to the newspaper for not quite getting it right. I want to make it really clear that from now on, in our city, we have a countergroup that will stand up to these environmental groups that try to block everything. We are looking after people; we can protect the environment at the same time.