Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have an update on an important local issue in Brisbane relating to congestion, safety and parking issues and amenity along the sports fields that sit along Enoggera Creek from Downey Park in Windsor, though Herston and Wilston and up to Kelvin Grove and Newmarket. In total that precinct is home to 10 parks and 11 major sporting and community groups and at peak times, like weekends, the space is under huge pressures coming from many directions, including families and kids visiting to play sport and the needs of local residents and commuters, including around the RBWH and QUT.

I've been working on this since I was elected, and to help find solutions I teamed up with the Brisbane City Council and I made the case here in Canberra for resources so that further consultation can be harnessed to shape a future vision for this community area. My view is that we need a good long-term plan to help guide future decisions and investments.

Now, pleasingly, the funding has been flowing—this past month has seen further postal surveys and information kiosks—and the consultation process is being finalised. I do strongly encourage all local residents and groups around the Enoggera Creek sports fields to make sure they have their say and provide their ideas and concerns to help shape the plan going forward.

The information gathered so far is already helping guide some planning actions that should help reduce some of the pressures. Just a few months ago, the Brisbane lord mayor announced in the council budget that they're resuming some adjacent land and utilising the extra space for a new sports field and community park in Windsor, which will also help with easing pressures on the precinct. Another recent announcement by Councillor Wines which I know some residents will be pleased to hear is that council is negotiating for the Brisbane Bandits baseball team to be relocated from Newmarket to a new location.

This is about different levels of government being able to work more closely together, and this plan is not the end result; it should be just the beginning. It will help me as the federal MP and it could also help the state government and the council in our advocacy because it gives us the information and the confidence we need to make a strong case, knowing that good consultation has taken place and that the priorities of the local community have been made clear. That could involve future priorities like sizeable investments in more or better parking or it could be further environmental improvements, given the key role that the Enoggera Creek plays in the Brisbane River catchment or similar.

I want to say a big thank you to local residents and groups for being so involved in the consultation processes so far and a big thank you also to the Brisbane City Council and to Councillor Wines for being so willing to work together so that we can deliver real results for our local community, which we love so much and which we want to be the very best community there is in which to live, work, raise a family and retire.