New development for Bellbird Park

The next major stage of the Brentwood Forest estate at Bellbird Park has commenced.

Local councillor Paul Tully said the new estate off Jones Rd, being developed by Investa, would bring more competitive real estate prices to the area.

"This is some of the best and highest land in Ipswich's eastern suburbs," Cr Tully said.

Another Orion assault: Woman attacked and robbed at Springfield Central

Police are searching for a man who robbed a woman
in the carpark of a shopping centre in Springfield last night.

Police are searching for a man who robbed a woman as she walked to her parked car in Springfield last night.

Around 7.15pm a 21-year-old local woman walked out of a Main St shopping complex and headed towards the uncovered car park area.

As she approached her vehicle a man, armed with what is believed to be a baton, threatened her before stealing her wallet and mobile phone, police say.

The offender was last seen walking in a southerly direction towards the Caltex petrol station and is described as Caucasian, approximately 180cms tall, aged between 20 and 25 years with a thin build, and wearing a grey zip-up hooded jumper, dark track pants and white sandshoes.

Police want to speak to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or noticed anyone acting suspiciously.

Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.

www.CourierMail.com.au

COMMENT: Orion Centre Management has been strangely silent on this matter.  Where were their security guards - yapping in the mall while a customer is being assaulted and robbed in the carpark?  Local residents are now very fearful of the Orion Shopping Centre, particularly at night.

18.7.12

New Springfield Central railway station to have just 100 carparks

SPRINGFIELD Central car park won't be extended beyond the existing 100 spaces originally planned for commuters at the new train station.

Bundamba MP Jo-Ann Miller and Ipswich City Councillor David Morrison have expressed disappointment commuters will be left to scrape for car parks when the station opens late next year.

Mrs Miller asked Transport Minister Scott Emerson during State Parliament question time if the government would deliver the extra car parks.

The station is expected to attract commuters from Redbank Plans, Bellbird Park, Augustine Heights and Brookwater, but Mr Emerson said the number of car parks at the futuristic station would not be raised.

"The project is now under construction and there are no plans to increase the number of car parking spaces which were approved for this station under the previous government," he told parliament.

Mrs Miller said it was unreasonable to ask young mums to drag their prams and children onto feeder buses just to catch the train.

"It does not take into account the fact that people in the newer suburbs have young families.

This planning does not allow them to continue with their work at all," she said.

"I believe in the short term there needs to he several hundred car parks there.

There's land around the stations and as the suburbs grow to the stage where the buses are high frequency the car parks could be reduced." Cr Morrison said the 100 car parks fell well short of the commuters' needs.

"To have 100 car parks is very bad planning," he said.

"They will justify it by saying it's a CBD station. In the big picture it will be a CBD station but until that day they should make more car parks." Richlands train station has 650 car parks for rail commuters, which often reaches capacity during the morning peak times.

Cr Morrison hopes Mr Emerson will reconsider the government's position.

www.QT.com.au

Ipswich Planning spokesman Paul Tully described the failure to provide more than 100 parking spaces at the new Springfield Central Railway Station as "extreme short sightedness".

"Even Mr Magoo could see the need for at least 500 spaces.

Cr Tully said the local bus service feeding into Springfield Central was unreliable and inadequate.

"The state government should look at the Perth to Joondalup railway line which is a world class example of a good rail network with large numbers of commuter carparks at each rail station.

"The people of Springfield, Augustine Heights, Brookwater, Bellbird Park and Redbank Plains are being punished for voting Labor at the last state election," Cr Tully said.

23.7.12

Ipswich Rugby League: Goodna defeated Fassifern 28 to 14 at Woogaroo Field Goodna this afternoon. A great win to the Mighty Eagles.

Richardson Park Goodna - final post flood upgrade

The section of Richardson Park Goodna, directly behind the Goodna Rugby League Club, will be upgraded shortly.

Fencing and concrete pathways were destroyed in the Brisbane River flood of 11 January 2011.

Ipswich City Council has called tenders for the final restoration work.

4WD's illegally ripping up our bush

This pic shows a 4WD drive on Jones Rd Bellbird Park Sunday afternoon stuck on a ridge trying to illegally enter private property owned by Investa.

Fencing and Keep Out signs don't seem to have much effect on some people.

Goodna Rugby League oval was officially named Woogaroo Field today. "Woogaroo" means "water hole in the creek" in Aboriginal. Woogaroo was the original name for Goodna until 1856.

Park renaming honours former Redbank Plains resident

A REDBANK Plains park will be renamed to honour a resident whose commitment to the community has been deemed exemplary.

Ipswich City Council's Planning and Development Committee Chairperson Paul Tully said Willow Park, located at Danyel Ct, Redbank Plains, will now be known as Jan Fletcher Park.

"Mrs Fletcher was a Redbank Plains resident for most of her life and it is her long association with the area as well as her significant contribution to the community that we are honouring by renaming this park," Cr Tully said.

"She raised her family here, retired here and remained committed to the people of this community until the day she died."

Janelle Cullen, as she was then known, was born in Killarney, Queensland, and moved to Redbank Plains from Warwick when she married Ian Fletcher.

Together, they raised a family while Mrs Fletcher continued to pursue her career, her interest in politics and her passion for helping people that saw her become a mentor and friend to many.

She died in August 2011 and is survived by husband Ian, their daughter, her son-in-law and two grandsons.

Division 3 Councillor Victor Attwood said Jan Fletcher Park would serve as a fitting tribute to a woman who gave so much to other people.

"There was a great deal of sadness in the community when Mrs Fletcher passed away last year and we're pleased to be able to honour her legacy in this way."

www.QT.com.au

20.7.12

St Peters Lutheran College Springfield Central was officially opened this morning.

Police search for missing Redbank teenager

Emma Harding.


POLICE have appealed for public assistance to find an Ipswich girl who has been missing for the last two days.

Emma Harding, 15, was last seen at Cole St, Redbank, about 6am Tuesday.

She was reported missing yesterday.

Police said they were concerned for Emma's welfare as her family had reported that it was out of character for her not to return home.

Detectives from the Child Protection and Investigation Unit are looking into reports that Emma was seen at a train station near Ipswich about 3pm on Tuesday.

She was described as being of Caucasian appearance, 180cm tall with brown hair and blue eyes.

She was last seen wearing a blue singlet, a black mullet-style skirt (short at the front, long at the back) and stockings.

Anyone with information which could assist police can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1800 333 000 or visit crimestoppers.com.au

www.QT.com.au

19.7.12

NBN comes closer for Goodna,Bellbird Park and Collingwood Park

NBN Co has released maps of
the service links for Goodna.

GOODNA residents can expect to be connected to the National Broadband Network by March next year.

Work has begun on connecting 8400 homes and businesses to the NBN already, with work to begin on another 8300 homes over the next 12 months.

Residents of Goodna, Collingwood Park, Redbank Plains and Augustine Heights passed through the Goodna Neighbourhood House to hear the latest updates on Saturday.

They heard once the NBN was up and running, downloading speeds would increase to 100MB a second, meaning it would take just minutes to download your favourite movies.

Cr Paul Tully said with connection to lightning-speed internet now on the horizon, interest in the community was starting to gain momentum.

"I've had queries on my Facebook page. People were asking me if they were in or out. There was pretty strong interest in the area now that it is getting closer," he said.

According to the map on the NBN website, a signal is available on Cunningham Rise in Goodna and Brentwood Rise in Augustine Heights.

But an NBN spokesman was unavailable for comment yesterday to confirm the signal was operational.

Cr Tully said Saturday's information session gave residents a feeling the long wait would soon be over.

"There's an air of excitement that at last we are going into the 21st century in what is the most ambitious project taken on by any country," Cr Tully said.

"The people who were there were pretty positive and on board about it.

"The flood victims who were there were pretty happy that they are going to be one of the first in the country to use it."

NBN Co manager Darren Rudd said residents received specific information about broadband in their area.

"We have found there's a real appetite for information about the NBN. People have lots of questions about the technology and how it will be used to improve the way they live and work," Mr Rudd said.

Go to nbnco.com.au for more information.

NBN DETAILS

• Total cost of the NBN project is estimated to be $27.5 billion.
• The NBN rollout will come to an end in 2020.
• Goodna will among the first suburbs to access the high speed network.

www.QT.com.au


17.7.12

End of the road for rogue trolleys in Ipswich

 

Councillor Paul Tully looks at an
abandoned trolley in a gully at Goodna.

MAJOR shopping centres must keep their trolleys under lock and key or face thousands in fines as Ipswich City Council cracks down on rogue trolleys.

Council announced yesterday that all Ipswich shopping centres would have 12 months to ensure trolleys could not be wheeled away by introducing containment management systems.

It is hoped the plan will end the days of shopping trolleys clogging creeks and littering parks across the city.

Shopping centres will be fined $1000 for each day they breach the July 1 deadline.

Councillor Paul Tully has called for wheel locking systems be put in place, instead of the tried and failed coin-operated systems used at Brassall Shopping Centre earlier this year.

Cr Tully said once the trolley reaches the shopping centre's boundary, a radio signal triggers the lock, making it physically impossible to push any further.

Supermarket giant Coles has backed the scheme.

Cr Tully said Coles was close to launching the system at its store in Riverink Shopping Centre.

The move is designed to put to an end the menace of rogue trolleys that have irked Ipswich residents for years.

"They are found in rivers, creeks and gardens. They sit out in the rain and rust, so hopefully our problem with the environment in Ipswich will be removed," Cr Tully said.

"We've looked at this for a while because it is a very vexed question. Everyone thought the coin mechanism was going to work well but it hasn't. People are still happy to walk away without their dollar."

The wheel locking systems cost about $200 a trolley, the same cost as manufacturing the trolley.

Brian Munt is one Ipswich resident who is fed up with fishing trolleys from creeks.

He congratulated council on taking a stand.

"I think it's well overdue and good on council because the two major supermarket chains have fobbed people off for too long," Mr Munt said.

"I think it will make a lot of people happy and there is probably a lot of people that it annoyed but didn't say anything."

A Coles spokesman said they would work with council to eradicate the problem.

"Coles has a very strong relationship with the Ipswich City Council, and shares their goal of preventing abandoned trolleys," the spokesman said.

"We'll work collaboratively with the council to comply with any new trolley containment requirements."

The change in council law has been submitted to the State Government for approval.

Woolworths was not available for comment.

www.QT.com.au

18.7.12

All supermarkets in Ipswich must have trolley containment systems in place by 1 July 2013 to eliminate trolleys on roads, footpaths, parks or creeks & gullies.

Strong support for new Goodna RSL Services Club

The newly re-opened RSL Services Club at Goodna.

Letter to the Editor

CONGRATULATIONS are in order to the Goodna RSL Services Club on its reopening after the disastrous flood of January 2011.

President David Christie, his committee, staff and volunteers have performed a remarkable transformation of this facility, the social hub of Ipswich’s eastern suburbs.

I urge all residents to experience the new club, which has the ambience of Las Vegas and the friendliness only Goodna can offer.

CR PAUL TULLY
Goodna

The Queensland Times

17.7.12

Put this in your diary for Sunday 4 August: Royal Mail Hotel Goodna

Ipswich A Grade Rugby League: Goodna defeated West End 76 to 6 at Richardson Park Goodna this afternoon.

NBN confirms Goodna rollout

NBN Co at Goodna today announcing the local
rollout of high speed internet in Greater Goodna.

The first rollouts of the 100mps fibre in Ipswich will cover Goodna and Bellbird Park south to Rosemary St including the Eugene St area.

The next stage is Collingwood Park south towards Eagle Street.

This was announced today by NBN Co representatives at a community information day at the Goodna Neighbourhood Centre.

 About 3000 homes in each area will be connected in each stage.

Work starts in about 1 month with connections going live about March 2013. 

Additional local rollouts are intended to fan out progressively for Gailes, Camira, Redbank Plains, Augustine Heights and Greater Springfield but NBN has no exact timetable yet.

NBN offers lightning fast internet at 100mps.

Local Councillor Paul Tully described the rollout as "fantastic news for the people of Goodna and surrounding suburbs".

"This will bring Australia's fastest internet connections to Greater Goodna.

"I am confident there will be a massive take-up rate when it comes online."

Cr Tully said there was one disappointment about the rollout at Redbank.

"The residential section of Redbank between the Ipswich Motorway and the railway line will not be included in the first 3 stages.

"I am making representations to NBN to include all of Redbank  as well as completing the rest of Ipswich's eastern suburbs as soon as possible.

14.7.12

High speed internet for Goodna and surrounding suburbs

NBN high speed broadband is coming to Goodna, Bellbird Park and Redbank Plains.

It will also cover Gailes, Camira, Redbank, Collingwood Park, Greater Springfield and Augustine Heights.

There is an Information Day today, Saturday 14 July 21012, from 11am - 3pm at the Goodna Neighbourhood House 33 Queen St Goodna.

The local NBN rollout was due to start in Springfield Lakes but because of logistical issues, it was decided to commence at the Goodna telephone exchange in Stuart Street Goodna.

The rollout is already underway in Goodna as it fans out towards the adjoining suburbs.

It could be 2013-14 for the local rollout to be finalised.

14.7.12

Community cheers as beers flow again at Goodna Services Club

 Ray Lowth and Steve Groenewold at the refurbished Goodna Services Club.

IT has taken 18 months but the Goodna RSL Services Club is finally open again.

A year and a half after the popular community club was destroyed by flooding in early January 2011, hundreds of locals turned out yesterday for their first glimpse of the reborn institution.

Having operated the club from a makeshift premises across the road from its Brisbane Tce headquarters for the long months after the disaster, honorary president David Christie said the rebuild had been a painstaking labour of love.

"It's been a hard slog. The management team and the landlord and the staff, members of the public have all helped and it's had a big impact on the club," he said.

"It's a place where everybody can celebrate and the people who have been flooded can come and catch up.

"Some people are still struggling but we're getting there."

A club member since 1980, retired Defence Force public servant Ray Lowth yesterday enjoyed his first beer with mates back at his "second home".

"It's just a community hub because everyone comes here and everyone knows it," Mr Lowth said.

"It means a lot to everybody having it here because we've all been through so much."

Former army serviceman and member for six years Dom Mitchell, said he was delighted the refurbished club was back in action.

"I've just come back to have a look because it's been a while coming," he said.

"It's been a big thing for the community, to move on."

www.CourierMail.com.au

"Congratulations to President David Christie, his Committee and staff on this milestone in the Club's history." - PaulGTully@gmail.com

6.7.12

Members lining up at the Goodna Services Club before 10am today for the official re-opening of the Club after being closed for 541days after the 2011 flood.

Official opening of the Goodna Services Club tonight after the 2011 flood.

Last minute work is continuing this afternnoon for tonight's official reopening of the Goodna Services Club after the 2011 flood. It opens to the public at 10am tomorrow.

The Goodna Services Club is a hive of activity. It is due to re-open on Thursday for the first time since the devastating flood of 11 January 2011.

QUU to check fire hydrants across Ipswich

Monday, 2 July 2012

FIRE HYDRANT TESTING PROGRAM FOR 2012-2013

QUU has advised details of its fire hydrant testing program for the coming year.

In the 2012-13 financial year, Queensland Urban Utilities will undertake fire hydrant testing in various suburbs across Ipswich.

This work is part of the program of testing to ensure that hydrants continue to have sufficient water pressure and flow for fire fighting requirements.

Residents will be notified by a postcard drop a minimum of 48 hours in advance of this work.

Ipswich councillor Paul Tully welcomed the move by QUU saying the program was in everyone's best interests across the city.

"Properly functioning fire hydrants are essential to ensure sufficient water is available under presuure for any fire emergency across Ipswich suburbs.

"QUU is on the front foot with this initiative," Cr Tully said.