Beenleigh Community....Urgent Attention....Read what the Gold Coast Bulletin is saying about us

September 7, 2007 06:54am

Limbo locals lost to Logan

05Sep07

EAGLEBY and Beenleigh residents claim they are the 'forgotten people' after being forced into amalgamation with the Logan City super council and shunned by the Gold Coast.

The neighbouring townships have been handed no assurances by the Gold Coast City Council or Logan City Council about their future.

On Monday, the Gold Coast City Council voted to hold a referendum on whether Eagleby and Beenleigh should remain part of this city, even though area representative Ray Hackwood said the taxpayer-funded vote 'isn't going to make a difference' under the State Government's reforms, which demand amalgamations and boundary changes.

Eagleby Community Association president Ian Bray said yesterday the three buildings used by the organisation were leased from the council and the Eagleby festival relied on council funds of $12,000.

"We are in limbo and we are all pretty fed up by how we have been treated, especially in terms of the lack of information that has been provided to us. It seems that we are the forgotten people," said Mr Bray.

"Eagleby as a whole supports the referendum because it gives us a say and anyone who says anything else than that is wrong because a lot of people around here would like to stay a part of the Gold Coast.

"If it is going ahead we want to know what is happening. It's small things that are going to affect us as well, like having to cut down from two bins to split bins."

A local, Julie Bishop, and other residents The Bulletin spoke to yesterday, said Eagleby had become their own patch of heaven.

"I moved here from southern Brisbane when I realised that housing in the area was much more affordable," said Ms Bishop.

"Once you get here you find that it's still like a small town with the rivers and bushwalks only a short walk away.

"Eagleby isn't as developed as Beenleigh and it still has its community halls and CWA meetings. You won't get that on the Gold Coast."

The suburb also includes an Islamic mosque, with a major influx of Sudanese refugees in the area.

The Eagleby wetlands and a major sewerage plant are also found there along with a Driza-Bone factory.

Acting Logan City Mayor John Grant yesterday confirmed that under current circumstances, rate notices for Eagleby and Beenleigh residents would likely increase when the new council was formed.

"As part of the transition committee, which I am chairing in the absence of the mayor, we are working as best as we can to ensure the right thing by them," said Cr Grant.

"We can only set up the dialogue and analysis before March 15 but we don't make the final decision. This is an important process and in terms of a referendum I think that was a decision the Gold Coast council could make but it will not change the outcome."

Cr Hackwood, who oversaw the amalgamation of the region into the Gold Coast in 1995, said he was dismayed the northern Gold Coast had been shunned by its southern counterparts.

"The description of Eagleby asserted that it was a low socio-economic outcast with huge social problems.

"This is far from the truth," said Cr Hackwood, who has a park named after him.

"The mystery to me is that often people who criticise the area have not taken the time to visit and make their judgment from afar. The Eagleby wetlands attract many visitors both nationally and internationally.

"The riverfront parks in the area are the equal of any elsewhere in the city and the BMX facilities are of world standard and the historical village is visited by hundreds of school children."

Farther west, Boonah Shire Council yesterday released the questions it will include in a survey to its residents. Boonah, which will become part of the new Scenic Rim council, has avoided spending taxpayers' money on a referendum after being threatened with legal action by the State Government.

Mayor John Brent said the council had decided to go with the survey as part of the council's weekly newsletter.

"The survey asks residents five questions, including whether they support the process used by the State Government to amalgamate the Boonah Shire Council into the new Scenic Rim regional council," said Cr Brent.

Residents will also be asked whether the changes would affect a range of community-based activities, including local representation.