I had the pleasure of being interviewed this morning by a lovely lass called Ariana Deeley. Ariana asked my input on the bridge. Below are her questions and my answers. 1. As a resident of the island, how do you think a bridge to the mainland will benefit you/the Island? A: Easier access to shops, family and not restricted to a timetable to get home. The island will grow and more jobs will become available. 2. What is transport like between the Island and the mainland? A: Usually reasonable. But inclement weather makes travelling and waiting at our jetty very uncomfortable. Our jetty offers no rain protection other than a roof. Winds here whip up the rain to 45degs and you are usually saturated before you board your ferry. Sometimes the ferries breakdown too. 3. Realters said a bridge would be built within 10 years when they sold you the land, did this effect your decision to purchase land on the Island? A: A little. The idea made owning land here more attractive and the fact that at the time, there were not any land rates. But we were looking at it for a holiday home, not a permanent residence. 4. Do you think the money could be spent improving the island before a bridge is built? A: I feel a bridge needs to come first. Its a given that some infrastructure will be needed at the points where the bridge starts and ends - especially adequate street lighting. But where I feel it should go - Little Rocky Pt to Big Rocky Point, already have bitumen roads in place. 5. Tell me about some of the issues you face on the island - do you think a Bridge would help to solve some of these? A: YES. At the moment we are faced with delayed travel to hospitals, varied appointments (other than our island doctors), no escape route in the event of fire, inability to find parking spots to get home after work, or just for visitors. Being continually fined by RCC for parking overtime etc, etc. A bridge would more than alleviate the aforementioned issues and costs. 6. The state government has said a bridge is not viable with the current budget. How do you feel about this? A: There are ways to bridge. They need to put out tenders from private enterprise like with the Hornibrook Hiway/Bridge at Redcliffe - and toll it. Several years ago, Energex posted a large coloured laminated sign in our shelter shed at the marina (see enclosed pic). It depicted theyre proposed service ramps (this was following the powerlines from both Rocky Pts on the S/W side of the island). Their proposal to previous RCC showed 600mtr long ramps following their powerlines. This application was refused by that council. If it had been approved - there would only be 700mtrs which would require bridging. How much cheaper does that make our bridge? It could well and truly be built for $10 million. Peter Dowlings Pannikin Island Solution (PIS for short) prices it way out of attaining, as it is 6kms long. Tell me - which do you think makes better sense? 700mtrs or 6kms. The fly in the ointment is this - the Rocky Pt landing on the mainland is NOT in Redlands.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 02:54:14 +0000
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