Lord Mayor takes further action to clean up Valley
15 December, 2011
Lord Mayor takes further action to clean up Valley
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is taking strong action to bolster Council’s powers to have problem buildings in the Valley cleaned up.
Council is currently drafting a local law that will give Council the power to make the owners of rundown buildings fix them up after a request from the Lord Mayor.
Cr Quirk said this was part of his "firm but fair" approach to cleaning up the Valley and the new laws would only be used as a last resort.
"First and foremost I want to continue with my strategy of working constructively with the owners of problem buildings to get them fixed up, which has already seen a breakthrough in the 20 year struggle to clean up the Walton's building," Cr Quirk said.
"That said, Council currently doesn’t have the power to force rundown buildings to be fixed up and creating a local law will give us that extra support if building owners don't want to play ball.
“This is a big step in my plan to bring the Valley back to life, particularly during the daytime.”
Recent State Government advice shows that Council cannot force the owners of buildings to address amenity issues, only public safety issues, and the only way to address the situation is to create a local law.
The Lord Mayor recently held firm but fair talks with the owners of the rundown Walton’s building in the Valley to put an end to the 20 year problem.
That included issuing the owners with a list of 65 amenity and safety issues that needed to be rectified, ranging from restoring the building’s street-level marble façade to repairing decaying awnings.
As a direct result of the Lord Mayor’s discussions, the building owners recently have begun addressing the list of issues raised and have already repainted the building’s upper Brunswick St facade.
“In just six months my administration been able to achieve with Walton’s what Cr Hinchliffe and Labor have repeatedly failed to do in the last 20 years,” Cr Quirk said.
“And this is just another example in a long line of failures Cr Hinchliffe and Labor presided over during the last 20 years, whether it was letting Brisbane’s road network fall into ruin or putting just 60 buses on the road in five years.
“This clearly shows that my administration is the only party with a real plan to clean up the Valley and the conviction to follow it through.”
Cr Quirk said it was expected the local law would take about 12-to-18 months to create as it had to go to full Council and the State Government for approval.
