Mt Gravatt Community Centre
will receive $422,000 worth of funding to
support the upgrade projects for the community hub.
Federal Member for Bonner,
Ross Vasta MP made the announcement on 28 March 2019. Mt Gravatt Community
Centre CEO Deb Crompton expressed gratitude and said that the Federal
Government funding will transform the local community centre and will allow
more people and more groups to access and utilise the community space.
“These renovations will
allow us to provide improved services and support to all our community members,
including our most vulnerable people – those experiencing homelessness or
domestic violence. This space will enable individuals to shower, cook a
meal and watch television and just do regular things not afforded to them
during their time of need,” Ms Crompton
said.
“The Liberal National
Government is delivering local infrastructure that our communities expect and
deserve,” Mr Vasta said.
“I am proud to deliver
this important funding for Mt Gravatt Community Centre, or “Bernie’s Place” as
it is known locally, because it is an invaluable space that benefits the entire
community.”
The Mount
Gravatt Community Centre is a not-for-profit charitable organisation that
offers services for older people, people with disabilities, and family and
carers. MGCCI officially opened 7 November 1991 by the then Minister for the
former Department of Family Services, Aboriginal and Islander Affairs – Anne
Warner.
Some of the
services and programs that the centre provides include emergency relief, storm
safe program, social support, community development, and home and community
care, among others. In response to the growing and changing needs of the
community, “Bernie’s Place” was established to provide additional community
space, apart from the existing centre, and serve as non-threatening and homely
location for small group activities.
Residents of Nathan and surrounding suburbs such as Mount Gravatt, Tarragindi, and Holland Park West will see a better Toohey Forest Park now that the second part of the facility upgrades is underway.
The second stage of the project will include installing a new accessible compost toilet facility. CCTV cameras will also be placed at the picnic facility to enhance security and safety.
There will also be upgrades on the existing lookout areas along the Sandstone Circuit walking trail, one to include a dedicated timber viewing platform and the other to include a timber deck and picnic setting.
Depending on weather conditions, works are expected to finish in July 2019. The Brisbane City Council assured all works will be carried out in accordance with the relevant environmental guidelines.
The Council reminds residents that two car parks would be inaccessible during the works but access will still be possible to walking trails.
Construction will be on weekdays, between 6:30 am and 6:00 pm. The Council will advise locals if there will be works on weekends.
In July 2018, the first part of the Toohey Forest Park upgrades already completed. This involved widening the entrance of the park, increasing the number of car park spaces, installing an access path between the Toohey Road entrance and the picnic area.
Other completed improvements include installing new picnic facilities, upgrading a section of the Toohey Ridge Track, upgrading existing lighting in the car park to LED lighting, and upgrading the existing picnic area to ensure all-abilities access.
The biggest networking event in Brisbane is happening on the 4th of April 2019 in Upper Mt Gravatt! Some 1,600 local business professionals are expected to be at the Hibiscus Sports Complex on Klumpp Road for the Brisbane Small Business Expo.
The event, mounted by Paula Brand Small Business Expos, will feature more than 200 exhibitors. It’s set up to be a great opportunity to find sales leads or reliable suppliers, as well as exchange business cards with different professionals.
Entrance to this event is free for all businesspeople, but you have to register your attendance online. To keep things livelier, there will be food trucks on site while Jodie Joy will provide the entertainment.
Car owners parking in the Upper Mt Gravatt area are being warned as about 104 vehicles have been broken into by opportunist thieves since January, South Brisbane District Crime Prevention Unit reported.
Senior Constable Vernon Wootton said that opportunist offenders are recently targeting parked vehicles “trying doors or smashing windows and rifling through consoles and glove compartments to obtain money and valuables.”
The reported 104 vehicles that were targeted either had property stolen or there were attempts to steal the vehicle.
To prevent these offences, police urges car owners parking in the Upper Mt Gravatt area to observe the following:
Lock your car and roll up windows even if parked on the street, in a secure garage or in the driveway
Remove all valuables, including purses, cash, wallets, mobiles, bags, briefcases or other electronic items. If valuables are to be left in vehicles secure them out of sight
Don’t leave personal documents in your vehicle. Stolen documents may be used to commit fraud in your name
Consider fitting an alarm, immobiliser or other security device
Never leave spare house, car or business keys in the vehicle
Keep garage, vehicle access or gate remote controls out of sight or remove from the vehicle and keep on your person
Consider fitting one-way registration plate screws readily available at motor vehicle supply stores.
Contact Policelink on 131 444 to report any crime or provide information using the online form.
You can also report about a crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au.
The fight to save 68 Carrara Street and 8 Nurran Street in Mt Gravatt East has had another boost.
It was after the Brisbane City Council finalised the purchase of three of the four properties earmarked for development, through the Council’s Bushland Acquisition Program.
This means the lots will continue to provide safe passage for local koalas, green tree frogs, and other wildlife. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk stated that all of the land chosen for purchase contributes to the rich tapestry of Brisbane’s ecology, with acquired sites including koala movement corridors, locations with rare and endangered plants and animals or freshwater and wetland habitats.
“This 4,320 square-metre parcel of land sits right in the middle of a koala corridor that runs between Toohey Forest, Whites Hill Reserve and the Mt Gravatt Lookout and will prove invaluable to the local koala population that is known to move through this area,” Cr Quirk said.
Apart from its impact on wildlife, locals are worried the development will overcrowd the neighborhood. This means more cars and more congestion in case the proposed development was approved.
Above all, locals cited that the development is not consistent with the low-density living that they all expected when they bought a property in Mount Gravatt East.
The development application which campaigners feared threatened its future was for a 29-unit multiple dwelling. As part of the plan, the developers proposed wider access driveway and realigning the boundary between 6 and 8 Nurran Street.
In preparation for the development, the developer had already cleared the site. This earned the ire of residents, stating that 1ha of land was bulldozed without notice to local residents.
It’s that time of the year again! Kerbside Collection in Mt Gravatt is coming up, on 11 March 2019, so be prepared to let go of large, unwanted household items. However, whilst it’s good to declutter, we have to help reduce landfill too so maybe it’s good to take a second (or third!) look at those items you’ve been meaning to let go and see if maybe it deserves a second chance at life.
Here are things you can do with still usable, unwanted house items that do not involve putting them out to the kerb:
Donate
One of the ways to reduce landfill is to donate household items in usable condition to friends or family, a local charity or other reuse and recycling organisations. Quality donations give dignity to all members of our community.
GIVIT is a national not-for-profit organisation connecting those who have, with those who need, in a private and safe way. How will you know if something is still of good quality? Juliette Wright, GIVIT’s founder said, “If you would give it to your mother, your sister or friend – it’s good to give!!”
Upcycling is the best thing you can do with old stuff just lying around that you cannot bear to throw away because it has sentimental value. It only takes a little of bit creativity to turn junk into treasure.
Household items like old bed frames and bookcases are stuff people don’t bother buying in second-hand. If yours is an antique one then you will likely garner quick cash. You can easily find online furniture marketplace for buying and consigning designer furniture.
How will you know when furniture deserves to go to hit the kerb? Fabric sofa, for instance, is prone to wear and tear but it can still be reupholstered. You might need a new one if your sofa starts creaking because the structure itself starts to break down and it may be difficult to have it fixed.
If you are definitely going the disposal route, make sure to follow the Council’s guidelines, like keeping piles tidy on the kerb, sticking to the allowed pile size, not leaving sharp or dangerous objects on the footpath, and removing doors from refrigerators and cupboards.
With the release of the 2018 Year 12 Outcomes report, Mount Gravatt State High School has again topped its own record by achieving its best ever OP result, as four of its graduating Year 12 students landed on the list of OP1 achievers.
Year 12 Outcomes 2018 for Mt Gravatt State High School
Photo Credit: Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority / qcaa.qld.edu.au
Mount Gravatt State High School is one of the top schools in Brisbane as far as 2018 OP results. Data released from Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority show that there are 29 students from Mount Gravatt State High School who achieved OP1-5 or 23.20 percent of the 125 OP-eligible students. This OP 1-5 result marks an 8.9 percentage-point improvement from 2012 which was at 14.30 percent, according to Better Education website.
Better Education School Trend 2012 – 2018 for Mount Gravatt State High
Also, apart from achieving 100% QCE, the state school announced that their 2018 graduates completed Certificate II, III and IV courses and school based apprenticeships, among other academic highlights. The school also congratulated its elite OP1 achievers: Aidan Demmers, Lauren Ockendon, Jayden Webster, and Rebecca Gong.
Introduced in 1992, OP or Overall Position, is the statewide rank based on a student’s overall achievement in Authority subjects and is used for tertiary entrance purposes. OP measures a student’s performance as compared to other OP-eligible students, on a scale from 1 to 25 with 1 as the highest and 25 as the lowest.
Optus is targeting to launch 1,200 sites in Australia by March 2020. For the first wave of the 5G Home Broadband service, 60 suburbs were selected to experience a 50Mbps Internet speed and 13 will be from Queensland. MacGregor will be one of the Queensland suburbs where Optus is planning to rollout their 5G service.
The other 12 are Clayfield, Newmarket, Gailes, Camira, Kallangur, Auchenflower, Goodna, Burpengary, Kenmore, Brookwater, Kenmore Hills, and Bellbird Park.
If successful, Optus will outrank Telstra as the fastest Internet provider in Australia with a 45.28Mbps Speed Score on mobile devices. The 5G services are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2019.
In the present, Optus already has five live-in network 5G cells. There are two in Canberra, two in Sydney, and the last one, which is going through an interoperability testing is in Kellyville.
Optus 5G Home Broadband Features
Optus offers the 5G Broadband at $70/month. It comes with a 5G modem by Nokia, unlimited data, and a superior speed of 50mbps. Optus has a 50mps Satisfaction Guarantee, wherein they will cancel the contract without cancellation fees if subscribers are not satisfied with their download speeds.
For Optus, being the first carrier to commercialize a 5G Home Broadband Service is not just an exciting journey. As the company’s Chief Executive Allen Lew described it, this will be an historic day for Optus.
“I encourage eligible Optus customers to register their expression of interest,” Mr Lew said. Customers will be selected based on 5G serviceability at their address to ensure they enjoy the best possible 5G experience.
For updates on Optus’ 5G Home Broadband Service, visit their website.
Residents using the Newnham and Wecker Road intersection in Mount Gravatt East can breathe a sigh of relief as the funding to fix this accident-prone area has been secured.
Federal Member Ross Vasta (Bonner) shared the good news to his constituents in a post on his Facebook page. Mr Vasta also confirmed that the $12 million funding from the government has been delivered.
“After getting 2000 signatures on my petition to fix it I delivered it straight to the PM & now we’re fully funding the much needed upgrade at this local accident hotspot!” Mr Vasta posted.
Newnham and Wecker Roads have been cited as one of Queensland’s most dangerous intersections with seven serious crashes and nine casualties between 2014 and 2017. Passing this road is a risk for many families whose children attend the Mt Gravatt East State School on the corner of Wecker Road.
“Near misses and crashes are all too common at Newnham/Wecker Rd. Parents are trying to drop their young children at the school on the corner and having to deal with this mess, while paramedics are constantly being called out to accidents,” said Mr Vasta.
Mr Vasta personally took Urban Infrastructure Minister Alan Tudge to the hotspot last October to show why fixing this intersection is a priority. Mr Tudge said he’ll work with the Brisbane City Council to come up with solutions that will benefit hundreds of commuters that pass these roads every day.
As of 31 Jan 2019, the Mount Gravatt East road upgrades were included in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s $1 billion Urban Congestion Fund for various infrastructure projects.
As part of the Get in the Game funding, the government has invested nearly $5.5 million for the Get Started Vouchers for children’s sports and recreation.
The Get Started Vouchers program aims to encourage families and carers to have their children or young people join a sport or active recreation club.
Applications for the program officially opens on Wednesday, 6 February 2019. The funding will provide $150 support for up to 36,000 Queensland kids from low-income families.
Get Started Vouchers
Photo credit: Scouts Queensland/Facebook
According to Minister for Sport Mick de Brenni, one of the reasons why children don’t participate in sport and recreation is because their family cannot afford the costs.
The program provides eligible children and young people a voucher valued up to $150 to assist the cost of joining a registered sporting club or recreation provider.
“The vouchers provide children the opportunity to join a team and learn important lessons that will guide them through life: mateship, responsibility, fair play and respect,” Mr de Brenni said.
“And, of course, one of the biggest benefits is that it gets them away from their digital screens and out of the house … so they can get active and stay fit.”
