Gold Coast Connect .com.au

GCCC Rates Rises
March 11th 2010
Currently, Gold Coast City Council are deliberating the merits of only increasing rates at this years budget by the CPI figure. This would keep a rates increase of somewhere between 2-3% which would be the lowest increase for some years.

There are a number of councilors who do not believe that an increase linked to CPI would be of benefit to the council and will place the council in undue financial pressure.

I say to the councilors who want a higher increase "tell that argument to the rate payers who have been forced to cut back their budgets over the last couple of years due to extreme increases in water costs, large increases in rates and increased grocery prices beyond belief. Coupled with a world economic crisis, the rate payers on the Gold Coast have done their bit.

Council's responsibilities and thus their budgets should be built around sewage, water, roads, buildings, libraries, pets, parks and traditional areas of responsibility that council control.

No doubt when you review the basic services that council should provide it will leave a large chunk of bureaucratic fat that could be trimmed from the budget once again.

The council have trimmed their budgets in 2009 and should once again reduce their budget to keep increases to CPI rates.


National League Sporting Teams
March 1st 2010
One thing is for certain, there is not enough room for four let alone five National League sporting teams on the Gold Coast.

The clubs that do not engage their fans and make it financially viable to attend games will quickly find themselves in 'no man's land'.

If the population is large enough sporting teams can charge a premium price for their seats, but with four or five National Teams in place on the Gold Coast the population will not support higher priced seats.

This is where a balancing act is playing out in the offices of sporting organisations.

The State, Local and Federal government is spending over 100 million in building a new stadium at Carrara specifically for the new AFL franchise.

The government will never redeem their original investment but in order to cover the stadiums operating costs their minimum charges per spectator will be significant.

This places a considerable degree of difficulty for the franchise to set a reasonable ticket price that will return a profit or at a minimum cover the costs of operation.

It will be interesting to see if the new Gold Coast AFL team franchise can learn from the National Teams that have launched before them.

There are mixed thoughts about this long term as we have already seen exclusivity contracts made between incumbents and organisations who they are seeking support from. This type of practice spells danger for these franchises and can alienate them from segments of the market they should be engaging with.

One thing is for sure there well may be just as much blood spilt in the executive offices as there is on the field.

Editor




Bicycle Ways
March 7th 2010 GCC News
Has anyone used a bike lane on the Gold Coast lately? There are now hundreds of kilometres of bike lanes throughout the Gold Coast painted on the roads to the left of the vehicle lanes. No doubt that some of  those responsible are patting themselves on the back for such an achievement.

Have you ever seen a bicycle being ridden in the bike lane on one of these busy roads often enough, that would justify the expense of painting and signing costs? I doubt it.
The bike lanes are also a recepie for disaster as in many cases the bike lane just runs out of room and ceases at busy intersection or dangerous situations.

The council would be better putting funds into establishing sole use bike tracks rather then a thin strip of track on busy roads.

The point is, just how far do you go! Will we see barriers installed next between cars and bicycles? Will the bikes have their own traffic lights? Will the police book the hundreds of cyclists that ride without a helmut - unlikely?

The facts are that a bycicle just doesnt 'stack up' on a road with a car. There is a high degree of chance that a death will occur with any collision.

Cyclists, dont think that you are getting beat up here. Surely you must be unhappy when the bicycle lanes regulary run out of room, when one tonne vehicles are speeding past you along a road with less than two metres between yourself and them.

Unfortunately our communities were not built with bike tracks and transport in mind decades ago as has many cities in Europe were. As a consequence there is very little room for sole use bycicle tracks to be built. The coucil would do well in including such conditions in newly built estates.

To slap a bycicle lane down with a bit of paint on the edge of a speeding thoroughfare just doesnt make a lot of sense and the extra safety brought about by it is negligible.



Editor.

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