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Once up on a time, the proposal for a walking and cycling bridge from Toowong to West End was just a line on a Greens party flyer.
Fast forward five years, and the LNP Council committed to build two green bridges, from Toowong to West End and St Lucia to West End.
Then in 2022, the LNP announced they were “pausing” the projects, and a month later, they approved three apartment towers on the former ABC site on Coronation Drive at Toowong - including the proposed landing site for the green bridge. After lobbying from my team and local residents, Council confirmed they’d still buy the landing site. In fact, they included a (small) new riverside park at the ABC site, which represents a partial win from our massive campaign to buy back the site for a new riverfront park and plaza.
But in 2023, as part of major cuts to public infrastructure and services to fund a tax cut for developers, Council put the green bridges back on hold indefinitely.
These bridges are crucial infrastructure, and should be prioritised over developer profits. If we introduced a windfall gains tax on developer profits at the state level, and increased infrastructure charges paid to Council, we could easily afford to fund the bridges. That’s why I’m continuing to push for their expedited delivery, whether with or without support from other levels of Government. For more information on the proposed bridge locations, check out this summary of my 2020/21 consultation.