Local residents are angry at Brisbane City Council for failing to retain access to local lane.
Michael Berkman:
“I noticed the new Councillor James Mackay has begun engaging with residents about Hawken Lane - which is great - but it’s difficult not to be sceptical.
“The community has been calling on Council to reopen Hawken Lane since at least 2018.
“Cr Mackay is now hosting a petition to his fellow LNP Council colleagues, asking them to fund something that was already promised years ago.
“Contrary to its prior promises, Council approved a private development that excluded public access to the lane without consulting the community, and apparently it didn’t even allocate any funding to fix the stairs themselves.
“It sounds like a massive blunder to me.
“Just like with the Mt Coot-tha ziplines, Council’s tried to forge ahead with a plan to privatise public space, then only realised they’ve messed up after huge pushback from the community.
“It does make me proud to see residents working so hard to get Hawken Lane reopened, but I think locals deserve Councillors who will ask first about these sorts of things, so they aren’t constantly cleaning up the mess.”