The Dreaded Day Arrived for the 80 year olds.

On the 7th of October 2025 goes down in the history of the 35year plus residents of the end of life we created for our families, and environment on Girral Road.

The dozers moved in without notice, the trees and habitats gone in a scorched earth blitz all within a push of a leaver while the whatever escapes goes to the protection of those who stand firm for our lifestyle we can protect.

We cannot stop what the autocrats call progress but you may notice the autocrats never live in the place where that displacement occurs including our councillors.

In fact our local representatives are divorced from our anxieties to a point where the STATE member Wendy Bourne is taking up issues like provision of toilets and keeping swimming pools up to standards, issues that are clearly council responsibilities while social media selfies seem to be the main priority of the incumbents.

They just don’t get it do they?

The facts are the Rosewood, Thagoona, Walloon townships are under attack from developers and we are all fighting our little wars to save our lifestyles and that’s how they like it.

Little fires are way easy to control and manage, keep the natives well insulated into thinking its only their back yard and we are the good guys, or who is the good guys and the bad guys.

This issue has number of players wanting to make billions from our lifestyle or destruction of it.

Yes we have housing problems across out nation, and its totally naive not to believe that expansion will not come west, and follow the main transport routes towards Brisbane and the ports, but that expansion should not be at the expense of people who have spent their entire lives making a home from a blank map.

To me this in now evolved into an issue where we have to ask are we and our concerns given the same priority as the ones who want destroy it by our elected representatives ?

Who are they representing?

When the rubber hits the road I’m yet see a representative on site?
The former councillors fronted the people on the ground, on site, face to face.
Didn’t like what they said at times but they had the guts to front on the ground in dispute.

Which now brings me to the current situation happening on Girral Road.

On the above date the machinery marched in unannounced and commenced the project, not 3 meters away from 2 eighty year old people with health issues.

The dust is flowing the noise of a D12 dozer or bigger and 45 ton Excavators ripping the foliage turned their 30 year residence into a construction site in seconds.

This is NOT the fault of the people on site. It’s a a TOTAL Failure of Developers and Council to make any pre provisional arrangements of the people whose life is being shoved into survival mode.

The site workers are compelled to wear all the safety gear as part of OH/S regulations but 3 meters away these 80 year olds just are supposed to lock themselves away, close all the widows, and survive in 35 degree heat, without any warnings…

Not a problem when reported to council, from a air conditioned insulated office “ your can’t expect developers to to insulate homes, oh yes put it in writing and its not your problem its theirs and maybe they should put it in writing too”.. WHILE the machinery churns away beside them and struggle to cope with any electronic devices… their 80 year olds for gods sake DER.

Obviously the autocracy cannot consume Girral Road is a Community of people who look after each other for over 45 years, and that exactly what we are doing as we speak.

We knew this was going to happen, we fought the war and were not successful but accept the fact, we will fight for what is left and protect what we have with dogged passion ,but I will remind every resident in the in the battle zone, this project is only the tip of the iceberg, the one you all though it won’t effect us much, since then more have appeared on the radar and the chook is coming home to roost.

You have to decide what is the standard you will accept to keep your lifestyle you invested in to live in this beautiful catchment with all its warts and scars, and more importantly who do you trust to stand by you when the dozers roll in.

Since I launched the email to the Councillors and Mayor nothing has evolved, not a acknowledgment of acceptance, so I can draw my own conclusions on who will stand by our residents and it looks like its not the council representatives.

I close with this bit of personal history
As a former Construction Manager for South East Queensland, Walloon to the NT border, it was my priority and the company to cause the least disruption to peoples lives and property and still provide a national communication network on time if possible.
No we did not get it right all the time but I learned fast public relations well before the earthmoving equipment rolled it lessened the trauma and anxiety of the locals, even when they disagreed at site meetings, town hall meetings, and personal visits to those who could not attend , and the buck stopped with me when it hit the fan.
That was my job, not hand it over or hide behind my clerical or office staff and all had my phone number.

Our Councillors need to realise who are their bosses when it comes to grass roots issues like development and displacement and pre provisional arrangements to ensure those who will be impacted most should be the priority once a decision is made to proceed.

#101 # Rule Public Relations Playbook one would think????

Wrong Again !!!

The Girral Grump..