Friday, January 28, 2011

Local businesses offer flood discounts

Flood Discounts lists discounts on offer by businesses to victims of the recent floods. If you have a business and would like to help out this website may be a good way to get the word out. If you have been impacted by the recent floods you might find this list of the many local businesses offering discounts handy.

New Electrical Substation for Ferny Hills

North West News is reporting that a new electrical substation will be established in Ferny Hills by 2013, quoting Moreton Bay Councillor Brian Battersby. The substation will be located on Samford Road, 500 metres west of the old Woolshed site (refer to this map of the area).

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Ferny Grove Tavern Now Closed

Just a quick note to confirm the Ferny Grove Tavern is now closed. Plans are apparently moving ahead for a new tavern on a different site at the Ferny Grove railway station, although the timing of when a new venue will eventuate is unknown. (Given this, I can't help but wonder what planning mess created the requirement to tear down the tavern in the first place, if it was only going to be replaced.)

February Wilson Update Released

Geoff Wilson, State Member for the Ferny Grove electorate, has released his February Wilson Update, a monthly newsletter about goings-on in the electorate*. I've hosted the newsletter here but you can also sign up to receive the newsletter in your email on his site.

I will highlight a couple of news items from the newsletter that might be of interest:
The newsletter also provides resources for how to volunteer or donate to flood relief, information about the flood reconstruction authority, flood inquiry and a reminder about the anti-hoon legislation. Check out the newsletter if you would like to know more. 

Monday, January 24, 2011

Kerbside Collection for Ferny Grove

For those of us in the Brisbane electorate (people in Ferny Grove: This is you) kerbside collections are going ahead in the next week. Kerbside deposits have been requested to be ready from yesterday (Sunday, 23rd January) for collection this week. The collection is confirmed as going ahead on the low-bandwidth BCC website.

I'm not sure how so many people received the message, but looking around the northwest suburbs clearly many people have. Piles litter the curbs and the cars of people out for a lucky find prowl the suburban streets. I am amazed the council is in the position not delay the collection in the wake of the floods, but this is good news for most of us.

Perhaps it is time to clear your garage and get rid those old appliances and furniture. The maximum allotment is one trailer-full per household and should not include chemicals, batteries, organic matter or anything dangerous.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Fresh Foodstuffs in Short Supply

If you were looking to restock your fruit and vegetables locally, you might be out of luck. Both Coles Arana Hills and Coles Ferny Grove have had their fresh foods decimated. This probably due to panic buying but other disruptions due to the statewide floods can not be ruled out. I have not visited any specialist green grocers but I imagine they are in a similiar position.

I have not seen any predictions about when fresh produce will again flow into the area but commentators agree that prices will rise sharply. If you have not already, now is a good time to consider whether maintaining your own vegetable patch might pay dividends for the household budget (Transition the Grove has some local resources about growing and selling excess produce).

Local Power Outages

The local area (Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills, Arana Hills) seems to have escaped the floods without harm, except for the minor inconvenience of a brief loss of electrical power for Arana Hills and parts of Ferny Hills.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Queensland Flood - Resources and Links

I thought I would gather a list of useful resources for people wanting more information about the Queensland Flood, and in particular resources useful for residents in Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills.

State Government Flood Resource Page

Translink has the status of Public Transport (rail, buses, ferry)

Brisbane City Council site (shows list of endangered suburbs)or their twitter account

I'll update the post as I find new resources.

Samford Road, Mt Nebo Road impacted by weather

The rain continues, and I've seen predictions that wet weather will persist until the end of March and more generally for a few years.

Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills seem to be withstanding the weather okay, with no flooding in evidence. According to this North West News story, both Mt Nebo Road and Samford Road near the Camp Mountain intersection have experienced closures due to landslides.

Last night the Ferny Grove train line was disrupted for a couple of hours after a truck misjudged the clearance at the Gaythorne underpass.

Our thoughts are naturally with friends and loved ones living in more seriously affected parts of the state.

Let me know at bendavies@fernyblog.com if you know of any local impacts from the weather.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Ferny Grove Tavern will close in 3 Weeks!

Ferny Grove Tavern will shut its doors for the last time in three weeks from the new years weekend, according to the barkeeper in the Brew Bar on new years eve as he lamented the dwindling range of beer varieties. Three weeks corresponds to a closing date of 22nd January.

The Ferny Grove Tavern property has been acquired by the State Government to provide more commuter parking as part of the Ferny Grove Railway Upgrade Project. Ironically, plans for the Ferny Grove precinct development (post upgrade) include a possible location for a new tavern.

I will miss the Ferny Grove Tavern as a cheap place to eat and convenient place to meet my friends for a drink. Hopefully the affected staff do not have too much difficulty in finding new employment.

Hope you had a happy holiday!

I hope everyone had  a happy holiday and saw in 2011 happy and healthy, if a little bit wet across the Christmas period. Local news has been a little bit slow, so sorry about the lack of updates here.