Kylie Ladd at Arana Hills Library

Novelist Kylie Ladd will be appearing at Arana Hills Library on May 20. Kylie Ladd is the author of Into My Arms, May book of the month for Get Reading. More details of the appearance can be found on the Get Reading website.

Healthy Lifestyles Expo

Chook Owner recently posted on Ferny Blog's Facebook page to let us know about the Healthy Lifestyles Expo on June 16 at the The Hills PCYC. They write:

There'll be lots to see and try at The Hills PCYC (135a Olearia St, West Everton Hills) on Saturday 16th June from 10am-2pm.

Health and fitness talks, demonstrations, and health screening for young and old are being organised to make this an informative and active fun event for families and the whole community. There'll be healthy snacks and cooking demos too.

Come and try out some of what is available locally for health and fitness in the upper Kedron Brook valley and The Hills District.

Keep reading for the rest of Chook Owner's post (includes contact information) There isn't a tonne of other information I could find except for the flyer on The Hills PCYC website.

Pictures from Hills Carnivale 2012

I managed to walk down to Hills Carnivale 2012 this Saturday (see previous post) and took a few photos with my camera phone (having left my 'real' camera at home). 2 stages were in use, there were a variety of rides for the children and the usual stalls offered everything from wood-fired pizza to show bags to historical bottles.




You can see the complete album here.

Hills Carnivale 2012 TODAY!

Hills Carnivale 2012 is today, May 19th from 12pm to 6pm at George Wilmore Park, Ferny Hills.

If you want to the schedule of events and other information, the Moreton Bay Regional Council Hills Carnivale page has a lot of useful information.

This one snuck up on me. Has it really been a year? I remember last year's Hills Carnivale and it was definitely worth a look.


 
View Larger Map

I plan to visit later in the day and take my camera. I'll post whatever images that are worthwhile.

Tumbleweeds Here... Contributors, editors or admins wanted!

Hi all,

Want to contribute to, edit, or even administer Ferny Blog?

You might have noticed it has been a bit quiet here of late. Actually the previous post in late January was a mere 6 days before the birth of my first son and I have unceremoniously abandoned efforts on The Ferny Blog due to a severe shortage of time. Children will do that I guess, and I have focussed what little blogging energy I have over on my programming blog, which might actually make me better at my job and keep my new son in nappies for a while longer.

Which is not to say that I don't think Ferny Blog (or something like it) can't play an important role in our community. My vision for it is to aggregate local news to make it easy for people to find local news and information concerning Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills. As residents of this area we are most impacted by what happens here. It is also the stage where we can have the biggest influence.

I would like Ferny Blog to continue, and you can help. I am looking for contributors and eventually even editors and administrators for the blog. Contributing might consist of posting a link to local news story, writing your own news story, letting people know about a local service, writing an opinion piece or even just keeping the calendar up to date.

If you would like to have a go (and you really need zero experience - enthusiasm will count for a lot), please let me know or comment below. I haven't worked out all the details but I thought I would put my feelers out.

Moreton Bay Issues Flood Warning

Just before 9pm tonight (being Tuesday 24th January) Moreton Bay Regional Council issued general flood alert. The Council site appears to be down at the moment (possibly due to the high volume of traffic their alert has precipitated). Looking around I can't find any information about flooding in our local area (Arana Hills, Ferny Hills, Ferny Grove) but I will keep an eye out.

Golf Course during the floods in January 2011

Naturally the Golf Club is probably flooded, and in my own estimation there is a good chance of train disruptions for tomorrow morning's commute.

UPDATE 25 Oct: Train services were actually OK on the Ferny Grove line the next day, so I guess I need to eat crow for my snarky comment.

Some useful links: ABC Emergency Page (and an ABC story),  BOM Current Queensland Warnings. Road Closures, Brisbane North Power Outages

Twitter hashtags: #qldfloods #bigwet

Stay safe. The rain will eventually stop.

Your Representatives

Do you know who your representatives are at the federal, state and local levels are? After moving house I was unclear how my electoral situation had changed so I present below some information about electorates and representatives in the Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills area.

You can always confirm your exact electorate by checking your enrolment at the Australian Electoral Commission.

Emergency Alert Services

If you happen to be on the Moreton Bay side of the Ferny Hills area you might be interested to know about the new Moreton Alert scheme. Moreton Alert is an emergency text message service to inform residents of flooding and other emergency situations. More information can be found on the FAQ.

To receive the messages, residents need to Register.

Brisbane City Council residents have had access to similiar scheme called Brisbane Early Warning Alert Service since 2009.

4BC Radio Interviews: Geoff Wilson and Dale Shuttleworth

4BC radio has posted recordings of their interviews of Labour State member for Ferny Grove Geoff Wilson and LNP Ferny Grove candidate Dale Shuttleworth. Both interviews were done at Arana Hills Leagues Club and feature question and answer sessions with the audience. Worth a listen.

Consultation on Samford-Ferny Grove Cycle Path

I've previously posted about the possibly of the planned Ferny Grove-Samford cycle path potentially following the old rail corridor as opposed to Samford Road.  Posted today was ministerial notice of a public consultation to decide the route the cycle path is to take.

Two public information sessions are planned:

• Saturday 3 December, 1:30-2:30pm, Samford CWA Hall, Main Street
• Monday 5 December, 7pm-8pm, Old Catholic Church, Samford Road.

Residents can also register their contact details by emailing samford.cycle@tmr.qld.gov.au

Geoff Wilson Opposed Same-Sex Civil Unions

Just in case you missed it, Geoff Wilson, state member for Ferny Grove, voted against allowing same-sex civil unions in the recent vote, crossing the floor to do so. This is worth mentioning since it is a rare event that our two-party system allows a clear understanding of where candidates stand on issues.

ABC has a some reporting I found on their AM radio show page quoting Mr Wilson:

The more I have thought about it, about what I personally believe in according to my faith, unfortunately I can't support the bill.

 Labour allowed a conscience vote*, but LNP voted as a bloc. Possibly this answers the question of how Dale Shuttleworth, LNP candidate for Ferny Grove would have voted.

* In theory a sitting member of parliament can vote however they choose on an issue at any time, but they risk the ire of their party apparatus if they do. A 'conscience vote' is one where the party acknowledges that party unity must occasionally take a back seat to the personal beliefs of the members. I wonder when sitting members vote solely on the needs (or majority views) of their electorate.

Contract Awarded for Rail Station Upgrade

If you have been wondering about the lack of activity around the Ferny Grove Railway station - which has been operating a temporary platform and facilities for a while now - you might be surprised to learn that only recently a contractor awarded the work to perform the upgrade. Rail.co reports that Matrix Projects has been awarded the contract. The work is due to be completed in 2012.

Man Stabbed in Armpit in Arana Hills

The Courier Mail has a short article about a man being rushed to hospital after dispute with another man in Double Bar Court Arana Hills. The man was stabbed in the armpit.

Some not happy with Moreton Bay Regional Council

I saw an article in the Courier Mail about residents of Moreton Bay Regional Council in the 'Hills District' (including Ferny Hills, Arana Hills, Everton Hills and Bunya)  wanting to leave Moreton Bay and join Brisbane City Council. Chief grievances cited by the Ratepayer's Action Group (RAG) include higher rates and low infrastructure investment in the Hills area.

The Ratepayer's Action Group is hosting a public forum to gauge community support on Sunday October 30th at the Community Centre on Dawson Parade commencing at 2pm.

Having just moved not too far from Ferny Grove (in Brisbane City Council) to Ferny Hills (in Moreton Bay Regional Council) it will be interesting to see how the two councils really compare.

On a side note, the Ratepayer of Moreton Bay website (home of the Ratepayer Action Group) looks to be interesting site for the civic minded in the Moreton Bay Council area, especially in the lead up to the local government elections.

UPDATE: This topic was also covered on ABC Radio's breakfast show, which you can listen to online.

Local Dog Park Roundup

I recently came across a new Ferny Hills Dog Park Facebook page. I occasionally see streams of invective from dog parks users on Twitter regarding the parks and the owners of other dogs so if you are regular user of these facilities (or rather, your dog is) it might be worthwhile to reach out to other dog owners to talk about your issues instead of shouting them into the internet ether.

If you are looking for a local dog park the list below might help:

• Thomsett Park on Olakuna Cres Ferny Hills
• Arbor Street Park on Tramway St Ferny Grove
• William Scott Park on View Cres & Bunya Rd Arana Hills
• Sylvia Gibbs Park on Nyora St Everton Hills
• Wittonga Park on Alutha Rd The Gap

I found this list on doggo.com.au which unfortunately does not facilitate direct links to search results. If you need more information that site allows you to search by suburb and nicely summarises the facilities available. 

Update

It has been a quiet month in and around Ferny Grove and Ferny Hills (or so it seems to me). Last week State MP Geoff Wilson released is his Wilson Update for August, which seemed to confirm the idea that nothing terribly exciting was going on.

On the other hand I have had a very busy month in my personal life (including buying my first house - in Ferny Hills!) If you know of anything interesting going on in our area that you would like me to publicise, feel free to send me an email or leave a comment.

New Samford-Ferny Grove Bikeway to Follow the Old Rail Line?

As mentioned in a previous post, the State Budget this year allocated money for design of a Samford to Ferny Grove bikeway. In his latest Wilson Update and on a blog post, Sitting Member for Ferny Grove Geoff Wilson talks up the advantages of the proposed bikeway (again).

Interestingly, the accompanying photo shows Mr Wilson and Councillor Bob Millar (from the Moreton Bay Regional Council) at the end of the old rail line track, hinting that the new bikeway may follow that route and not simply follow Samford Road. No affirmative statement either way has been made, however.

After the detailed design work Mr Wilson says that the construction of the new bikeway will commence next financial year.

(It is good to see the contents of the Wilson Update appearing in a more online-friendly blog format on geoffwilsonmp.com. The character of the writing as also improved, putting Geoff in the first person and reading a lot less like media releases. I'd previously written that our politicians and political hopefuls should better leverage the internet to engage us, and it looks like they are taking their first steps.)

Ferny Grove line closed from Michelton as Rail Duplication Works continue

As previously mentioned, the Ferny Grove train services is again being replaced with a bus service from Michelton Station outbound. The closure started last night at 7:30 pm and is scheduled to last until the last training tomorrow (Sunday July 24th). Translink has more information.

Samford-Ferny Grove Bike Path to Go Ahead

A story on Geoff Wilson's website (where Geoff Wilson is the sitting MP for Ferny Grove in the State Government) provides a few more pieces of information on the Samford to Ferny Grove bike path that was mentioned in post-State Budget youtube announcement.

Up to one million dollars has been allocated to the design and detailed planning of the bikeway in the budget (which means money to actually construct the bikeway still needs to be found). The story goes on to quote Wilson extolling the synergy with the Ferny Grove station upgrade, whose improved bike facilities and new shower facilities will provide more options to Samford-valley commuters.

The possibility of a bikeway to Samford will no doubt please potential cyclists, but it is a poor substitute for improving existing rail services or facing up to the long term inevitability of a railway line extension to Samford.

BrizCommuter: Keperra to Ferny Grove duplication - $100m fail

BrizCommuter is blog that posts news and opinions on transport issues in South East Brisbane. A recent post titled Keperra to Ferny Grove duplication - $100m fail caught my eye. How, or will, the actual train service be to Ferny Grove be improved by the track duplication or railway station upgrade? It would be easy to forget this question amidst the colourful artist's impressions that are circulating (somehow minus substantative information) since around the period of the Hills Festival.