As forecast in the previous entry, the builders of Airport Link have succeeded in
removing the ancient Flindersia tree in Woooloowin that gave shelter and pleasure to
residents and wildlife for 200 years - until it stood in the way of the 20th century
definition of progress, the motor vehicle.

Ignoring protests from local residents, treeloppers moved in yesterday and the iconic tree
was killed and chopped up in just eight hours.

And the cost to the Company awarded the contract to construct the $5,000 million tunnel project?
A mere $100,000 to ameliorate the conscience of the Lord Mayor.

Source : City North News editions of 14 and 21 January.
Go to their website at
http://city-north-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/200-year-old-tree-faces-the-chop/
and watch the video of the story.
Note the arrogant statements of dismissal by the Infrastructure Minister.
Note also the absence of candour by the Lord Mayor, whose TransApex dream of a series
of rabbit holes under the city included Airport Link. Council actively worked with the
Beattie Government to fast-track the approval of Airport Link.
The Council always has an "independent" arborist on call to blunt community opposition

As work on the Airport Link tunnel and Northern Busway projects continues day and night,
reports from truckers of very long working hours demanded by sub-contractors hired by the consrtuction group Theiss John Holland, and low contract rates, continue to surface in the media
despite efforts to restrict those involved in the projects from speaking out.

CAST members have continued to hear unconfirmed reports that many truckers have been expected to work shifts that exceed the daily limits set by the Transport regulations.

It seems that unless formal complaints are lodged with Transport inspectors, action is not about to be taken to investigate whether these allegations are malicious or based on fact.

The owner and operator of Sydney's Lane Cove Tunnel and associated tolled ramps, Connector Motorways Pty. Ltd., was placed in receivership last week.

The receivers and managers said they would look at what options for the tunnel's future existed, including a sale.

The Lane Cove Tunnel is a 3.6km tolled twin-tunnel that links the M2 Motorway at North Ryde with the Gore Hill Freeway at Artarmon.

The tunnel and ramps opened in March 2007. The tunnel cost $1100 million to build, but the total investment in the project has been estimated to be $1800 million. Connector has the right to collect tolls until the year 2037.

Car tunnel users and residents living in suburbs surrounding tunnel exhaust stacks can expect greater exposure to fine particle and air toxic pollution once the Clem Jones (North South Bypass) Tunnel comes online in Brisbane.

Tunnel users need to hold their breath and wind up their windows as they pay $4 to drive through the Clem Jones “Gas Chamber”.

And don’t expect it to be a quick ride in and out of the tunnel. Sydney commuters sit in stop start traffic in car tunnels everyday. Tunnels are just another four lane road, and like any other road they clog up with traffic.

The impact statements for the Brisbane tunnels also show that there will be greater congestion on arterial roads leading to the car tunnels, which will create even more air pollution.

Media release 26 August 2009

Three years ago today, construction commenced on what future historians will judge to be Brisbane’s biggest mistake since Clem Jones removed the trams – the North South Bypass Tunnel.

Campbell Newman’s road tunnels may have seemed feasible in 2004, but climate change, the global financial crisis, oil insecurity and changing travel behaviour now show that the community opposition to wasting more than $15 billion on TransApex was fully justified.

The community is coming to understand that new road infrastructure projects are not the path to future social, economic and financial sustainability. Public infrastructure companies that have built and operated tolled roads and tunnels are writing down their value and struggling financially. Tunnel construction and operation is a risky gamble in this new environment.

A letter from one of our members, Rowan Barber, to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.

You can also send one to the following addresses - Wayne.Swan.MP@aph.gov.au; Kevin.Rudd.MP@aph.gov.au; Arch.Bevis.MP@aph.gov.au

Dear Treasurer Swan,

I read in today's Sunday Mail that my esteemed Lord Mayor has applied for $850 Million dollars to contribute towards the Northern Link Tunnel connecting Toowong to Kelvin Grove in Brisbane. I really do not think the Lord Mayor or SKM (the consultants who wrote the Environmental Impact Assessment) have seriously considered the changing milleau of peak oil and anthropogenic contributions to climate change.

Latest report from the Stop the Hale Street Bridge Coalition:

BACKGROUND BRIEFING - distributed in response to Lord Mayor's statements (19 August)

Read about how Newman has been caught out fudging the facts again...

Trevor Rowe is chairman of the BrisConnections consortium who are preparing to build Airport Link but he is also chair of the Queensland Investment Corporation, a state-owned funds manager the manages the superannuation funds of Queensland Public Servants. The Queensland Investment Corporation have bought into Airport Link and have already lost a lot of money as a result. Perhaps if you're a public servant in Queensland you should be concerned about whether your money is really going into good investments. Read an article about this topic from the Courier Mail below:

Tony Grant-Taylor and James McCullough