Mayoral Statement on City of Moreton Bay’s focus for 2025

Published 30 January 2025

City of Moreton Bay is an extraordinary city.

We are Australia’s third largest local government area and are experiencing rapid growth.

It is diversity - in terms of our vibrant communities and landscapes - from beaches to urban spaces and rural townships - that gives us an unrivalled opportunity.

I am proud of City of Moreton Bay’s reputation for innovation and collaboration. We continue to be a leader in South East Queensland.

And, as we embark on 2025 - our first full year in this new Council term - I am excited by the ambition and vision for our great City of Moreton Bay.

Today, at our first Council meeting for the year, I want to share the focus for 2025.

This year builds on our strong commitment to community, liveability, infrastructure, jobs and innovation.

So that as our population grows, we can sustain the lifestyle City of Moreton Bay is renowned for.

We will continue to listen - to understand and support the needs of our communities.

We are here to serve.

And we are dedicated to ensuring City of Moreton Bay runs as efficiently as possible.

So all residents have access to the services and programs they need to live safe and healthy lives, now and into the future.

We will continue to provide value to the community by being financially responsible.

City of Moreton Bay has the lowest debt per capita in South East Queensland and there is no other South East Queensland Council with a higher credit rating than us.

This positions us well for the future growth of our City.

Meanwhile, we continue to efficiently deliver core Council services, including road construction and maintenance, waste services, libraries and galleries, pest and weed management, playgrounds, sporting facilities and more.

I look forward to the expansion of our successful garden organics collection service in March. This provides significant cost savings, by diverting more waste from landfill, and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

We will also continue to provide our free tipping service, which helps local residents with cost of living pressures.

Our award-winning Snap, Send, Solve platform will continue to provide rapid responses to issues such as fallen trees, footpath damage and illegal dumping.

It goes without saying, one of our greatest assets is the pride we all have in our community.

I am also looking forward to seeing community safety enhanced with our CCTV network growing to more than 1,900 cameras this year, making it one of the largest local government CCTV networks in Queensland.

And we are even more ready for whatever severe weather throws at us, with our SES Depot being built at Deception Bay this year, to enhance the resilience of our already disaster-prepared community.

With our rapid population growth, we cannot afford to slow down on infrastructure investment.

This year, I look forward to seeing our $277 million capital works program deliver on key projects such as the highly anticipated Youngs Crossing Road, Suttons Beach Pavilion Redevelopment and Caboolture River Road.

I am also keen to see further progress on Buchanan Road.

This will not only open up more housing, but future proof the city’s infrastructure networks by taking pressure off our already busy local road network.

The State’s Shaping SEQ Plan that dictates Queensland’s future growth, and response to current housing pressures, calls for us to increase City of Moreton Bay’s population by more than 308,000 people by 2046.

This can only be done with planning certainty and foresight, especially when it comes to infrastructure.

As Australia’s newest polycentric city, I have a goal for our residents to both live and work in City of Moreton Bay. To enable this, we need diversity of housing.

Our 12 growth fronts will almost singlehandedly solve South East Queensland housing crisis. We are determined to get these new communities right.

As our greenfield sites provide house and land living, our determination to deliver infill housing, medium density, and social and affordable housing - giving everyone the opportunity for their own home - will be prioritised.

We continue to assist the delivery of affordable and social housing and have recently partnered with community housing providers Bric Housing and Coast2Bay Housing Group, offering up Council-owned land for them to build on. I look forward to construction starting on these sites this year.

For those needing support, our new Support Hub at Redcliffe will open soon, housing The Salvation Army and other community providers who help those in need.

We will also continue our Australian-first initiative of waiving development fees and infrastructure charges in key areas of the city to encourage more social and affordable housing.

I am committed to delivering more employment opportunities for those who live here. Our strong agricultural roots, combined with successful technology and manufacturing industries, supported by our generous economic incentives, continue to attract new businesses.

The strategic development of The Mill site at Petrie is core to our vision of greater economic prosperity for City of Moreton Bay.

We’ll continue to shape this precinct to drive economic growth, education, and employment opportunities, investing in outcomes to benefit our rapidly growing population.

Alongside continuing to work with significant stakeholders, including the University Sunshine Coast, I am keen to see the delivery of other opportunities at The Mill including movement at the TAFE site, a key project that was committed to by the LNP Government.

Of course, a highlight of this site is the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games venue.

Our very own Moreton Bay Indoor Sports Centre will provide a legacy of ongoing community and event use.

I would like to see this shovel ready sports centre maintained and part of the 100 Day Review. This type of social infrastructure is key to our city as we grow.

City of Moreton Bay is also leveraging our involvement in the Games to achieve better road and transport infrastructure.

We have called for road projects such as the Bruce Highway Western Alternative and additional bridges at the Pine River Crossing, alongside better and integrated public transport to be prioritised.

Although we are growing, this will not be at the detriment of green space. We will continue our mission of growing green as we grow, balancing healthy environments with housing and amenities.

This year we have allocated $3.7 million to wildlife initiatives and green infrastructure, and I am particularly looking forward to the delivery of the Moreton Bay Wildlife Hospital.

Our reputation for tourism is booming with more than 4.3 million annual visitors, who contribute more than $2 billion into our economy.

We have a plan to support the development and construction of more short-term accommodation that will in turn enable jobs, opportunity and attraction. This is a key focus in 2025.

2025 is the National Year of Accessible Tourism.

It is my goal for City of Moreton Bay to be to be South East Queensland’s most accessible city.

We are the first local government in Australia to develop a Changing Places Network Plan.

And this year we will roll out more public facilities for people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.

This will complement our three facilities already in place.

There is no doubt that local councils ultimately have the biggest impact on people's day-to-day lives.

We take this responsibility seriously.

However, we can’t do it alone.

Especially when the share of tax revenue we receive has not grown since the 1970’s.

That’s 50 years ago!

As a City we have grown so much since then, and future predictions have us booming.

We will continue to advocate the State and Federal Government for our fair share.

On a per capita basis, City of Moreton Bay is consistently one of the lowest funded South East Queensland councils.

This must change and we look forward to working with the new State Government to enable this.

In the lead up to the Federal election too, we call for a serious and realistic recognition of City of Moreton Bay’s growing prominence.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow councillors.

As a Council, we are not politically aligned, so each and every day we are working directly for you.

We all proudly live here and want the best for our community.

I know sometimes that means making tough decisions, but we do this, having listened to the community, and knowing that what we do today must benefit us all in the future.

Thank you to our CEO Scott Waters, who in only his short time with us, has driven greater focus to our Council business, ably supported by our leadership team.

Most importantly, our team members are what keeps our City running.

They work hard each and every day to implement community expectations and deliver for our residents.

Thank you to all of you for your commitment to our City.

Together, with our communities, we are delivering Soth East Queensland’s newest and most liveable city - the City of Moreton Bay.