The WBBAG has been fortunate enough to secure a position on one of the WBTNI Community Liaison Groups (CLG). The WBBAG will be represented at the "South" group meetings, the first of which took place on Wednesday, 19th of September.

There are two CLGs as part of the WBTNI. They are named the "North" and "South" groups. The division for the groups is geographical, basically everyone north of Brisbane Forest park, and everyone south of it. The CLGs are specifically for community groups, and as such, professional organisations and elected officials have been excluded at this point. These other interested parties will join the process during the "Workshops" which will begin in late 2007.

The first meeting of the CLG was primarily a quick informational primer on the structure of the group, its role, and an overview of the WBTNI both past and present. The information we learned from our earlier meeting with the WBTNI covered a lot of the same ground, and in more detail, so the only new information was that specific to the CLG workings. The minutes of the meeting will be available on the WBTNI website and we will post an update when that occurs.

The primary role we will play as a member of the CLG is to distribute information from the WBTNI to the community and return to them the feedback and concerns of the community. The emphasis here is to distribute information and receive comments as quickly as possible to ensure that it is available to the WBTNI during their investigation process. There will be a total of five CLG meetings before the WBTNI hands down its recommendations in the mid 2008 time frame.

Other than CLG operations, a couple of interesting points were highlighted during the meeting that are worthy of a mention.

The preserved transport corridors as shown in our maps section are not fully resumed. These corridors are resumed on an "as suitable" basis. Basically, when properties are listed for sale or cannot be sold due to the presence of the corridor (acquisition due to hardship), the government steps up and purchases them.

The WBTNI is acting within the constraints of the current land use/urban footprint as listed in the SEQIPP. While they may determine that some land use changes may be beneficial, this will only be noted for consideration.

The WBTNI, while including the impact of the Ipswich Motorway, will not be investigating or recommending anything with respect to the Ipswich Motorway upgrade or Goodna Bypass.