As I look back on my tenure as Mayor of the City of Logan, among the things I am most proud of is having helped guide our city towards a brighter, more successful future.
One of the lasting legacies of the council I have led will be its commitment to supporting and encouraging innovation.
Some people might be surprised to learn just how much of their day-to-day lifestyle is coordinated at local government level – it’s not just roads, rates and rubbish.
As a council, we oversee a huge range of programs, events and public facilities that keep our city safe, healthy, connected and entertained.
It’s a huge responsibility – but it’s also the reason why we all benefit from finding smarter ways of working and delivering these services to our community.
Over the past four years, our city has led the way with bold and clever innovations in many areas.
Council’s Australia-first biosolids gasification facility, which opened in April 2022, continues to receive national and international attention for its groundbreaking, environmentally conscious and cost-saving approach to sewage disposal.
We’ve reformed our road maintenance program with high-tech cameras and artificial intelligence-based computer programs to monitor and repair local roads.
We’ve also added a specially equipped, safety-enhanced pothole repair truck – known as a Jet Patcher – to our fleet.
In the recycling space, we’ve been a leading voice in a three-way partnership with Ipswich and Redland Councils to advocate for our own Material Recovery Facility (MRF).
The proposed facility will have the capability to recycle glass, metal and paper, divert tonnes of waste from landfill, create local jobs and free ratepayers from the expensive restraints of the existing monopoly in the local recycling industry.
Initiatives that enhance local liveability– such as our new Logan Libraries App – are making day-to-day life easier for residents.
This easy-to-use app has now put half a million items from our library collections at members’ fingertips through their own computers and devices.
We’ve also installed solar panels on the roofs of our libraries and many other council facilities, which not only reduced our soaring electricity costs, but helped us become the second council in Queensland to be certified carbon neutral.
And while telecommunications are not usually a local government responsibility, the current council endorsed a comprehensive business case which identified mobile and internet blackspots in our city – allowing us to seek specific support and solutions from telcos and other levels of government.
We also have developed the next version of our local planning scheme, which enhances amenity across the city, encourages greener street scaping and aims to boost our night-time economy.
It also creates a dedicated innovation district in Underwood.
This area will attract and support cutting-edge businesses that in turn will create high-worth local jobs and help ensure the innovation initiatives sparked by this council are admired and enjoyed for generations to come.
Nothing comes without hard work and now is not the time to rest on our laurels.
As technology continues to advance, I encourage our incoming new Mayor and council to keep an open mind on innovation and examine any opportunities to closely examine, explore, research and test new ideas that may have the potential to enhance lifestyles across our growing city.
There’s no limit to what we could achieve next.
