Probes and inspections have been expanded at the landfills in Ipswich following the recent floods as residents continue to deal with odour issues and fight for clean air.
In a statement, the Department of Environment and Science (DES) said that it is taking action against those responsible for the stench impacting the residential communities.
DES has ordered Cleanaway, one of the operators of the landfill, to continue treating the dumpsites to reduce the odour and ensure that the chemical treatments are carefully disposed of across the water body.
DES also stated that water sampling has been conducted at Cleanway’s facilities, which indicated low levels of contamination.
Community Needs to See Improvement
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding acknowledged the “horrendous” smell at landfills in Ipswich, specifically in Swanbank and New Chum. Whilst she backs the DES probe, the mayor also said that this effort will mean nothing “if the community don’t see an improvement.”
“DES is responsible for investigating and responding to community concerns about odour, dust and other environmental nuisances,” the mayor said.
“Council supports the moves that Cleanaway are making in firstly announcing publicly that they believe they have a problem and are trying to fix it – and we encourage them to communicate to the regulators and the community on this complex and worrying issue.
“They must comply with the state government laws and operate in a safe manner.”
However, a DES report published on 5 May 2022 cited that whilst Cleanway was given clearance for a 24×7 transfer operation of leachate, there have been no trucks on-site, per the members of the Ipswich Residents Against Toxic Environment. They have written the Environment Minister to bring this issue to light.
Health Issues Affecting Residents
Some of the affected residents include Collingwood Park and Riverview. One local councillor said that the Odour Abatement Taskforce has received 13,450 complaints about odour, dust and other environmental issues since its formation in 2018.
Locals have been asking to shut down these landfills for nearly a decade. Reports cited that the recent flooding has made the stench intolerable and out of control and the quality of the air makes their eyes water.
Some residents wake up with migraines or respiratory issues and deal with a stench that makes them vomit. The locals said the smell wafts through their backyard and into their vents and windows.
Did you know that in late 2021, a renewed Temporary Planning Instrument has set stricter limits on new landfills and waste-to-energy facilities in Ipswich?
The new temporary planning instrument replaces the two previous TLPIs that expired early this year and provides interim protections for nearby residents whilst the IpswichCIty Council prepares a new long-term planning scheme.
The expanded controls were in response to the number of complaints from Ipswich residents about the impacts of energy from waste activities in Swanbank, New Chum, Ebenezer, Willowbank and Jeebropilly.
“Local residents have raised concerns about the impacts of waste activities such as landfills on health, air quality, odour, dust and noise, as well as impacts on visual amenity,” Deputy Premier and Minister for Planning Steven Miles said.
“The renewed TLPI covers the Swanbank / New Chum and Ebenezer / Willowbank / Jeebropilly areas and regulates new or changed waste activities, protecting nearby residential areas from adverse amenity impacts by introducing stronger planning safeguards to better regulate waste activities.”
The State Government first introduced the regulations in 2018 to protect Ipswich residents by making a TLPI for the Swanbank / New Chum area and then continued in 2020 with the Queensland Government and Ipswich City Council introducing two TLPIs.
Mr Miles added that the TLPI complements actions that were already being undertaken by the Environment Minister and the Ipswich City Council with the newly formed Waste Management Stakeholder Advisory Group and Odour Abatement Taskforce.
Ipswich Mayor and Chairperson of the Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee Teresa Harding said that the State Government’s “strong” stance on energy from waste is a significant win for the Ipswich City Council and community.
“The Deputy Premier has acknowledged the concerns and strong objections from the Ipswich community around energy from waste, and significantly boosted protections to ensure residential areas will not be negatively impacted by these activities,” Mayor Harding said.
Mayor Harding added that the new TLPI “clearly outlines that proposals for energy from waste activities should be no closer than five kilometres to a residential area or a tourism or motorsport precinct.” Whilst it will bring some relief to Ipswich residents, she said that Council will continue to raise the community’s concerns about “energy from waste in Ipswich.”
The expanded Mater Private Hospital in Springfield will have pandemic-resilient features once complete, including a purpose-built ward and an emergency department designed to operate in pandemic conditions.
The pandemic ward will have 28 beds and will be isolated from the rest of the hospital. It will have a negative-pressure air ventilation system, with each ward to be provided with more isolation rooms.
External triage areas will also be provided to allow increased screening and assessment of patients during a pandemic.
The design of the hospital has been created to better prepare Mater for a future pandemic, given that Covid-19 has changed the face of healthcare.
Artist’s impression of Mater’s expansion (Photo credit: Ipswich City Council)
First opened in 2015, Mater Private Hospital in Springfield will undergo a $1 billion expansion to deliver new services, such as intensive care unit and maternity services, more operating theatres and endoscopy procedural areas, and a much-needed Emergency Department.
The expanded Mater Hospital will have 174 public overnight and same-day beds, bringing the total number of beds to 233.
The hospital will be delivered through the partnership of the hospital and the State Government. In 2021, it was announced that the government will provide an initial $177 million in funding in the next budget for the care of public patients.
Plans (Photo credit: Ipswich City Council)
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said there would be further capacity for expansion at the new public hospital.
“This new public hospital in Springfield will complement the current facility and significantly boost capacity in the local health network,” she said.
“Queensland Health already works closely with Mater Health Services to deliver health care to Queensland across the state, and this investment is only strengthening this partnership.”
Based on the projected timeline, the expansion of the hospital is expected to commence in mid-2022. Mater is looking to open its door to the first patients by Dec 2024.
Further details about Mater’s expansion can be viewed at Ipswich City Council’s website, with the reference 20230/2021/ADP.
Organised by the Varnam Cultural Society (Qld) Inc, this major event will present the talents and skills of the Tamil Community. Happening on Saturday, the 30th of April 2022, the event will run from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Robelle Domain Parklands along Education City Drive in Springfield Central.
This annual gathering is an opportunity for the locals to participate in community activities and renew social connections. Support for this event will also help raise much-needed funds for the advocacies of the Varnam Cultural Society.
Photo Credit: The Greater Springfield Community Festival/Facebook
Families and kids will be entertained by carnival games, a petting zoo, performances and live DJs, and amusement rides. Food and business stalls will also set shop at the festival. The event will also mark a Citizenship Ceremony.
Ash Barty shocked the world of tennis when she retired at the top of her game so she could go after ‘other dreams.’ These days, she can be seen swinging a golf club in winning form at Brookwater Golf and Country Club, where she recently proved her championship streak isn’t over just yet.
On Saturday, 2 April 2022, Ash won the ladies’ competition against five women at the Brookwater Golf and Country Club. The 25-year-old bagged $30 for her win, a far cry from her over $30-million winning in tennis.
Nonetheless, there have been speculations were that the World No. 1 could be coming out of retirement to play golf professionally. It won’t be a surprise to her fans, however, as Ash is quite a talented golfer and played with Tiger Woods before.
Woods even said that Ash has “got a great swing.” Two-time Queensland amateur champion Louis Dobbelaar also believes that Ash has all she needs to pursue golf as she’s natural at it.
Ash has been a member of the Brookwater Golf and Country Club for a few years and she also won the club championship in 2020. Members adore her down-to-earth nature.
The tennis superstar is currently building her new home at Brookwater Residential as it suits the quiet lifestyle she craves for. The golf course is a stone’s throw away from the residential community.
Aside from tennis and golf, Ash is also a great cricket player and had a full-time contract with Brisbane Heat in 2015 during her brief break from tennis in 2014. One of her former Heat coaches said that she’s very team-oriented and showed outstanding batting skills from the get-go. Her father is a major cricket fan and she sat many hours with him watching the games on TV as a child.
Despite the speculations, Ash has been mum about her next plans post-retirement from tennis. The world will just have to wait and see her next move.
Logan Hospital and other Qld public hospitals could see longer off-stretcher waiting times ahead as Queensland loses massive health funding in the 2022-23 Federal Budget even as the State Government made a prior appeal for a 50-50 public health funding split.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath expressed her disappointment over the latest federal budget which will see massive funding cuts for the state’s public hospitals. Ahead of the Federal Budget, the state government called for additional funding for Qld’s public health system, which is estimated to be around $1.5 billion a year.
The appeal comes as Queenslanders turn to public hospitals due to a lack of bulk-billing GP services, particularly in areas where private health costs are rising. Additional funding would have meant more hospital beds, and frontline staff and services; Queensland, however, is not getting that commitment.
“If the budget delivered by Josh Frydenberg last night is remembered at all, it will be for the way that it failed Queensland,” the Health Minister said.
“Not only did Scott Morrison’s [government] ignore our appeal for a 50-50 health funding split, he will cut $21 million from our hospitals next financial year.
“The federal coalition is also cutting $176 million from Queensland hospitals in 2023‑24 and 2024‑25, compared to funding promised just four months ago.
“All the States and Territories, along with the Australian Medical Association, are calling for more Commonwealth funding for public hospitals, but the PM is ignoring these calls,” she said.
Queensland Ambulance Service data revealed an increase of 76 per cent in ambulance lost time in 2020-21 Photo Credit: Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) / Facebook
Queensland Health data from October to December 2021 showed that off-stretcher transfer within 30 minutes at Qld public hospitals was at 62 per cent; the state government aims to increase that rate to 90 per cent. Off-stretcher time, or ramping, refers to the time it takes before the paramedics and their patients could be allowed entry by the hospital’s ED.
Statistics revealed that Logan Hospital recorded the longest waiting time of 480 minutes in October last year. However, over the last six months to January 2022, Gold Coast had the longest average off-stretch waiting time of 456 minutes.
Ramping greatly affects ambulance services. When paramedics are unable to offload their patients, they have no other option but to provide care until ED is able to accept the transfer. This means that other patients needing an ambulance to pick them up would also have to wait.
Data from Queensland Ambulance Service showed that in 2020-21, ambulance lost time figures (beyond the 30-minute target) for the top 26 Qld public hospitals indicate an increase of 76 per cent from 2019-20 or 111,697 hours from the previous 63,339 hours.
Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said that all that Queensland was asking was for a “fair partnership” to help address the growing need for health services but Qld got its budget cut instead. He added that losing federal funding for Queensland hospitals would mean that patients will have to ”wait longer for the health treatment they deserve.”
In a Brookwater Residential video, Ash talks about why she chose Brookwater and what she loves about the community. She purchased the property at Brookwater Residential – which also features the Greg Norman-designed Brookwater Golf Course – last year for $882,000 and is now building her new home.
The tennis icon spent her childhood in Greater Springfield. Living with her mom and dad there her whole life and with her sister also a stone’s throw away, she said that it makes sense to her to think that “this is the destination that I want to live forever.”
Artist impression of the Brookwater Residential home Ashleigh Barty is building | Photo Credit: REA Group – Brookwater Residential / realestate.com.au
And as to why she chose to live in the community at Brookwater, she said that she loves how “low-key” the lifestyle is at Brookwater.
“It’s quiet, it’s calm, it really suits our lifestyle. Brookwater has so much to offer in all different facets of lifestyle,” she explained.
“They’ve got a golf course, plenty of walking tracks, cafes, they’ve got all of these things that ticks all the boxes for me and that’s where I see myself forever.”
However, the three-time grand slam winner made sure that the design elements of her new home would have plenty of space outside and since she spends a lot of time in the kitchen, she also wants it to be just how she imagined it.
Describing the process of designing her “forever” home, she said that trying to explain what is in her brain and how to get the message across was “quite confronting” at the start. But everyone that she worked with at Brookwater made the whole process seamless and “nailed it.”
“In the end, when you look back at all the decisions you’ve made, there wasn’t one regret – there never will be a regret. And I think that the best part of it is that we’ve done it. This is it! And it’s on the page and I can’t wait to see the process of it being built.”
Ash recently stunned the sporting world when she announced her retirement from professional tennis at the age of 25. In an emotional video that she shared on social media, she said that she is grateful for everything tennis has given her but she knew that the time is right to “chase other dreams and put the racket down.”
But why retire when she is at the peak of her career?
“To be able to win Wimbledon…the one true dream that I wanted in tennis, that really changed my perspective.
“I just had the gut feeling after Wimbledon – and I have spoken to my team quite a lot about it — and there was just a little part of me that wasn’t quite satisfied, wasn’t quite fulfilled.
“And then came the challenge of the Australian Open and I think that for me just feels like the most perfect way, my perfect way, to celebrate what an amazing journey my tennis career has been.
“As a person, this is what I want. I want to chase after some other dreams.”
Olympic triple medallist Mollie O’Callaghan continued her winning streak as she led St Peters Lutheran College Springfield to an exciting ninth successive Swimming Championship at the QGSSSA held at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler.
On 16 March 2022, St Peters Lutheran College joined Brisbane State High School as QGSSSA’s record holder of nine consecutive Mollie Gould Cup titles.
St Peters’ swim team broke individual records courtesy of O’Callaghan (50m freestyle, 25.69), Ainsley Trotter (15 years 50m backstroke, 29.74) and Isabella Morris (14 years 50m freestyle, 27.81). Annika Silvester (12 years, 50m butterfly, 30.31) of Brisbane State High School also broke an individual record that night.
Meanwhile, the Saints’ 15 Years B Division Team (1:56.26) composed of Gemma Glen, Chloe Cholet, Gabrielle Frisbee and Josephine Illing and 14 Years A Division team (1:53.31) of Kaci Curtis, Isabella Morris, Alexa S and Abby George also broke relay records.
Photo Credit: David Martin: Ipswich / Facebook
St Peters started strong with Jamie Perkins winning the first individual event of the night, the 200m open freestyle. Ella Ramsay and Mollie O’Callaghan followed suit in the 100m breaststroke and the 100m backstroke, respectively.
All in all, Mollie O’Callaghan finished on top in the 100m backstrokes, 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle, and was part of the Saint’s winning team in the 200m freestyle relay and 200m freestyle relay.
Mollie O’Callaghan OAM finished the 2020 Summer Olympics with two gold medals (4×100 medley relay and the freestyle relay as a heat swimmer) and one bronze medal (as part of the 4×200m relay team).
Before her spectacular Olympic performance in Tokyo, she also beat training partner and fellow Olympic champ and club mate, Ariarne Titmus, in Queensland’s swimming championships. O’Callaghan clocked 1:56.51 to win the 200m freestyle.
Dr Geoff Muduioa of Mater Private Hospital Springfield goes about this workday checking on patients as a breast and endocrine surgeon but everyone looks forward to his daily rounds because he brings something even better — music and songs that put a smile in the staff and soothe his patients.
Dr Muduioa, who is originally from the Solomon Islands, has earned the nickname the “singing surgeon” at Mater Hospital because he loves to sing to his patients to keep them calm prior to their surgery.
“I have always loved music. There’s always music playing in the theatre when I’m operating,” the doctor said.
“Growing up in the Pacific Islands, singing is part of the culture. We sing all the time, even from a very young age.”
Dr Muduioa admitted his singing is not pitch-perfect, but said his patients recovering from breast, thyroid, and general surgical procedures appreciated his enthusiasm.
“It does not matter if we sing out of key, what matters is the joy we experience and the joy the song brings to my patients,” he said.
His choice of tunes has united his colleagues, who also sing along and out loud with Dr Muduioa.
Gavin Daniell, from Wynnum Manly, was nervous about his hernia operation but Dr Muduioa’s became the highlight of his day.
Daniell was also impacted by the recent flooding in Brisbane and his experience and consults with the singing surgeon helped take his mind off things at home.
With heaps of new infrastructure projects and ongoing developments, including attractive housing for small to large families, Springfield Lakes has exhibited steady, sustained median growth of 20 per cent year-on-year as of the end of 2021.
Highlights
The Springfield Lakes property market showed a 21.61 per cent median house price increase for the period January 2021 to December 2021, with the median ending the year at $529,000.
Springfield Lakes’ median unit price also increased by 17.26 per cent for the same period, at $440,900.
Home values in Springfield Lakes are still very accessible to most families and inventory is available, so the market is tipped for more growth.
Springfield Lakes House Price Growth
From January 2021 to December 2021, Springfield Lakes gained commendable momentum with a 21.61 per cent growth compared to last year, according to figures from Property Market Updates. The median house price for this suburb has reached the half-million mark at $529,000, up from $435,000.
House listings showed brisk and encouraging activity at an average of 29 days on market with 616 homes sold during this period. Most buyers have been quick to close deals for four-bedroom homes but a six-bedroom property was snapped up with the highest price at $1,315,000.
Whilst the general housing market is expected to slow down, Springfield Lakes is projected to enjoy substantial growth in 2022, offering more opportunities for smart investors. House prices in this suburb are still accessible to many families as well, especially for those looking to reside away from the city. Surrounded by parks, schools and booming small businesses, Springfield Lakes provides the perfect lifestyle for those who relish in the outdoors.
Springfield Lakes Unit Price Growth
The unit price for apartments or semi-attached properties in Springfield Lakes has also exhibited an uptick of 17.26 per cent from January 2021 to December 2021, with the median unit price at $440,900 by year end.
Market listings, however, stayed an average of 58 days on market, with 127 properties sold for this period. Three-bedroom apartments had the most transactions.
Brisbane’s property market generally shows a wider gap between house and unit prices, making it harder for investors to upgrade. However, in Springfield Lakes opportunities to step up are still attainable with the small difference in prices between an apartment and a detached house.
About Springfield Lakes
Springfield Lakes is part of the Greater Springfield location, the second-largest city to be master planned in Australia. Situated 30 minutes away from Brisbane CBD, this suburb in the western corridor sits on a rapidly developing hilly landscape which was a former eucalyptus foundation.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Developed with families in mind, Springfield Lakes has a lot of young, maturing and established couples who are either setting their roots or enjoying the prime of their lives in a suburb that has every convenience within reach. Schools provide a good selection for primary, secondary or tertiary education, including early education and childcare. Doctor visits are also accessible with established health services and more facilities in the planning and construction phases.
There is always something to do in Springfield Lakes for residents who love walking, biking, kayaking or simply enjoying the tranquil natural surroundings with a picnic. At the parklands, markets, live entertainment, fitness, and crafting events for kids and parents take place regularly as well. The easy commute to the Orion Springfield Centre, the main hub of the community, allows residents to enjoy dining, shopping, and other activities with their families and friends.
“A year ago we moved over from New Zealand. Out of the hundreds of overwhelming Suburbs to choose from we narrowed it right down to Springfield lakes. One main factor was that we didn’t want to be anywhere near the City but wanted ample amenities that allowed us to do so. We were advised that Springfield Lakes was a part of a grand master plan for Ipswich.”
Kristy
“Springfield Lakes is a total package of everything, such as great schools, USQ, TAFE, shopping malls, greenery train service and much more!”
Hasanthi
“I have lived in Springfield from 2010 for a year. Bought a house in Springfield Lakes since 2011 and we live here till now. We love it. The parks are great, nice and big. We have been to many many suburbs and take my daughter with us to the parks, most suburbs parks are just not comparable with Springfield Lakes. So many schools to choose from, no trouble getting to a school, private schools (St. Peters) are cheaper than you pay near the city. Even so, none of them are better schools compared them with schools near Brisbane.”
