Logan and Albert Conservation Association

Council is developing a Community Infrastructure Strategy to determine the type and range of community facilities required in Logan City as the population grows. Council has seleted a group of people to participate in a Community Reference Group. The people chosen live or work in Logan and volunteer or use facilities such as Sport and recreation clubs, Community organisations eg Multi-cultural, Meals on Wheels, Community Centres, Respite Centres, Major venues - eg: Indoor Sports Centres, Aquatic Venues, Entertainment Centres, Community halls, neighbourhood centres, kindergartens, PCYC, Schools, preschools and tertiary institutions.

This is a significant planning project for community in partnership with Council Officers and council is to be commended for this strategic partnership.

As a member of Logan and Albert Conservation Association, longterm resident and teacher in Logan since 1984, Kathy Faldt completed an expression of interest for Council's Social Planning Team. Their contact is 3412 4631 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . This information is available here.

Each member of the Community Reference Group has been provided with a link to the council's online SURVEY and this where to find it. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/cis 

If you know anyone without computer access or skills here is a copy you can print off for them. Survey_Community_Infrastructure_LCC_August2010.pdf  Bytes 01/01/1970, 10:00

Paper copies of survey closed 20 August 2010. Online survey closes 17 September - but get your response in asap please. 

As a longterm committed conservationist and environmentalist I recognise the value that ecosystem services provided by the natural environment - the biodiversity infrastructure - plays an invaluable role in providing essential resources for human health wellbeing and development. In America there is an extensive program to ensure that children have opportunities to experience the natural environment.

Field Notes from the Future provides more detail on this movement and the work of Richard Louv. http://www.childrenandnature.org/blog/ 

Mark Robinson State LNP member for Cleveland (Queensland) has provided you an opportunity to highlight your support for the creation of a National Park on North Stradbroke Island.  The survey does seem to indicate there is a lack of interest in the National Park idea and more interest in allowing mining to continue.

QCC Queensland Conservation Council and  LACA Logan and Albert Conservation Association believe sandmining must stop. We believe everyone in Queensland should let the member know how they feel and please also send a strong message that we desire 80% of the island in National Park and we desire it sooner rather than later. Sand Mining must stop now!  Sand left after mineral processing should be used for rehabilitation and not sold off.

Free postage is included on printed survey.

Download and print the survey here. north-stradbroke-island-have-your-say.pdf 252.00 Kb

The survey asks you to indicate your level of agreement to the following questions / statements

[Strongly agree  -  Agree   -  Undecided   -  Disagree -   Strongly Disagree]

The premier's plan to stop sandmining by 2027 is a good plan

Continue to read the questions on line

A draft master plan has been prepared to guide the future development of Logan West Parklands, which will be located minutes from the Park Ridge town centre on the Mt Lindesay Highway Service Road, next to Park Ridge High School.

Council officers will be available at the following locations to discuss the master plan.

Council officers will be available to discuss the master plan. Last opportunity to comment on the Draft Landscape Master Plan with planners is at Park Ridge Village Mt Lindesay Hwy Service Rd Thursday 22 July 2 pm to 4 pm.

Documents council have currentl made available can be viewed or downloaded from this page.

What is not included for our background studies is the Flora and Fauna Management Plan. This is a contentious issue as such documents are essential components to all development plans - but are most often not readily accessible.

This is  being envisioned as a tourist mecca. As such the online feedback at http://haveyoursaylogancity.com.au/loganwestparklands ask the following - most of which focus on the built environment and not the natural environment. Management of each and scenic amenity of each is vastly different.

What activities or facilities would make you and your family spend the day at Logan West Parklands?

What would be in your dream playground that we can include here?

What outdoor events would you like to see at Logan West Parklands?

Do you have any other comments, ideas or suggestions?

How could the environment centre become a valued asset for the Logan community?

The FAQs offer some suggestions you might like to comment on.

This image of glider sightings has been compiled from sightings reported from residents along Camp Cable Waterford Tamborine Road and Hotz Road as part of the VETO survey from March to June 2010.

The blue marker represents feather tail glider sightings. The aqua marker represents sugar glider, squirrel glider or general glider sightings.

The aqua marker with the star represent the greater glider sightings. The yellow markers represent residents who reported wildlife sightings but did not report glider sightings. There was a total of 50 residents (mostly directly affected and some indirectly affected)  so far who have reported these results to VETO.                                                                                                                          

 This image with the VETO willdlife sightings from the surveys conducted from March to June 2010. Some are current sightings and some are historic sightings. There are a total of 50 residents surveyed so far (mostly directly affected and some non directly affected) . The red markers represent koala sightings reported by residents . The yellow markers represent residents who did not report seeing or hearing koalas on their property.

The use of digital tools available for us all now - as and when we learn how to use these webtools - are an essential piece of out activist - advocacy toolkit. Photos maps aerial images from Google Earth or NearMap can help us support our efforts to secure ecologically sustainable development.

Business as usual is not acceptable for us now, our children and future children.   

Biodiversity is the variety of all living things; the different plants, animals and micro organisms, the genetic information they contain and the ecosystems they form. Biodiversity is usually explored at three levels – genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. These three levels work together to create the complexity of life on Earth.group is linked to the International Year of Biodiversity 2010 website, a joint venture between the Australian Museum and the Council of Australasian Museum Directors (CAMD). This project includes museums across Australia working with people and communities to discover, celebrate and promote biodiversity, and encourage participation in biodiversity events all around the country.

Flickr.com is an amazing social website which allows us to share globally - or privateIy our photos videos and more.

The International Year of Biodiversity 2010 Flickr website is intended to be a 'biodiversity hub' for events in Australia. The site allows you to promote your biodiversity news and events, share your stories and ideas.

The aim of this group is to invite you to post your photos here and have them displayed also on our International Year of Biodiversity 2010 website. You can also add stories, follow our Twitter feed and even share videos - anything to do with biodiversity is warmly welcomed!

From all sections of the globe the scientific community is alerting us to the risks that our children and future generations will face if our new urban designs fail to account for the full potential for humans to develop in their natural evolutionary home. In America an organization Children and Nature has been working for several years to help us understand - and to provide assistance - the essential connection humans have with natural areas. This is the bush, fresh water country creeks, boulders and hills, forest litter, butterflies and bugs, all species great and small. Children need freedom to explore in their own time, in their own - to play in the dirt.

There are many resources available on their website.  http://www.childrenandnature.org

The built environment does not provide the same opportunities the physical, mental, and social benefits that contact with the outdoors and nature provides to children.

Now that globally more than 50% of people live in cities, unless natural areas are included within accessable walking range, we potentially run the risk of losing the breadth of all of human stages of development.

In Australia research concurs with a 2007 State Government investigation into playground spaces in Victoria finding that young children ''need exposure'' to natural environments to appreciate the ''complex variations of texture, sound, light, smell, colour and temperature''.

The subsequent government report - The Good Play Space Guide - highlighted the creative impulses that can be fostered by play with the ''loose parts'' of nature - the leaves, twigs and gumnuts. But how realistic is it to expect today's kids to get out in the bush?