These workshops are concentrating on the things the community values and holds as important about where they live and Brisbane in general.  These workshops provide a good platform to launch a grass roots lead push for cycling, walking and the use of public transport in setting the scene for what Brisbane should look and feel like and provide plenty of food for thought for the planners and politicians.  These workshops are the beginning of a year long process with the next steps being a series of Your Home and Neighbourhood Fairs in June and July, a CityShape Conference in August followed by detailed neighbourhood workshops from October 05 to June 06.  The information gathered from this process will feed directly into the city plan for Brisbane.  At a political level - this process is one of Mayor Campbell Newman's election promises and may not be enthuisiastically supported by Labor but I am told the Bureaucracy is treating it very seriously. 

If we look at cities around the world that are held in high regard for leading the way in providing for cycling, walking and public transport infrastructure, you are likely to find a period in their history when a line was drawn in the sand... the defining difference between them and other cities around the world is that they embraced bold and enlightened public policy and enjoyed strong government support.

We need to be mustering a massive community push and harnessing this process to further the goals of cycling in Brisbane and SEQ.  Get on your bike and get as many friends, neighbours and relatives that you can, to attend one of these workshops and express their support for cycling, walking and public transport issues.

I went to the first workshop in the Eastern Suburbs at Greenslopes on the 7th of April and the process is pretty laid back.  It consists of an open discussion and question format where you can come and go as you please.  They have a series of poster boards setup, where you can write your comments up and see what other people are saying as well.  You can also fill out a survey that goes into more detail while you are there or you can take it away and send it in later.  Alternatively the same survey is available online at the address below if you prefer to do it over the internet.

REMEMBER... INVOLVEMENT IS THE KEY.  IF WE DON'T SPEAK UP AND ADVOCATE FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IN HOW CAN WE EXPECT ANYONE TO HEAR US.

The details of these workshops and the process overall are available on the following link:

http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:STANDARD::pc=PC_1802