Emergency Alert Services

If you happen to be on the Moreton Bay side of the Ferny Hills area you might be interested to know about the new Moreton Alert scheme. Moreton Alert is an emergency text message service to inform residents of flooding and other emergency situations. More information can be found on the FAQ.

To receive the messages, residents need to Register.

Brisbane City Council residents have had access to similiar scheme called Brisbane Early Warning Alert Service since 2009.

4BC Radio Interviews: Geoff Wilson and Dale Shuttleworth

4BC radio has posted recordings of their interviews of Labour State member for Ferny Grove Geoff Wilson and LNP Ferny Grove candidate Dale Shuttleworth. Both interviews were done at Arana Hills Leagues Club and feature question and answer sessions with the audience. Worth a listen.

Consultation on Samford-Ferny Grove Cycle Path

I've previously posted about the possibly of the planned Ferny Grove-Samford cycle path potentially following the old rail corridor as opposed to Samford Road.  Posted today was ministerial notice of a public consultation to decide the route the cycle path is to take.

Two public information sessions are planned:

• Saturday 3 December, 1:30-2:30pm, Samford CWA Hall, Main Street
• Monday 5 December, 7pm-8pm, Old Catholic Church, Samford Road.

Residents can also register their contact details by emailing samford.cycle@tmr.qld.gov.au

Geoff Wilson Opposed Same-Sex Civil Unions

Just in case you missed it, Geoff Wilson, state member for Ferny Grove, voted against allowing same-sex civil unions in the recent vote, crossing the floor to do so. This is worth mentioning since it is a rare event that our two-party system allows a clear understanding of where candidates stand on issues.

ABC has a some reporting I found on their AM radio show page quoting Mr Wilson:

The more I have thought about it, about what I personally believe in according to my faith, unfortunately I can't support the bill.

 Labour allowed a conscience vote*, but LNP voted as a bloc. Possibly this answers the question of how Dale Shuttleworth, LNP candidate for Ferny Grove would have voted.

* In theory a sitting member of parliament can vote however they choose on an issue at any time, but they risk the ire of their party apparatus if they do. A 'conscience vote' is one where the party acknowledges that party unity must occasionally take a back seat to the personal beliefs of the members. I wonder when sitting members vote solely on the needs (or majority views) of their electorate.

Contract Awarded for Rail Station Upgrade

If you have been wondering about the lack of activity around the Ferny Grove Railway station - which has been operating a temporary platform and facilities for a while now - you might be surprised to learn that only recently a contractor awarded the work to perform the upgrade. Rail.co reports that Matrix Projects has been awarded the contract. The work is due to be completed in 2012.

Man Stabbed in Armpit in Arana Hills

The Courier Mail has a short article about a man being rushed to hospital after dispute with another man in Double Bar Court Arana Hills. The man was stabbed in the armpit.

Some not happy with Moreton Bay Regional Council

I saw an article in the Courier Mail about residents of Moreton Bay Regional Council in the 'Hills District' (including Ferny Hills, Arana Hills, Everton Hills and Bunya)  wanting to leave Moreton Bay and join Brisbane City Council. Chief grievances cited by the Ratepayer's Action Group (RAG) include higher rates and low infrastructure investment in the Hills area.

The Ratepayer's Action Group is hosting a public forum to gauge community support on Sunday October 30th at the Community Centre on Dawson Parade commencing at 2pm.

Having just moved not too far from Ferny Grove (in Brisbane City Council) to Ferny Hills (in Moreton Bay Regional Council) it will be interesting to see how the two councils really compare.

On a side note, the Ratepayer of Moreton Bay website (home of the Ratepayer Action Group) looks to be interesting site for the civic minded in the Moreton Bay Council area, especially in the lead up to the local government elections.

UPDATE: This topic was also covered on ABC Radio's breakfast show, which you can listen to online.

Local Dog Park Roundup

I recently came across a new Ferny Hills Dog Park Facebook page. I occasionally see streams of invective from dog parks users on Twitter regarding the parks and the owners of other dogs so if you are regular user of these facilities (or rather, your dog is) it might be worthwhile to reach out to other dog owners to talk about your issues instead of shouting them into the internet ether.

If you are looking for a local dog park the list below might help:

• Thomsett Park on Olakuna Cres Ferny Hills
• Arbor Street Park on Tramway St Ferny Grove
• William Scott Park on View Cres & Bunya Rd Arana Hills
• Sylvia Gibbs Park on Nyora St Everton Hills
• Wittonga Park on Alutha Rd The Gap

I found this list on doggo.com.au which unfortunately does not facilitate direct links to search results. If you need more information that site allows you to search by suburb and nicely summarises the facilities available. 

Update

It has been a quiet month in and around Ferny Grove and Ferny Hills (or so it seems to me). Last week State MP Geoff Wilson released is his Wilson Update for August, which seemed to confirm the idea that nothing terribly exciting was going on.

On the other hand I have had a very busy month in my personal life (including buying my first house - in Ferny Hills!) If you know of anything interesting going on in our area that you would like me to publicise, feel free to send me an email or leave a comment.

New Samford-Ferny Grove Bikeway to Follow the Old Rail Line?

As mentioned in a previous post, the State Budget this year allocated money for design of a Samford to Ferny Grove bikeway. In his latest Wilson Update and on a blog post, Sitting Member for Ferny Grove Geoff Wilson talks up the advantages of the proposed bikeway (again).

Interestingly, the accompanying photo shows Mr Wilson and Councillor Bob Millar (from the Moreton Bay Regional Council) at the end of the old rail line track, hinting that the new bikeway may follow that route and not simply follow Samford Road. No affirmative statement either way has been made, however.

After the detailed design work Mr Wilson says that the construction of the new bikeway will commence next financial year.

(It is good to see the contents of the Wilson Update appearing in a more online-friendly blog format on geoffwilsonmp.com. The character of the writing as also improved, putting Geoff in the first person and reading a lot less like media releases. I'd previously written that our politicians and political hopefuls should better leverage the internet to engage us, and it looks like they are taking their first steps.)

Ferny Grove line closed from Michelton as Rail Duplication Works continue

As previously mentioned, the Ferny Grove train services is again being replaced with a bus service from Michelton Station outbound. The closure started last night at 7:30 pm and is scheduled to last until the last training tomorrow (Sunday July 24th). Translink has more information.

Samford-Ferny Grove Bike Path to Go Ahead

A story on Geoff Wilson's website (where Geoff Wilson is the sitting MP for Ferny Grove in the State Government) provides a few more pieces of information on the Samford to Ferny Grove bike path that was mentioned in post-State Budget youtube announcement.

Up to one million dollars has been allocated to the design and detailed planning of the bikeway in the budget (which means money to actually construct the bikeway still needs to be found). The story goes on to quote Wilson extolling the synergy with the Ferny Grove station upgrade, whose improved bike facilities and new shower facilities will provide more options to Samford-valley commuters.

The possibility of a bikeway to Samford will no doubt please potential cyclists, but it is a poor substitute for improving existing rail services or facing up to the long term inevitability of a railway line extension to Samford.

BrizCommuter: Keperra to Ferny Grove duplication - $100m fail

BrizCommuter is blog that posts news and opinions on transport issues in South East Brisbane. A recent post titled Keperra to Ferny Grove duplication - $100m fail caught my eye. How, or will, the actual train service be to Ferny Grove be improved by the track duplication or railway station upgrade? It would be easy to forget this question amidst the colourful artist's impressions that are circulating (somehow minus substantative information) since around the period of the Hills Festival.

Ferny Grove State School fete this Sunday

Update: Thanks to @peterwiseman for pointing out that this fete is actually at Ferny Hills State School, not Ferny Grove.

Ferny Grove State School has their fete this Sunday June 19th between 9am and 3pm. I don't have any further information about what activities or attractions will be present (I only found this page - thanks to Nappy Cakes by Lynne for tipping me off)

State budget highlights for Ferny Grove

Geoff Wilson (Sitting Labour member for the seat of Ferny Grove) has posted a short video of highlights from the State Budget for the electorate of Ferny Grove. Its not the longest video in the world and I suspect the only really new announcement is the approval of the cycle path between Ferny Grove and Samford Village.

PS. Geoff also now has a Facebook page.

Ferny Grove train line closure this weekend and next month

Translink has posted a notice that trains will not be running this weekend (7:30pm Friday 17th June to last service 19 June) and will be replaced by buses between Ferny Grove and Bowen Hills. A similar service disruption has also been announced for the weekend commencing July 22. No road closures were mentioned.

Ferny Grove Line Timetable to be reviewed 'Later this year'

If you were wonder when the Ferny Grove train timetable will next be reviewed, Queenland Rail tweeted (in response to davematthews86):

The Ferny Grove line will be reviewed in stage 2 consultation starts later this year. Will review waiting times at same time

There you go.

'Ratepayer Action Group' Denied Stall at Carnivale

The Westerner reports that the Ratepayers Action Group was denied a stall at the recent Hills Carnivale festival. The Ratepayer Action Group is an association of citizens that (from their website):

will highlight apparent council and state government inefficiencies and wastage in the Moreton Bay area.
We want to represent every ratepayer in the Moreton region whether you are a homeowner an investment property owner, a retail, industrial or other business premises owner, a unit owner, bed and breakfast property or motel owner or even a renter.

 To be honest I had trouble finding a succinct purpose of the group on their website, and had to pull the above quote from their history page.

The Westerner goes on to quote a Moreton Council representative defending the exclusion of the Ratepayer Action Group, saying that it was not an appropriate place for a political platforms or campaigns.  Of course, current elected representatives were welcome, as long as they did not display political signs.

Opinion: Public Information

In my previous post I discussed the Year 12 outcome results for 2010 released by the Queensland Studies Authority. The night I wrote that post I asked QSA whether more readily consumable formats (such as spreadsheet formats, for example) were available. Today I received a very brief and definitive reply:

The data supplied on our website are not supplied in any other format. This is to prevent the data being manipulated into league table type formats.

Taken along with their FAQ, QSA is unambiguously against the construction of school league tables. Similarly, the national My Schools website is completely structured around preventing any mass comparison of schools.

Are we really leveraging public information as effectively as possible?

Year 12 Outcomes by School Posted

A story by the Brisbane Times today announced the release of Year 12 outcome information by school on the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) statistics page. The report lists Queensland Schools and the numbers of pupils achieving different benchmarks such as obtaining an OP or vocational certification level:

For each school, the report includes information on the number of students awarded certificates and qualifications, the proportion of OP-eligible students with OP 1 to 15 and the proportion of QTAC applicants receiving a tertiary offer.

An associated FAQ mostly attempts to dissuade anyone from using the statistics to compare schools. Direct comparison of schools is also made more difficult by the formatting and file format of the document.

I pulled out some figures from local schools* and made some graphs. Broadly all the schools compared were comparable:

Also on the QSA website is a report showing NAPLAN 2010 outcomes.

* The local schools I picked were Ferny Grove State High School, The Gap State High School, Mt Maria College (Michelton), Northside Christian College (Everton Park) and Everton Park State High School.

May Wilson Update

4 Days ago a fresh Wilson Update arrived in my email box. The Wilson Update is a monthly newletter published by Geoff Wilson, State Member for Ferny Grove. This particular newsletter has an unusually high component of news as opposed to photo opportunities (contrary to my recent post).

This newsletter contains a brief update on the new train station design for Ferny Grove, including one of the computer graphics on display at the recent Hills Carnivale. The interesting and in my experience unusual feature of the station is the plaza entry and what the newsletter describes as Central-Station style automated ticket gates.

(North West news issued a fluff piece about the progress of the Rail Upgrade last week.)

The newsletter contained some information about national local awards:

• National Disability Awards nominations are open (close June 31)
  
• Premier's Awards for Queensland Seniors (close June 17)
• Ferny Grove Champions awards have been extended to July 1

And other upcoming community events (refer to the newsletter for details):

• National day of thanksgiving at a Samford Church on May 28
• Dawn Ceremony at Teralba Park Commemorative Plaque Site at on Thursday 26 May

The newsletter also included a notice about paid work available collecting the census during July and early September in addition to spreading the word about the 'dob in a pothole' program (in case you are wondering, phone 13 19 40).

You could normally find the Wilson Update on Geoff's publications page but for whatever reason this month's newsletter isn't being served. Until the Geoff's publishing system is fixed you can find it here. If you want to receive future editions of the newsletter in your email, you can also subscribe on his website.

Pine Rivers Art Awards

I can't find a corresponding news story, but a tweet from Pine Rivers Press alerted me that a Ferny Hills woman, Wendy Sonnenburg, has picked up an award at the Pine Rivers Art Awards for 'Top Local Artist Gong'. See the information-free Photo Gallery for an idea of the art on display this year. Maybe a corresponding story will appear soon.  Congratulations Wendy!

Hills Carnivale

Hills Carnivale at Leslie Patrick park was yesterday. I dropped in on the event and took a few pictures. The star of the day was Dora the Explorer, whose presence might have gone unnoticed to some because of the wall of enthusiastic parents which kept the intrepid over-sized explorer permanently mobbed:

Followup: Meet Dale Shuttleworth

Dale Shuttleworth - LNP candidate for the State electorate of Ferny Grove,  now has a Facebook page.

I asked the question Who is Dale Shuttleworth? in April. I've since asked Who is Geoff Wilson? My argument in both posts was that the sitting member for the State electorate of Ferny Grove (Geoff Wilson) and his opponents  (in this case Dale Shuttleworth for LNP)  could be doing a better job of letting us get to know them online.

Dale originally left a comment on the April story that he was looking into ways to improve his online visibility, but a recent Blogger issue seems to have removed this comment and my own reply. Hopefully they will be restored soon.

Setting up the Facebook page was a good start for Dale. Notice that his entries so far are informative and give us a window into what he is up to and how he interacts with people. This is exactly the visibility that I would like for all candidates for Ferny Grove in this election. Well done Dale and please keep it up.

(In case you are wondering, I am currently politically undecided, and don't want to take any particular political slant on this blog. So any candidate who wants me to give a shout out to their online efforts is welcome to contact me.)

Opinion: Who is Geoff Wilson?

Recently I asked the question Who is Dale Shuttleworth?, referring to the LNP candidate in the upcoming State Election and the lack of any real information on the internet about him. I thought it was only fair to take a look at his opponent, incumbent and Minister for Heath, Geoff Wilson.

Unlike Dale, Geoff has his own website and distributes PDF newsletters from his site and via email. Geoff definitely does have internet presence. I teased in the post that Geoff's internet strategy was not necessarily something Dale should emulate, and I will take the opportunity to explain what I mean.

To be clear, Geoff might be an excellent Member for the seat of Ferny Grove. But I have no way to come to understand that.

Geoff's website hosts monthly or bi-monthly stories which seem to center on photo-opportunities at the sites of road upgrades and school building openings. These good news stories tell us very little about what Geoff actually did to make them happen (if anything) or how they came to be. They don't tell us anything about Geoff, what he does on a typical day, how (if) he responds to members of the electorate, what problems he thinks the electorate has or how he thinks we should fix them.

The monthly newsletter has some interesting community news, along with a summary of the recent photo-opportunities that have been published on the website. I'm not sure how much time is spent creating this PDF file for print, but perhaps it would be much better spent making the news available as an RSS news feed, on Twitter or on Facebook. If the community news was directly on the website it might even be findable with a Google search (lest someone not know about Geoff's site).

Those are slightly technical complaints, however, and I don't want to overshadow the larger point - That Geoff's website and newsletter misses the opportunity provided by the internet.

Reminder: Hills Carnivale

As previously mentioned, the Hills Carnivale is on this weekend at Leslie Patrick Park from 12 noon to 6pm. It will feature performers, Dora the Explorer, activities and rides for the kids, and other entertainment.

The event does not seem have its own website, so I was interested when the ABC radio breakfast show (Family Affairs) described the event in their blog. I was going to quote their colorful description until I realised that both the ABC and Our Brisbane copied their description straight from the performer application form (probably with permission, but the lack of disclosure irks)

Taxi Driver Robbed at Knife Point in Arana Hills

The police are reporting that a taxi driver was robbed at knife point while parked on Jane Street in Arana Hills last night at 11:50pm. The Caucasian robber got away with cash and a mobile phone. Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers.

Fatality at Keperra Train Station

An elderly woman died on Saturday at Keperra train station when she apparently lost control of her mobility scooter and was struck by a train. The woman died later in hospital. Train services were impacted for the remainder of the day as police conducted their investigation. (reported by Brisbane Times, Ninemsn)

Over the past month Queensland Rail has been conducting an agressive rail safety awareness campaign with the slogan 'Who would you miss?'

Hopefully QR has procedures in place to offer effective counselling to the woman's family and friends as well as the unfortunate train driver.

During the service disruption, Queenland Rail characterised the problem as a 'police incident'. Some commuters, myself included, will have more reason to pause the next time a service delay is described as such.

Exchange students first day at Ferny Grove State School

You might have noticed the welcome message for exchange students posted outside Ferny Grove State High School recently. The students involved (from Germany) have posted a report on their first day on April 27th. Makes interesting reading for those of us who have been out of the school system for a while. Four 90 minute periods per day?

Arbor Street Closed

As mentioned in a previous blog post, this long weekend sees QR performing major works on the Michelton to Ferny Grove railway tracks.

 What might have been obvious in retrospect but was not advertised was that Arbor street - linking Ferny Grove to Samford Road near the Ferny Grove train station - will also be closed for some or all of the period. It was tonight, at least.

Arbor Street closed at the rail crossing on Friday, 22 April

Also worth noting is that the new temporary platform, ticket office and toilet facilities will be operating at Ferny Grove station when trains resume on Wednesday, 27th April.

April Wilson Update

Geoff Wilson, State Member for Ferny Grove, has posted his April Newsletter. Two things caught my eye in this newsletter:

• Confirmation that there will be pedestrian and cyclist access between Archdale Road (Lanita Road end) and the upgraded train station when it is complete.
• News about the Hills Carnivâle, which is a cultural festival to be held at Leslie Patrick Park on Saturday 21 May. There will be fireworks! Check out the flyer for more information.

If you are a regular commuter on Samford Road you might want to also consider Geoff's request for signatures on a petition to get Stage 2 of the Samford Road and Wardell Street intersection (map) upgrades underway. 

Opinion: Who is Dale Shuttleworth?

Update: Dale now has a Facebook page. Read my followup.

Dale Shuttleworth is running for the State Government seat of Ferny Grove, currently held by health minister Geoff Wilson. I saw him and Campbell Newman campaigning beside the road at the Great Western Shopping Center in Keperra this weekend. It was raining. I kept on driving.

Who is Dale Shuttleworth? I've been trying to research Dale but information about him is spread thin on the internet. I found a LinkedIn profile and a Facebook page. And this story published in the Westerner from 2009. In terms of recent content, I could only find another Westerner story I linked to in a recent blog post and LNP's own anemic candidate page.

St George Banks likes Arana Hills for Property Investment

A report by St George Bank has identified Arana Hills as having the best value property in Brisbane for home buyers and investors, reported the Courier Mail. The report cites the current market values, proximity to transport and amenities and opportunities for renovations.

Drug Crop Seized in Mt Glorious State Forest

The Brisbane Times reported today that a $1.7 million dollar, 560 marijuana plant crop has been seized in the Mt Glorious State Forest, and that two men were charged.

Drink Driving to Ferny Grove Police Station

If you need to consult the constabulary at Ferny Grove police station, don't drink-drive to get there. The Queensland Times reports that this is exactly what Mark Whelan did on March 16, and was promptly breathalised and charged with drink-driving because he 'smelled of liquor'.

Ferny Grove to Michelton Rail Closure over Easter Long Weekend

Translink has posted a notice that trains will not be running from the 21st to the 26th of April between Michelton and Ferny Grove. This period covers the entire Easter Long weekend as well as Easter Thursday beforehand. Buses will be working the route but the notice advises that commuters should expect up to half hour delays.

Queensland Rail will be using the closure to perform track maintenance and rail upgrades along the route.

LNP candidates for Ferny Grove, Everton, Pine Rivers

The Westerner has a brief article about the three LNP candidates that will contest the seats of Ferny Grove, Everton and Pine Rivers in the next State election. Lacking any real information aside from the usual political quips, the article nevertheless represents a high point in the visibility of candidates Dale Shuttleworth, Tim Mander and Seath Holswich.

Local Skating Photography - Nice

I found a great set of local skating photos by Mitch Ward on Flickr which I thought I would let people know about. The photos (mostly taken at the skate park on Samford Road) are between four months and two years old, but are definitely worth a look.

Arbor Street Rail Crossing to be Closed this weekend

Translink mentions on their website that the Arbor Street rail crossing will be closed the entire upcoming weekend, from Friday March 18th at 8pm to 5am on Monday 21st. The road will likely be closed for work required to divert the rail tracks to the temporary platform that is emerging at the Ferny Grove railway station. The closure will affect bus routes 397 and 398.

Electricity Substation Upgrades to improve Local Supply

Separate to a previous story about a new substation on Samford Road, Energex is upgrading an existing substation on Callan Street, Keperra, reports iStockAnalyst. The upgrade will improve the supply and reliability of electrical supply to surrounding suburbs, including Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills. The work will be completed in 2012.

Ferny Grove Tavern Disappears

Over the course of a few days last week the Ferny Grove Tavern was demolished. Without the structures present it is possible to appreciate how much land it was sitting on. The land has already been opened up to temporary car parking for the train station, easing the strain placed on commuter parking by the Ferny Grove Rail Upgrade construction office and temporary platform sites.

Wilson now heads Health

State member for Ferny Grove Geoff Wilson is now Minister for Health. Until the recent cabinet reshuffle Wilson was Minister for Education. This shouldn't have a local impact beyond slowing down the release of the not-completely reliable Wilson Reports as Geoff gets to grips with the "troubled" portfolio.

New Ferny Grove Tavern possibly next year

North West News has a story covering the last drinks at the Ferny Grove Tavern and some additional details about a new tavern nearby which might be opening from next year.

Some specifics about parking at the train station were provided, including 135 dual-use tavern/commuter basement parking places forming a part of the plans for the new tavern, and help boost total car parks at the train station to the goal of 1000.

Local businesses offer flood discounts

Flood Discounts lists discounts on offer by businesses to victims of the recent floods. If you have a business and would like to help out this website may be a good way to get the word out. If you have been impacted by the recent floods you might find this list of the many local businesses offering discounts handy.

New Electrical Substation for Ferny Hills

North West News is reporting that a new electrical substation will be established in Ferny Hills by 2013, quoting Moreton Bay Councillor Brian Battersby. The substation will be located on Samford Road, 500 metres west of the old Woolshed site (refer to this map of the area).

Ferny Grove Tavern Now Closed

Just a quick note to confirm the Ferny Grove Tavern is now closed. Plans are apparently moving ahead for a new tavern on a different site at the Ferny Grove railway station, although the timing of when a new venue will eventuate is unknown. (Given this, I can't help but wonder what planning mess created the requirement to tear down the tavern in the first place, if it was only going to be replaced.)

February Wilson Update Released

Geoff Wilson, State Member for the Ferny Grove electorate, has released his February Wilson Update, a monthly newsletter about goings-on in the electorate*. I've hosted the newsletter here but you can also sign up to receive the newsletter in your email on his site.

I will highlight a couple of news items from the newsletter that might be of interest:

• An announcement about a flood fund raising lunch at Arana Leagues Club on Friday March 4th. Geoff recommends you ring his electorate office for more information (38511570)
• Free Indonesian, Chinese and Japanese language lessons are being offered at Ferny Grove State High School. the lessons will run from 7:30am to 8:30am weekly at the school.

The newsletter also provides resources for how to volunteer or donate to flood relief, information about the flood reconstruction authority, flood inquiry and a reminder about the anti-hoon legislation. Check out the newsletter if you would like to know more. 

Kerbside Collection for Ferny Grove

For those of us in the Brisbane electorate (people in Ferny Grove: This is you) kerbside collections are going ahead in the next week. Kerbside deposits have been requested to be ready from yesterday (Sunday, 23rd January) for collection this week. The collection is confirmed as going ahead on the low-bandwidth BCC website.

I'm not sure how so many people received the message, but looking around the northwest suburbs clearly many people have. Piles litter the curbs and the cars of people out for a lucky find prowl the suburban streets. I am amazed the council is in the position not delay the collection in the wake of the floods, but this is good news for most of us.

Perhaps it is time to clear your garage and get rid those old appliances and furniture. The maximum allotment is one trailer-full per household and should not include chemicals, batteries, organic matter or anything dangerous.

Fresh Foodstuffs in Short Supply

If you were looking to restock your fruit and vegetables locally, you might be out of luck. Both Coles Arana Hills and Coles Ferny Grove have had their fresh foods decimated. This probably due to panic buying but other disruptions due to the statewide floods can not be ruled out. I have not visited any specialist green grocers but I imagine they are in a similiar position.

I have not seen any predictions about when fresh produce will again flow into the area but commentators agree that prices will rise sharply. If you have not already, now is a good time to consider whether maintaining your own vegetable patch might pay dividends for the household budget (Transition the Grove has some local resources about growing and selling excess produce).

Local Power Outages

The local area (Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills, Arana Hills) seems to have escaped the floods without harm, except for the minor inconvenience of a brief loss of electrical power for Arana Hills and parts of Ferny Hills.

Queensland Flood - Resources and Links

I thought I would gather a list of useful resources for people wanting more information about the Queensland Flood, and in particular resources useful for residents in Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills.

State Government Flood Resource Page

Translink has the status of Public Transport (rail, buses, ferry)

Brisbane City Council site (shows list of endangered suburbs)or their twitter account

I'll update the post as I find new resources.

Samford Road, Mt Nebo Road impacted by weather

The rain continues, and I've seen predictions that wet weather will persist until the end of March and more generally for a few years.

Ferny Grove, Ferny Hills and Arana Hills seem to be withstanding the weather okay, with no flooding in evidence. According to this North West News story, both Mt Nebo Road and Samford Road near the Camp Mountain intersection have experienced closures due to landslides.

Last night the Ferny Grove train line was disrupted for a couple of hours after a truck misjudged the clearance at the Gaythorne underpass.

Our thoughts are naturally with friends and loved ones living in more seriously affected parts of the state.

Let me know at bendavies@fernyblog.com if you know of any local impacts from the weather.

Ferny Grove Tavern will close in 3 Weeks!

Ferny Grove Tavern will shut its doors for the last time in three weeks from the new years weekend, according to the barkeeper in the Brew Bar on new years eve as he lamented the dwindling range of beer varieties. Three weeks corresponds to a closing date of 22nd January.

The Ferny Grove Tavern property has been acquired by the State Government to provide more commuter parking as part of the Ferny Grove Railway Upgrade Project. Ironically, plans for the Ferny Grove precinct development (post upgrade) include a possible location for a new tavern.

I will miss the Ferny Grove Tavern as a cheap place to eat and convenient place to meet my friends for a drink. Hopefully the affected staff do not have too much difficulty in finding new employment.

Hope you had a happy holiday!

I hope everyone had  a happy holiday and saw in 2011 happy and healthy, if a little bit wet across the Christmas period. Local news has been a little bit slow, so sorry about the lack of updates here.