Call for Walton's resumption

NEWS

The State Government and Brisbane City Council should join forces to resume the Walton's building in the heart of Fortitude Valley as a permanent solution to the closure of a crucial pedestrian walkway that is putting businesses at risk, long-term local councillor David Hinchliffe believes.

Although the soon-to-retire Central Ward councillor is hopeful that agreement might soon be reached to reopen the walkway, he says that while Walton's remains in private hands, governments "cannot force the owner to open it".
In an email sent on Tuesday 24 January to the owners of Cheung's Cakes and Cafe in the Happy Valley building right beside the barricaded walkway (pictured above) Cr Hinchliffe writes: "For the long term, I propose that the State Government and the Brisbane City Council should jointly take over the easement of the walkway through Happy Valley building and the Walton's building.
"That is the best way of securing safe and reliable public access through these buildings for all those people who are coming from and going to the Valley train station.
"To this end, I have called for the State Government to resume this entire walkway and further to join with council to resume the whole Walton's building. It is a disgrace that the Walton's building has been largely unused for almost 30 years. As long as it is in private hands, the council and state governments cannot force the owner to open it."
Cr Hinchliffe sees the resumption as the long-term solution to the abrupt closure in early December of the crucial public walkway through the heritage-listed Walton's building. Traders in the adjoining Happy Valley and McWhirters Centre have seen their trade slashed in the six weeks since the walkway was closed. Some traders are likely to fold as a result of the closure, flagged as needed for maintenance that has never taken place.
In the email to Cheung's, Cr HInchliffe says: "Your cake shop is probably the business most affected by the closure of the walkway. I confirm what I said earlier today that I have met again with the Moc family and they have advised that they have signed off on paying the insurance costs for the section of the walkway that goes through the Walton's building. So, they and Lend Lease (and I believe McWhirters) have agreed to the maintenance and insurance costs for the walkway. When Mr Lee from Mount Cathay [owners of the Walton's building] signs that agreement the doors will be opened. That was the advice I received today. However, after the last occasion when I was told the doors would be opened before Christmas, I remain sceptical."
Cr Hinchliffe uses the email to also call on the owners of the Happy Valley building to fix the escalators running up from Wickham Street.
"I can confirm that council has no control over ownership or operation of the escalators.
"Matters in relation to the escalators are the responsibility of the owner of your building - the Happy Valley body corporate owned principally by the Moc family. It has been my experience that the 'up' escalators work on some occasions and are either switched off or broken on other occasions. The 'down' escalators hardly ever work.
"I believe that the Happy Valley body corporate should maintain the escalators as this is part of their responsibility as owners. It is in the public interest for those escalators to be fixed."

Delayed council poll 'disgraceful'

NEWS

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has slammed Premier Anna Bligh’s decision to delay local government elections as "disgraceful".

Cr Quirk (pictured) said local government had always had four-year fixed terms and there was no justifiable reason for this to be delayed.
“To suit her own political agenda, the Premier has now disrupted the holding of 73 council elections,” he said.
“It is also a signal of what scant regard the Premier has held for local government that she would use councils as her political plaything to suit her own agenda."
In announcing that the state election would be held on 24 March so that voters could assess the findings of the extended Flood Commission of Inquiry, Ms Bligh said she did not want Queenslanders to go to the polls two Saturdays running. Local council elections would be held in late April or May.
Cr Quirk said: "It is the recommendations out of the Flood Commission of Inquiry that are the important things associated with the commission’s report and I am sure that whoever is elected at a state level will take those into account."
Cr Quirk said there were many options the Premier had to call a State election through until mid-June without disrupting local government elections and without the approval of Parliament.
He said the Premier had backflipped on her promise on 15 January that the March 31 council elections would not be moved to suit her election timetable.
"Good people wanting to make a contribution to their local communities have planned on March 31 and made arrangements to take leave, in many cases without pay, from their work to participate in those elections."

Hunter offerings of medicinal quality

WINE ... with David Bray

Medical people tend to like owning vineyards, partly I guess because they can afford to and partly because their training teaches them to be meticulous. So here is Mount Eyre Vineyards, a Hunter Valley operation combining, it says, a European family tradition of winemaking with a generation of experience in Australian viticulture.

“From our roots in the tiny towns of Alestena, in the Peleponnese, Greece, and Vallo della Lucania, Italy, the Tsironis and Iannuzzi families have an unbroken involvement in wine extending back centuries, tilling their vines and offering wine to friends and visitors alike.”
Dr Aniello Iannuzzi, very busy and involved, is co-founder of the Warrumbungle Medical Centre at Coonabarabran. He studied medicine at the University of Sydney, and concurrently completed a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Studies. He did his residency at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Dubbo Base Hospital, before establishing the medical centre with Dr Eve Tsironis in 1997.
Nice traditions here, and Dr Iannuzzi tells us Mount Eyre has been energetic and innovative, “typifying the vigour and vision of the modern Australian wine industry, to produce distinctive high quality regional wines for the pleasure of the world’s wine drinkers".
As well as domestic sales, Mount Eyre Vineyards is expanding its exports.
“At Mount Eyre Vineyards we have great respect for terroir. We have combined the different types of soils, aspects and altitude of our exceptional vineyards to produce distinctive regional wines," Dr Iannuzzi says.
Two Hunter Valley vineyards are involved. Three Ponds, more than 30 acres of semillon, chardonnay, chambourcin and shiraz, is on the sandy loam river flats of Monkey Place Creek, Broke. Planted in 1970 by Neil Grosser, it is still managed by Neil and his son David.
The name Three Ponds is the work of their son Theodore, who when three years old thought the three dams on the vineyard were ponds when he saw ducks swimming on them one afternoon.
The good doctor becomes almost lyrical describing the second property, the Holman Estate: "It represents a most exceptional site. In the heart of the Hunter Valley, its deep red loams have proven their worth and been shown by history to be the backbone of many great Hunter Valley red wines. Here 16 acres are planted to shiraz, merlot and viognier. It is also the site of Mount Eyre Vineyards guesthouse and olive grove, where we produce a small quantity of premium olive oil.
"It is from Holman Estate that the Three Ponds premium reds are drawn. In the heart of the Hunter Valley, Holman Estate has deep red loams that have proven their worth and been shown by history to be the backbone of many great Hunter Valley red wines. "At Holman Estate, we have shiraz, merlot and viognier, as well as some Italian varietals still in very small quantities. In excellent and exceptional years, Three Ponds produces small quantities of the Heirloom and Holman series of wines, for lovers of super-premium Hunter wines."

Five samples came with the courier:

Mount Eyre 2009 Three Ponds shiraz with which winemaker Rhys Eather has produced a classic expression of Hunter shiraz from a vintage that provided exceptional ripening conditions, leading to both complexity and concentration of flavours. Aged in new and old French hogsheads and barriques, this wine, the makers say, will age for at least 20 years. (Likely price around $24.95.)
Mount Eyre 2010 Three Ponds chardonnay, another typical Hunter wine, reckoned good for 10 years’ cellaring, creamy melon and peach. ($22.95).
Mount Eyre 2010 Three Ponds merlot drew it grapes from several Hunter vineyards as well as Holman Estate, has been aged in French oak barriques and will cellar for up to 10 years. ($22.95).
Mount Eyre 2011 Threee Ponds semillon is my pick of this bunch, typically excellent Hunter semillon, fresh, citrusy and minerally yet likely to cellar for many years which would yield notes of honey and toast. Who could be that patient? ($19.95).
Mount Eyre 2011 Three Ponds verdelho (pictured below) represents one of my favourite varieties, meant to be drunk young and here it is. Great drinking right now. ($19.95).

More from www.mounteyre.com

A few laughs at best

FILM .. with Tim Milfull

A Few Best Men (MA15+)
Director: Stephan Elliott
Stars: Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, Tim Draxl
Rating: 2.5/5
97-minutes, screening from 26 January


I had high hopes for Stephan Elliott’s new film, A Few Best Men, resolutely defending him against a fellow critic who had little time for the trailer. Yes, there was a vintage whiff of 1980’s smut franchise Porky’s, but the trailer also had enough funny moments to show promise; and the screenwriter, Dean Craig wrote the hilarious 2007 film, Death at a Funeral, so there was another reason to be hopeful.(Craig also was responsible for the instantly forgettable, mostly African-American remake of Death at a Funeral, but I won’t say anything if you promise not to).

After bidding farewell to his backpacking lover in Tuvalu, David (Xavier Samuel) heads back to his dreary flat in London to announce to his best mates that he is getting married. Loudmouth Tom (Kris Marshall), hopeless dork Graham (Kevin Bishop), and recently cuckolded sadsack Luke (Tim Draxl) are initially gobsmacked, but eventually rally around their mate and agree to fly to Australia for the nuptials.
On arrival in Sydney — we can identify the city because the Opera House is in the background of the establishing shot, while a surfboard with a massive, bloodstained sharkbite floats in the foreground — the boys meet David’s fiancé, Mia (Laura Brent), and a retinue of bodyguards and advisors who work for her right-wing squatter father, Senator Jim Ramme (Jonathan Biggins).
All the elements are here for some hilarity, and there are some very amusing moments, particularly those involving the painfully lonely, drug-dealing psychopath, Ray (Steve Le Marquand). But the chief problem with A Few Best Men is that everything about the film is barely paper-thin, from the specious plot to the unsympathetic and unbelievable characters. Such drawbacks could be forgiven in the presence of some effective comedic moments, but these are few and far between. I’ll have to defer to the better judgement of my critic mate who wrote the film off on the basis of the trailer.



When careers were silenced

The Artist (PG)
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Stars: Jean Dujardin, John Goodman,Bérénice Bejo
Rating: 5/5
100-minutes, screening from 2nd February

Another unabashed celebration of cinema’s evolution, Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist moves a few decades on from Martin Scorsese’s Hugo which lauded the career of the great French film innovator, Georges Méliès.

Where Scorsese focused on Méliès’s enthusiasm for the possibilities of the Lumiere Brothers’ moving picture, Hazanavicius concentrates on the turbulent transition faced by many in the industry when technology allowed filmmakers to move from silent films to talkies.
By the late 1920s, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) has had an astonishingly successful career as a Hollywood heartthrob, starring in a series of cliffhanger-strewn hits as a dashing spy alongside his faithful mutt (Uggie).
When his producer, Al Zimmer (John Goodman) announces the arrival of the talking film, however, Valentin laughingly dismisses the innovation as a fleeting novelty. Stubbornly setting off on his own to produce a hit film, Valentin is increasingly dismayed to see his drop-dead gorgeous former extra, Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) exceed his own stardom, as she becomes one of the first talkie superstars.
But The Artist doesn’t simply hark back to a distant era in the faithful manner of Australian director, Rolf de Heer’s Dr. Plonk, for Hazanavicius plays with our expectations of silent film, embracing the traditions of the form and experimenting with the possibilities that the talkies brought to filmmakers; in particular, I’m referring here to Valentin’s nightmarish impressions of the technique, and even the final moments of the film, which offer a deliciously subtle hint as to why the actor might have had trouble keeping his career afloat, even if he had accepted talkies.
In The Artist, Hazanavicius and his collaborators joyously celebrate the wonder and endless potential of cinema. Surely only the hardest, most cynical of critics—like the misguided Kim Novak, who accused the filmmakers of “raping” her body of work after hearing strains of the score from Vertigo in The Artist, would begrudge plaudits for this film.



Nothing can make up for this project's faults

J. Edgar (M)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer
Rating: 2.5/5
137-minutes, screening from 26 January

By rights, a biopic about the United States’s ultimate G-man, J. Edgar Hoover, should have been easy pickings; for all his faults, Hoover was quite an amazing twentieth-century figure.

Forged in the Justice Bureau’s vicious 1920s battles with Bolsheviks who had no hesitation in using extreme violence to advance their cause, the young agent was acknowledged as a rising star for his enthusiasm for new sciences like fingerprinting and forensics, and rewarded for his successful prosecutions with ever more illustrious promotions that led to widening freedom in designing his own innovative Federal Bureau of Investigations.
But behind the scenes, Hoover was a cruel, paranoid bigot with peccadilloes that rivalled the bulging files that he compiled to blackmail the power-mongers who financed him, and any public figure unfortunate enough to catch his obsessive gaze.
In the hands of one of the most talented living Hollywood directors, Clint Eastwood, risk-taking screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who wrote the biopic, Milk and many episodes of the Mormon-busting television series Big Love, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Naomi Watts, J. Edgar should be almost bullet-proof at the box office.
What a shame then, that Eastwood’s film ends up being a gloomy, turgidly plotted narrative that features some of the most ludicrous make-up in cinematic history. DiCaprio’s impressions of Hoover alternate between awe-inspiring and downright silly when his prosthetics leave Hoover looking like he had succumbed to some of the first experiments with Botox; while his ageing lover, Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) prompted outright guffaws in our screening with his palsied, plasticine face and excruciatingly laboured acting.

Charity the big winner from cocky races

PUB & CLUB NEWS

The children’s charity Variety will again be the biggest winner on the day when the Story Bridge Hotel holds its world-famous Australia Day Cockroach Races on Thursday 26 January.

There’s a 14-race program once the gates open at 11am, with the gold coin entry (don’t be stingy, now!) price going to Variety for its great work with kids. So have you a race winner handy? Simply leave your bedroom open tonight and the Black Caviar of the insect world might just fly in and make you famous. A little bit of training, chasing breadcrumbs tied to the end of a long piece of dental floss, and before you know it you could be holding up the Gold Cup at the 30th celebration of this popular event. Training is one thing; thinking up a name that pleases the punters is another spray of Moretein entirely. Past winners on race day at the Bridge have included Drainlover, Crawlin’ Hanson, Cocky Balboa, Ita Buttroach, Osama Bin Liner and Sir Roach-a-Lot. All went on to even greater glory, to a very satisfying career at stud or under someone’s foot, whatever came first.
There’s DJs, a Miss Cockie competition and best stable costume competition where a group that takes a little bit of effort and imagination with their attire will win a $2000 party at the pub!

• Check the hotel’s website at www.storybridgehotel.com.au or www.cockroachraces.com.au for more details.

Valley businesses on the brink

NEWS

More than a month after a vital Fortitude Valley pedestrian walkway was closed abruptly for maintenance that has never taken place, desperate nearby businesses face the prospect of closing their doors for good.

Hardest hit by the shock closure on Monday 12 December have been Cheung’s Cafe and Cakes and Loc Discounts in the Happy Valley building right beside the barricaded and locked walkway, and a host of McWhirters traders who have also seen their passing potential customer trade reduced from some thousands a day to just a small fraction of that. Other businesses beyond that have also suffered losses. As the walkway closure – on a 20-metre section in the old Walton’s Building – drags on, shops have cut back their trading days and hours and some have already begun to shed staff in a bid to stay afloat.
One major McWhirters businesswoman says the losses incurred over the Christmas period will never be recovered and she has decided to shut when her current lease runs out, regardless of when the walkway opens up again.
Another McWhirters trader has put an ultimatum to his landlord – rent relief of 50 per cent for the duration of the closure and then for another month after it reopens – or he’ll have no alternative but to break his lease and leave.
A meeting of several dozen disgruntled McWhirters traders on Tuesday 10 January voted to investigate the options of a class action law suit against those responsible for the closure (see story opposite page). That meeting heard that the management firm that runs the McWhirters Body Corporate had accepted the task of revitalising the Happy Valley Body Corporate – or indeed starting one if one rumour that it has never existed is true – as a first step towards finding the funds to fix the floor in the blocked off passageway and pay public liability costs for the passageway.
In the weeks since the closure, traders have shown remarkable restraint as hopes for a breakthrough were first raised – and then dashed – over time. Just before Christmas, a deal had reportedly been struck among the relevant parties with hopes that the walkway would reopen the following day. Long-term local councillor David Hinchliffe is at a loss to explain what went wrong with that deal.
The efforts to get the Happy Valley Body Corporate up and running appear to confirm the situation as The Independent has always understood it to be – that that building’s owners have had a long-standing and legal responsibility to maintain the walkway. With a non-existent or non-functioning body corporate, that task would appear to have been beyond them.
Surprisingly, a number of nearby traders have expressed some sympathy for the decision by Mount Cathy Pty Ltd, the owners of the Walton’s building, to close the walkway after reportedly being sued several times for falls people have allegedly taken over the uneven walkway.
As this whole sorry sage unfolded, local traders offered to pay for the retiling of the closed walkway but that was not accepted. What will cause traders even more angst now is the possibility that the walkway maintenance needed goes far beyond replacing some damaged or missing tiles.
There are suggestions that the walkway surface is structurally unsound and in need of major repair work that could see the section closed off for an extended period. That outcome could possibly see, as one trader put it, the McWhirters centre reduced to a “ghost town”.

McWhirters traders feel the pinch

NEWS


Goodwill totally lacking

Corey Hamilton, owner of the Autographed Memorabilia shop in McWhirters Centre, is doubtful the closed walkway is going to open any time soon – and points to a total lack of goodwill being shown by the owners of the Happy Valley and Walton’s buildings, not only to each other but to all the business people suffering as a result. “There’s no goodwill anymore. If they had wanted a solution they would have found one by now. If we traders had gone to the parties over the past five weeks with every solution to every problem, they would still have kept the doors shut.” Corey has told his landlord he needs some rent relief for the period of the walkway closure and for a month after it reopens - if it ever does. Otherwise he’ll have to walk away from his lease.



Trying to hang in

After seeing her passing potential customer trade dry up to a trickle over the past month or more, Maryanne Hutchison who runs OOO Look Shiny pop culture collectables shop in McWhirters with her husband Pat says simply: “We are struggling”.

She would prefer not to close down but that might depend on whether her landlord agrees to similar rent relief to that sought by her neighbour Corey. Maryanne does not see any one particular villain in the walkway closure but, like her business neighbours, simply just wants it resolved. “There is no finger of blame we can point at any one person at this point in time,” she says.




Staff might be cut

Long-term Fortitude Valley farmers’ markets operator Nick Criticos was stunned to return from Christmas holidays to see the walkway still closed.

“It’s unbelievable. We had a business and all of a sudden we have no business,” he says. “People have got to come together. Let’s just get this fixed.” Nick simply cannot believe that a passageway that has been accepted as a public walkway for decades could simply be closed off at a property owner’s whim. “We’ve never had an issue with it and then it comes to this.” He said he would be forced to consider laying off staff if the walkway remained closed.

Traders consider taking class action

NEWS

A meeting of worried McWhirters Centre traders has voted to investigate the possibility of a class action law suit to try to recover their losses from the month-long Walton’s walkway closure.

But the overriding messages from the 10 January meeting of several dozen business owners in the central Valley’s main retail precinct is that the doors have to be reopened ... and ownership of the walkway placed in public hands so it can never ever be closed again to put the livelihoods of local businesses at risk.
Jason Somerville, whose partner bought Rocky’s McWhirters News only weeks before the walkway closure, told the meeting: “We are all the unfortunate collateral damage to a dispute between the owners of the Happy Valley and Walton’s buildings.
“I believe that what has happened to us, even if not intentional, is bloody disgraceful.” He said a class action law suit might help traders recover their loss of earnings, their loss of trade and other gain some compensation for the damage done to those businesses.
Those present agreed to a preliminary investigation as to the costs involved in such a course of action. Traders at the meeting agreed that although reopening the walkway as quickly as possible was paramount, equally important was ensuring that it was never closed again.
Traders said that with elections looming at a state and council level – and no positive outcome in sight – it was time to go political. Mr Somerville called on governments at all levels to “reclaim the walkway as a public place”.
“The government should have the balls to keep it open.”
Local Labor municipal candidate Paul Crowther undertook to approach his party’s state government ministers to seek a commitment to finding a permanent solution to the stalemate.
And new McWhirters trader Robert Hueston of 5 Dogs gourmet sausages offered to set up a facebook page aimed at showing politicians at all levels that the public strongly demanded action on the issue.

Special book praises Eddie’s role

NEWS

The “Father of Chinatown” Eddie Liu has been singled out for special mention in a book of photographs taken by long-serving and retiring councillor David Hinchliffe. The Central Ward councillor took the snaps for a special book Faces Of Chinatown to mark the 25th anniversary of the Chinatown mall.

It will be launched at this month’s Chinese New Year’s Eve celebrations. In his foreword to the book, Cr Hinchliffe says: “It has been a great honour to represent Chinatown and the local community as city councillor for the last 24 years.
“Chinatown was established 25 years ago by the ‘Father of Chinatown’, Eddie Liu, former Local Government Minister Russ Hinze, Head of Local Government, Ken Mead and then Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson.
“There is a rich Chinese history in Brisbane going back to the mid-1850s. The Chinese ‘diaspora’ has seen more people emigrate from that country than any other in world history. Many came to settle in Brisbane over the last 150 years. Sadly, many faced serious discrimination.
“Enoggera and Breakfast Creeks were popular locations for Chinese settlements, with many establishing market gardens at Paddington, Newmarket and Windsor in the 1800s to supply the fledgling Brisbane community with fresh vegetables. A ‘Joss’ House at Breakfast Creek opened in 1884 to service those practising Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
“It was while Councillor for Chinatown that I discovered my own family’s link with early Chinese settlers. My great great grandfather came to Queensland from the southern provinces of China in the late 1800s in search of gold. Chinatown is enriched by the hard work of so many traders, restaurateurs, doctors, dentists, jewellers and colourful characters.
“I’ve enjoyed taking photos of the many wonderful business people and characters of Chinatown and the Valley. I hope you enjoy this brief celebration of the faces of Chinatown as we celebrate our first quarter century.”
Cr Hinchliffe and Chinatown Committee chairman Mr Chiu-Hing Chan will launch the Faces of Chinatown project on 20 January. The images of local identities will be projected onto the sides of two-to-three storey buildings around Chinatown and Brunswick Street Mall at night on 20 and 21 January.
The coffee-table book album will be distributed to all Brisbane City Council libraries and Chinatown traders as a historical reference of the Chinatown Mall. The book will also be available through the Australian Chinese General Chamber of Business (admin@acgcb.org.au). C
r Hinchliffe said: “I am pleased as the local councillor for 24 years of its 25 years to be associated with Chinatown. This book and projection project is a fitting way to thank Chinatown traders and personalities.”
The projection will also have an interactive element, giving audience the opportunity to project their shadow and trigger audio/visual surprises during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Young Queenslander of the Year and Chinatown Committee chairman Mr Chiu-Hing Chan said: “Chinatown has changed so much in 25 years with the fusion of other Asian cultures such as Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese which makes choosing which restaurant to go to even harder.”
Close to $3000 was spent on the four weeks planned projection display, that will bring Chinatown to life by putting a face to one of our city’s cultural centres.

It’s the Year of the Dragon!

NEWS

Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will play host to the 2012 Valley Chinese New Year Festival from January 20 to 22. Presented by Brisbane City Council, the annual street festival of music, dance, song and cuisine is one of the most important celebrations in the Lunar Chinese calendar.

In Asian culture, the Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year. It is the oldest and most important festivity in the Chinese lunar calendar where people from all over Asia celebrate for new hope, wealth, health and fortune for the coming New Year. Brisbane’s Chinatown Mall will be full of fabulous activities featuring Chinese culture and beliefs throughout three days of street celebration.
There will be a Chinese lion dance, dragon parade complemented with the drum music and firecracker; and also Chinese cuisine, cultural dance and song, Chinese Opera, Kung Fu, competition and many more activities. It provides a real cultural experience and understanding of Asian tradition through the connection with Asian communities.
Every year, the festival attracts approximately 40,000 people to celebrate this street event at Chinatown, Fortitude Valley.
Event times are: Friday 20 January: 6pm - 10pm
Saturday 21 January: 6pm - 10pm
Sunday 22 January 12 noon - 5pm

Info courtesy of visitbrisbane.com.au




Occupying the fifth position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is the mightiest of the signs. Dragons symbolise such character traits as dominance and ambition. Dragons prefer to live by their own rules and if left on their own, are usually successful.

They’re driven, unafraid of challenges, and willing to take risks. They’re passionate in all they do and they do things in grand fashion. Unfortunately, this passion and enthusiasm can leave Dragons feeling exhausted and interestingly, unfulfilled. While Dragons frequently help others, rarely will they ask for help. Others are attracted to Dragons, especially their colourful personalities, but deep down, Dragons prefer to be alone. Perhaps that is because they’re most successful when working alone. Their preference to be alone can come across as arrogance or conceitedness, but these qualities aren’t applicable. Dragons have tempers that can flare fast!

Flames sometimes come out of your nostrils?

You’re a dragon if you were born in 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 or, of course, 2012. Well, more or less. The Chinese calendar actually runs a little over each following year, so if you want to make absolutely sure there’s a very good reason for that scaly tail you carry everywhere around with you, do some additional research, okay? Famous Dragon People: Calista Flockhart, Colin Farrell, Courtney Cox, Courtney Love, Dinah Shore, Isabella Rossellini, Julia Ormond, Juliette Binoche, Reese Witherspoon, Roseanne Barr, Sandra Bullock, and Wynonna Judd

Scientifically speaking, whaling is simply woeful

POLITICS ... with Mungo MacCallum

Let’s be clear about one thing from the start: Japanese whaling is not only unnecessary and unpleasant; it is actually illegal. This is not simply because of the whaling ships’ blatant violation of declared marine sanctuaries and a Australian territorial waters. It is illegal at its very core because it is based on a brazen lie.

The International Whaling Commission has authorised the Japanese to kill a certain number of various whale species each year for scientific purposes – not for eating or for fun, but for that single end. Yet the Japanese have basically given up all pretence that their annual expeditions have anything at all to do with science. There are occasional throwaway lines about examining a gland behind the ears of the dead whales to determine how old they were when their lives were ended, but nothing serious has ever appeared in a scientific journal. Nor is it ever likely to.
Whale meat is openly served in Japanese restaurants, which have been given a certain cachet by the international condemnation to which they have been subjected; there is a touch of edginess about eating whale in the same way as there is about eating the potentially deadly fugu fish. But the market is a very limited one and by itself would not justify the huge expense of mounting the annual expeditions.
The real reason is Japanese persist in the practice is sheer cussedness; they are not going to be pushed around by the colonialists of the west whom they regard as both bullies and hypocrites. After all, every other nation on earth slaughters animals for food, often under cruel and inhumane conditions. To argue for special treatment for whales, especially those that are well off the endangered list, is sheer humbug. And they are not going to put up with it, so there.
From this perspective the most effective way to end whaling might be to simply ignore it; the probability is that after a few years it would be quietly phased out anyway, for reasons of simple economics. But that is obviously not going to happen, so while the whaling continues it is up to the rest of the world, and in particular the countries of the International Whaling Commission, to enforce its own rules. But once again, this is not going to happen; Realpolitik dictates that no government in its right mind is going to go to war with Japan over whaling, so all that is left is the cumbersome system of international law.
Australia has, belatedly, taken a case to the International Court of Justice, but the hearings will be both delayed and prolonged and the outcome deeply uncertain. So in the meantime, what is to be done? The opposition, which spent a decade and more in government doing absolutely nothing, is now demanding that the government send a gunboat – well, actually a customs vessel – to look on.
But unless the customs vessel is prepared to open fire, it is hard to see what that would achieve. And even the opposition, for all its hairy-chested ranting about border protection where wretched and desperate asylum seekers are concerned, is not suggesting that.
All of which leaves the politicians effectively impotent, and this is where the vigilantes come in. Groups like Sea Shepherd can and do claim the moral high ground; they are, after all, only trying to enforce the law where those sworn to uphold it have wimped out. But that does not give them free rein to cause chaos and carnage on the high seas, and if having done so against the advice of their own government their members get into strife, it's a bit rough to expect the government to bail them out. There is no virtue in taking the risks unless you are prepared to bear the responsibility for the consequences.
The government clearly has a duty to do what it can, within the law, to help its own citizens in distress, and in the case of the Sea Shepherd’s three crewmen and the government has fulfilled that obligation admirably. But it would be unwise for those who sail under the skull and crossbones to take this as a green light for all future actions. After all, even Queen Elizabeth had to deny her privateers, heroes such as Morgan and Drake, when their actions took them completely over the top.
So are the vigilantes of the Sea Shepherd also heroes, as Bob Brown and others would aver? Well, I suppose it all depends on where you stand, but at least we can agree that they are certainly not subversives; they are open and honest about their actions to the point of celebrating them. And in this they follow the honourable tradition of most Australian protesters, even those who occasionally stray outside the law.
Which is why it is so distasteful – indeed, one could even say Unaustralian – for the Resources Minister Martin Ferguson to have sooled ASIO and our other security services onto those seeking to disrupt the activities of the coal seam gas miners. To suggest that in some way they could constitute a threat to national security in the manner of suicide-bombing terrorists is not simply absurd; it is barely sane. And it is the mark of a government deeply affected by paranoia, whose ministers see conspiracy, danger and insurrection in every instance of dissent, however overt and legitimate it may be.
If demonstrators and protesters break the law, it is a matter for the police, not for the spooks. Ferguson, who comes from a family steeped in the lore of political protest, should know better. His father Jack led many a protest in the old days and regarded his ASIO file as a badge of honour, while deploring the authoritarian tendencies in the government which ordered its creation. Gillard should call young Martin off immediately before Jack rolls out of his grave breathing righteous vengeance upon both of them.

Residents ready to tackle floods

NEWS

More suburban households than ever before are ready to take whatever Brisbane’s summer storms throw at them, thanks to Council’s Brisbane – Ready for Summer campaign.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk (pictured) said his $300,000 awareness campaign had already had a huge response from residents keen to do everything they could to protect their homes and families.
“It’s been a rough few summers for Brisbane and I know the devastation of the January floods and even The Gap storms in 2008 are still fresh in many people’s minds,” Cr Quirk said.
“As a result we all need to be diligent about ensuring our homes and businesses are prepared for disasters ahead of time.”
Cr Quirk said the campaign had already led to a 17 per cent increase in subscriptions to the free Early Warning Alert SMS Service, with 55,483 people now signed up. He repeated his call for every Brisbane household to make it a priority.
“Personally I think this is one of the most important things people can do ahead of the storm season. It only takes a couple of minutes to join and doesn’t cost a cent but provides invaluable warnings about any severe weather conditions that are approaching Brisbane,” he said.
“Council is doing everything it can to make sure Brisbane is prepared for any severe weather conditions that may head our way this summer, including spending $50 million on stormwater drain upgrades, $17 million on clearing stormwater drains inundated in the January floods of mud and debris, and $2.5 million on supporting local SES volunteers.
“But there are also simple things like cleaning gutters and drains, raking up dry leaves and trimming trees away from roofs that you can do to help minimise the risk of damage to your home this storm and bushfire season.”
At just over the halfway point of the campaign there have been more than 43,000 FloodWise Property Reports downloaded by residents to investigate a property’s flood risk, as well as 22,400 Flood Flag Maps.
“We’ve seen some great results so far showing that residents are taking action to be better prepared for severe storms, fire or flooding this summer,” Cr Quirk said. “If you haven’t already done so, I encourage residents to clean their gutters and yard of loose items, prepare an emergency kit, sign up to the free Brisbane Early Warning Alert Service and find out their flooding risk by downloading the Flood Flag Map for their suburb or a FloodWise Property Report from the website – www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/beprepared”
The Lord Mayor said the ‘Brisbane – ready for summer’ campaign would run until March, and included advertising on radio, social media, newspapers, online and billboards.

Renovators beware: Archicentre

Property

With Australia’s housing market swinging in favour of buyers and auction clearance running in some states at under 50 per cent, the time is ripe to reenter the property market but with caution, Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, is warning.

Archicentre General Manager David Hallett said home buyers and renovators entering the property market are facing a climate of increasing costs of living and a longer period for capital gain on the property which increases the need for due diligence on the property purchase.
“People usually purchase three to four houses in a lifetime with the expectation that they will increase their personal wealth and their ability to ‘trade up’ by adding value through renovation and making money at the time of sale. One of the major risk aversion strategies for home buyers and renovators is to establish the value and potential of the home for money-making renovation through proper due diligence, including a pre-purchase property inspection."
Mr Hallett said DIY renovators hoping to make a killing by purchasing a rundown home for renovation without having a pre-purchase property inspection or a design concept worked out can find themselves facing an expensive dilemma when unforseen building faults are found or when their renovation ideas are simply not practical.
The worst case scenario is when halfway through a renovation a major problem such as termites, or structural defects are discovered leading to costly variations to the renovation plan and substantial impact on the financial return.
In Archicentre's experience problems with the structural integrity of the home often become evident three to six months after people have moved in and start to notice the issues varying from leaky roofs - usually after a severe rain storm; cracks appearing in plaster work - a tell tale sign of building movement, or in more extreme cases termite damage which can vary from minor - $10,000 repairs up to $150,000 for serious cases.
Mr Hallett said a pre-purchase property inspection lets you know immediately if there are any serious building faults and is extremely valuable when you are negotiating your property purchase, making a property bid or applying for a bank loan. Most importantly it can help remove expensive health, safety or financial risks in the future.
“The normal practice for expensive property repairs is to add the cost of repairs onto the mortgage, which escalates the cost with the additional interest payable over the normal 30 year mortgage, making the cost of not having a pre-purchase property inspection a very expensive mistake."
“The real cost of repairs of $50,000 on a house purchased without a pre-purchase inspection when added to the normal twenty five year mortgage at 7.5% is $369.50 a month, with the total interest payment being $60,848 making the real cost of the repair $110,848."
Mr Hallett said such costs can make a severe dent in the capital gain on any property and in turn limit the potential level of upgrade a home owner can expect in the future.
“The pre-purchase property inspection also provides home buyers with the opportunity to leverage their knowledge of the home's condition in negotiating a price with the vendor to take into account the cost of future repairs to areas such plumbing, wiring, re-stumping or roof repair.
“Anyone contemplating spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home as an investment should have a professional assessment of the property or make the sale of the property subject to an independent inspection revealing no serous faults," Mr Hallett said. “
When arranging a pre-purchase inspection it is also vital to ensure that the inspection service is reputable and that the inspector is qualified and has appropriate professional indemnity insurance to be able to pay compensation if they fail to find a defect which could cost the purchaser thousands of dollars to fix after relying on the pre-purchase property report to buy the property. Alternatively, they should ensure that the service provider offers a guarantee on their work.”

• Archicentre has a Cost Guide available free on its website at www.archicentre.com.au which provides a detailed guide to costs of common household repairs and renovation to assist home buyers and renovators in costing their projects and avoiding unexpected cost blowouts.

You've got to give the swirl a whirl

WINE .... with David Bray

It’s what you like that counts, simple as that. But there are some things we can do to help us derive maximum pleasure from the wines we buy and drink. Look for colour, smell, taste and how the wine feels in the mouth.

The last three involve some swirling and there has recently been significant scientific advice on the subject, some of which could well interest anyone who has read thus far.
While researching this topic I encountered advice that “this is the most important part of wine tasting ... The average person can smell more than 2000 different scents, and wine has more than 200 of its own. Now that you've swirled the wine and released the bouquet, you should smell the wine at least three times". And so on.
But there is much more to it, as journals around the wine world have reported in recent weeks.
Paris’s Le Figaro reported that ”while wine lovers automatically swirl the wine in their glass to aerate it and release its aromas, few, if any, do so in conscious awareness that behind this slow rotation lies a complex problem of fluid mechanics that has kept researchers at the Lausanne branch of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology busy for three years.”
Head of the Swiss team Mohammed Farhat says they were looking for a way to mix biological cell cultures, apparently a major challenge in the pharmaceutical industry. He noticed that the flick of the wrist gesture used by wine tasters showed all the qualities needed to mix cultures - and could be adapted to be used on a much bigger scale.
London’s Daily Telegraph provides the most readable report, some of which follows.
Researchers have discovered how the technique really works. And they say the findings could have benefits for drugs research and help inspire new medical treatments.
The mystery of how the process, known in physics as 'orbital shaking', allows connoisseurs to appreciate the wine's aroma, or bouquet, was uncovered by researchers who studied the waves generated around the inner edge of the glass.
Fluid experts have long observed the action churns the liquid as it travels, drawing in oxygen from the air and intensifying the smell.
Dr Farhat (remember him from the Lausanne Institute) said: "The formation of this wave has probably been known since the introduction of glass or any other kind of cylindrical bowl, but what has been lacking is a description of the physics related to the mixing and oxygenation."
To figure out how the mixing occurs, his researchers tracked the motion of travelling waves in clear cylinders with state of the art instruments while measuring the velocity of the liquid.
Dr Farhat said: "As the wave propagates along the glass wall, the liquid is displaced back and forth from bottom to top and from the centre to the periphery.
"This pumping mechanism, induced by the wave, is more pronounced near the free surface and close to the wall, which enhances the mixing."
He added the study, presented at a physics meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, also found "for a given glass shape, the mixing and oxygenation may be optimised with an appropriate choice of shaking diameter and rotation speed."
And Dr Farhat revealed: "The intuitive and efficient motion of wine swirling has inspired engineers in the field of biopharmaceuticals."
This is where cell cultures are placed in large cylindrical containers - or bioreactors - and 'shaken' in a manner similar to the aeration of a glass of wine.
He said the new work demonstrates "such bioreactors offer better mixing and oxygenation over existing stirred tanks, provided that operating parameters are carefully optimised.
"Moreover, the gentle nature of orbital shaking also ensures a better viability and growth rate of the cells at reduced cost."
End of learned argument.
Wine lovers believe in smelling the drink before the first sip. I reckon the smell is very much part of the taste, simple as that. Okay, so you see, swirl, sip and spit like an expert, but how about listening to the wine?
Len Evans did a huge amount to promote the Australian wine industry and had a lot of fun along the way. Once in a while, with the right audience, he would, during a serious tasting, raise various glasses to an ear and seem to be listening carefully. No need for words, but the action would in due course be replicated by a few desperately earnest enthusiasts.
Haven’t seen it for years, more’s the pity.

***

And now for something upon which to use these newly remembered skills: Rymill Coonawarra 2010 The Yearling cabernet sauvignon ($15).

Here’s the story. John Riddoch planted the first grapevines in the Coonawarra district in 1890. Six generations on, his great-great grandson John Rymill is managing director of the family company. The yearling is an addition to the core range of mature release cabernets and the company word is that “the wine might cost only $15 but that doesn’t mean anything has been compromised.
Estate-grown fruit has been crafted to capture all that is good about cabernet and Coonawarra.” Early gentle pressing and not a lot of oak lets the fruit shine in a soft, supple and approachable structure. Good right now but will cellar for a while.

Better customer service in store?

FROM MY CORNER .... with Ann Brunswick

With the retail sector supposedly being squeezed at present, it occurs to me that some larger stores could do very simple things to make life easier for consumers and which maybe might also boost sales by increasing their number of repeat customers.
A case in point is one particular branch of a national variety store chain which on occasions is the beneficiary of my patronage.

The only trouble is that while it is always a breeze to enter the store and fill a trolley or hand basket, it is often a struggle to get out again.
On several previous visits to this particular outlet it has been my misfortune to be among literally a dozen customers lined up at only one or sometimes no more than two check-outs.
To say it can take some time to pay and exit the store is somewhat of an understatement. So much so, that on several visits I have waited and waited in line but then resorted to returning items to their respective places on the store's shelves and walking out empty-handed.
Now, given that this problem is not likely to be isolated to this particular store, it seems a tad unfair to name it.
So let's see if you can work out its identity if it is referred to cryptically only as K-Mart at Toowong Village.
A visit last week to the store presented the same old problem. Once my shopping had been completed, a trip to the checkouts revealed two queues moving at glacial speed.
After several minutes two more checkouts were opened.
But as usual, whenever that happens it is always those who have been waiting the shortest time who gain the benefit by being first into the extra checkout line.
Surely it is not difficult for stores with multiple checkouts to have just one queue leading to multiple checkout points - just like most banks have and just like some supermarkets have at their express checkout areas.
If the unidentified store mentioned above adopted such a practice, it might enjoy more of my custom.

***
Speaking of the retail sector, another pet peeve of mine is the advent of do-it-yourself checkouts at some supermarkets around town. It is not so much the principle but the practical issues involved.

It has been my misfortune to use self-service checkouts on a handful of occasions, mainly at a major national supermarket chain that once again shall not be named. But I can give you the hint that this particular chain's name begins with "wool" and ends with "worths".
I can honestly say that not once has the experience been a pleasant or swift one.
Now, my high school rugby/netball playing careers may have knocked around a few of my brain cells, but I am hardly totally incompetent when it comes to what are meant to be intuitive IT systems.
Yet each time I have ventured into a DIY checkout, something has gone awry - an item has not scanned properly or there has been some other problem.
Most recently I was very proud to have got to the end of my transaction only to have the system flash up a screen telling me to seek the assistance of a staff member.
One promptly appeared at my side and advised that the machine I was using had run out of sufficient cash to make enough change for me. It gave me a couple of $2 coins and a 20-cent piece, but I was still been short changed to the tune of 45 cents.
The staff member politely asked if I could follow her to the store's service counter where she would give me the necessary coinage.
But no, the rather serious looking woman behind the service counter advised her colleague that the extra money had to be obtained from the checkout machine I had been using.
This rather puzzled me because if that particular machine had frozen because it had insufficient change for me, how could it provide it just a few moments later?
But once the staff member opened the machine she was able to retrieve my 45c and send me on my way.
But not before we both had to wait, and wait, and wait while another customer completed his purchases.
To think I had headed for the self-service checkout because the 12-items-or-less line looked too crowded. By my calculations I would have been out of the store and in my car driving home by the time my change arrived.

***
This column has previously highlighted how quickly Easter eggs and other such merchandise appear on the supermarket shelves once the Christmas sell-a-thon is over.

But it was not a big surprise to me when a colleague reported sighting hot-cross buns for sale in the first week of the year.
While Easter eggs themselves are yet to make an appearance, they may not be far behind.

Pitch-perfect spy thriller

FILM ... with Tim Milfull

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (MA15+)
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Stars: Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch.
Rating: 5/5
127-minutes, screening from 19 January

I’m not ashamed to admit that until a screening at last year’s Brisbane International Film Festival, I was a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy virgin. While I read the Cold War fiction of John le Carré as a spotty-faced teenager, that particular novel slipped under my radar, and the 1979 television series starring Alec Guinness as the resolute George Smiley was a little beyond my limited faculties at the time.

It’s probably for the best then that I had three decades or so to prepare for Tomas Alfredson’s cinematic adaptation of this now classic spy story, because the complex act of compressing such a convoluted tale into just over two hours of film will invariably ask a lot from its audience.
Diehard fans of the book and series might blanch at any casting of George Smiley other than Guinness, but there is a calculated inspiration in Alfredson’s choice of Gary Oldman to play the former second-in-charge to John Hurt’s Control. When the latter is forced into retirement after a botched operation in Eastern Europe, his last request to Smiley before shuffling off is to uncover the mole in the UK’s elite espionage service.
As he gradually unravels the tangled skein of Control’s paranoia, however, Smiley realises that four of his high ranking colleagues are the chief suspects, and only the most subtle and covert investigation will identify the mole without tearing the allied intelligence community apart.
Drawing on a similar palette to the one he used in the chilling vampire coming-of-age film, Let the Right One In, and coupled with the dry and often droll performances of the likes of Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciarán Hinds, Tom Hardy, and the very impressive Benedict Cumberbatch alongside the impassive Oldman, Alfredson renders a pitch perfect impression of seventies espionage intrigue.



An erotic if unusual weekend

Weekend (MA15+)
Director: Andrew Haig, Chris New.
Stars: Tom Cullen,
Rating: 4/5
97-minutes, screening from 26 January

At the essence of writer-director, Andrew Haigh’s film Weekend is a very conventional modern romance: two young people hook up for a one-night stand before spending nearly all of the ensuing weekend together, and in the process learn about surprising and distressing new facets of themselves and each other.

The mildly unconventional aspect to this very mainstream story is that the two twentysomethings are both young men, and it’s not often that we see this kind of story unfolding in a relatively mainstream context. It’s a credit to Haigh’s skilfully wrought screenplay and direction that Weekend avoids glamorising or exoticising the sexuality of its two leads, eschewing the complexities of gender in favour of the purity of emotional and intellectual connection that sometimes grows between new lovers.
In a very impressive film debut, Tom Cullen plays lifeguard, Russell, who seems vaguely comfortable with his sexuality, but is obviously rudderless in terms of emotional fulfilment. After bailing on a party with his straight mates to head off cruising gay bars, Russell wakes the next morning in the arms of the very straight-talking Glen (Chris New in another striking debut performance), an aspiring artist who relishes recording post-coital conversations for an unrealised creative project.
As their paths cross and intertwine over the next 48 hours, the two men come to realise that their own aims and desires weren’t as clear-cut as they had originally thought.
Increasingly talky and unashamedly erotic, Haigh’s script celebrates the possibilities of relationships, especially when complicated by the inflexibility that emotion and upbringing bring to our personalities.

The Binge

Terri (M) available through Madman Entertainment
Submarine (M) available through Madman Entertainment
Let the Bullets Fly (MA15+) available through Pinnacle Films
13 Assassins available through Icon Movies

Director Azazel Jacobs’s charming coming-of-age film, Terri has been out on DVD for almost a month now, but I was so impressed after recently sitting down to watch it that I decided it had to be shared.

In an astonishing debut performance, the imposing Jacob Wysocki plays the troubled titled role, while the much-underrated John C. Reilly plays Deputy Principal Fitzgerald, who uses some less-than-formal techniques to deal with the kids he has to straighten out. This is a beautifully nuanced film about kids coming to terms with their place in the world.
Another coming-of-age film, Submarine, is the first feature from quirky It Crowd regular, Richard Ayoade, who manages to instil a more understated version of wonderful weirdness he exhibited while writing for television series like Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh.
Restraining himself here -but only just -Ayoade tells the story of adolescent Oliver (Craig Roberts), who grapples with his burgeoning sexuality and the troubling sexual diversions of his mother.
Let the Bullets Fly is one of the more spectacular, and often hilarious Chinese films of late—writer-director Wen Jiang, who also tackles the lead role of oriental Robin Hood, Pocky Zhang, who reluctantly accepts the challenge of liberating a provincial town from the clutches of the ruthless despot, Master Huang (Chow Yun-Fat). Wen’s film features some simply awesome colour and choreography, and a script that bristles with wit.

Finally, the prolific Japanese director, Takashi Miike extends himself into new territory yet again with 13 Assassins, (below) a fresh, and very violent take on the samurai genre. Climaxing with a glorious battle scene more than an hour long, this film may suffer on a small screen, but it does whet our appetite for Miike’s other soon-to-be-released epic, Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai, which remakes Masaki Kobayashi’s 1962 classic of the same name.

Traders facing ruin over walkway closure

NEWS

A number of inner-Valley traders have suffered huge pre-Christmas losses – and some face permanent closure – after an important pedestrian walkway was abruptly closed on Monday 12 December.

The usual daily passing parade of thousands of would-be customers from the Fortitude Valley Railway Station through Valley Metro and across the Wickham Street airbridge to McWhirters was reduced to just hundreds when the owners of the Walton’s 20-metre section of the passageway locked the fire doors at either end and erected barriers the previous night and announced via signage that it was “Closed for maintenance”.
As this special issue went to press, two weeks had passed, hundreds of thousands of dollars in trade has been lost exactly the time of year when they were counting on solid sales to make the most of what has been hard year for some of them – and perhaps the most galling aspect of the whole charade to those businesses, no work has been undertaken on the sealed walkway Among those to suffer are several businesses in the Happy Valley building that fronts Wickham Street, traders in McWhirters centre and even shops beyond.
Local long-term councillor David Hinchliffe warned early on that desperate traders were close to taking action into their own hands to save their businesses.
The Independent doesn’t claim to know the exact truth of this tragedy but understands the Walton’s owners - Mount Cathay Pty Ltd - closed the walkway after a deadline they had set passed for the owners of the adjoining Happy Valley building to fix problems with the Walton’s section of the walkway, including a number of broken and missing floor tiles. The Happy Valley body corporate is understood under a long-standing arrangement to be legally responsible for upkeep of the Walton’s section.
As this issue went to press the walkway remained closed and the chance to make solid sales in the final days before Xmas all but dashed.
A protest meeting on Thursday December 15, organised by Paul Crowther ALP candidate for Central Ward at the looming local elections created a fair amount of mainstream media coverage of the traders’ grim plight but the firedoors and barricades have remained in place since.
The Independent understands that at the heart of this standoff is the fact that the Happy Valley Body Coporate is virtually defunct and devoid of the funds needed to bring the Walton’s section of the walkway up to a safe standard for pedestrian traffic.
And as this edition went to press, legal paperwork aimed at resurrecting the body corporate so that the key players involved could contribute some funds towards remedial work was only just in the hands of one of the key players.

STOP PRESS

As this special issue went to press, an optimistic local Councillor, David Hinchliffe, rsaid that after strenuous negotiations between property owners in the Valley the 10 day old stalemate over a public walkway may come to an end either later today or tomorrow morning.

“I am reasonably confident that after discussions among lawyers and owners a Future Management Agreement (FMA) may soon be in place between the three principal owners of the walkway," he said. “The three owners are Bovis Lend Lease (owners of the Valley Metro where the Valley train station is located), Mount Cathay Pty Ltd (owners of the Waltons building who closed their section of the walkway) and Happy Valley body corporate (owners of the building next to Wickham St). “This closure has cost well over $100,000 in lost business for over a hundred businesses in the local area. I understand that the Future Management Agreement will lay down a process for sharing the maintenance and liability issues for the walkway. “The walkway has an easement over it, but it is not a public easement, so council had limited powers.



“Open the doors now” was the chant as ALP Lord Mayor candidate Ray Smith joined a protest at the barricaded section earlier this month.



Faith Walker, 86, of Windsor, pictured with Cr David Hinchliffe, said the closure was the most disgusting thing she had seen in decades of daily visits to the Valley.



Local traders listen to a progress report on the closure. They have had almost daily letdowns over rumours of a breakthrough.



ALP Lord Mayoral candidate Ray Smith, local council candidate Paul Crowther and state MP Grace Grace address local traders.

New Year's focus on Chinatown

NEWS


A Faces of Chinatown project early next year will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Chinatown and herald in the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

Local councillor David Hinchliffe – a press photographer in an earlier life before almost his own quarter-century in local politics – and Chinatown Committee chairman Mr Chiu-Hing Chan will launch the Faces of China Town on 20 January.
As the exhibition’s photographer, Cr Hinchliffe has taken more than 50 photos of familiar faces associated with local restaurants, retailers anddoctors, dentist and the like and the images will be projected to the side of two to three storey buildings around Chinatown and Brunswick Street Mall at night on 20 and 21 January. The photos will also be transformed into a coffee table book album. I
t will be distributed to all the Brisbane City Council libraries and Chinatown traders as a historical reference of the Chinatown Mall. The book will also be available through the Australian Chinese General Chamber of Business (admin@acgcb.org.au).
Cr Hinchliffe said: “I am pleased as the local councillor for 24 years of its 25 years to be assocated with Chinatown. This book and projection project is a fitting way to thank Chinatown traders and personalities.” The projection will also have an interactive element, giving audience the opportunity to project their shadow and trigger audio/visual surprises during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Young Queenslander of the Year and Chinatown Committee Chairman, Mr Chiu-Hing Chan said: “Chinatown has changed so much in 25 years with the fusion of other Asian cultures such as Thai, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese which makes chosing which restaurant to go to even harder.”
Close to $3,000 was spent on the four weeks planned projection display, that will bring Chinatown to life by putting a face to one of our city’s cultural centres.


Top: Councillor David Hinchliffe snaps Burlington Barbecue’s Kevin Zeng

How local traders have been affected

NEWS

Cheung’s Cake and Cafe, Happy Valley: Co-owner Helen Moc says her 12-year-old business has lost about 80 per cent of its customers, including vital Xmas party catering. “On the second day [of the closure], we baked half our normal amount and threw half out. The next day we made half of that again and still threw half of that out. Every day we have lost thousands of dollars. We are now down to one-eighth our normal production and we still have food left over.” Ms Moc said that if the closure continued into the New Year “we would then have to close down”.

Autographed Memorabilia, McWhirters: Owner Corey Hamilton says the closure was “simply the end of Christmas for me”. He described his daily sales as “miserable” with the potential daily passing customer trade of 3500 to 4000 people a day reduced to 600. “The losses mean I will not be renewing my lease next year under any circumstances.”

McWhirters Farmers Markets: Owner Nick Criticos said: “We are down about 40 to 50 per cent of our sales or about 150 to 200 customers a day.”. He has calculated his daily losses at between $1000 and $2000 as day and “it’s very bad” to have to dump stock as a result.

Rocky’s Newsagency, McWhirters: Jason Somerville, partner of new owner Angel Yin, says they are seeking legal advice as to how to recover their losses over the period of the closure. Having bought the business on 24 October he said: “Just when we were getting used to how the business was run, we’ve lost 3000 to 3500 people a day.” The couple estimated they had lost tens of thousands of dollars in trade in the first 10 days of the closure alone.





TOP: McWhirters trader Corey Hamilton with a deserted centre passageway outside his Autographed Memorabilia shop. One of the closest traders to the barricaded Walton’s section, he has suffered as much if not more than most others.

ABOVE: Proving some goodwill does exist at Christmas, the Valley Malls market people provided free stall space to give Corey Hamilton (left) and Jason Somerville (Rocky’s Newsagency) at least a chance to recoup some losses.

New classrooms for Holy Spirit School

NEWS

The students at Holy Spirit School in New Farm will soon benefit from new classrooms delivered with $468,000 of funding through the State Government Capital Assistance Scheme.

Member for Brisbane Grace Grace said the primary school would receive the funding to build two new classrooms with adjoining pathways and storerooms.
“These new buildings will further improve Holy Spirit School’s ability to deliver high-quality education to students from Prep to Year 7,” Ms Grace said.
“Not only will they provide spacious facilities to help accommodate some of the school’s 200 plus students, but the new and modernised learning environments will provide a pleasant atmosphere for students to concentrate on study.
“Holy Spirit School was originally established in 1937, and has educated generation after generation of our youth including my own daughter who loved attending Holy Spirit during her primary school years.
"New facilities like these will ensure the school’s teaching staff can continue to do what they do best. “This funding forms just part of the ongoing State Government Capital Assistance Scheme, which has provided $46 million in funding to non-state schools this financial year.” Ms Grace said the funding for the new buildings was in addition to $1.4 million in recurrent funding the school had received from the Bligh Government since 2007.
“Non-state schools play a vital role in the education of young Queenslanders, and I’m proud to continue supporting the great work done at Holy Spirit School in the heart of Brisbane,” she said.
“This year, the Bligh Government has provided $299,425 in recurrent funding to assist Holy Spirit in educating our future leaders. “We will continue to support all schools, be they State, Catholic or independent, to ensure a bright future for our children.”

Above: Grace Grace MP with Holy Spirit school principal Nick Gallen and students

Warning issued over city parking

NEWS

The rapid expansion of residential projects in the inner-city means more and more people are coping parking fines for being unaware of Central Traffic Area parking restirctions.

The warning comes from Central Ward councillor David Hinchliffe, who says the issue is a growing concern.
“A lot of the fines that the council collects arise from that lack of awareness about the CTA. I have proposed a five-year program to roll out signs warning unsuspecting motorists and local residents about the restrictions which apply in the CTA. “The only signs that currently exist for the CTA are the large signs at the various ‘entry’ points into the CTA.
"There are plenty of local residents who don’t even know about the CTA.”
In an email to an innercity resident fighting several of these fnes, Cr Hinchliffe said: “As these areas become more populated and as parking becomes increasingly contested in the inner suburbs, there’s a much greater need for the special provisions and requirements of the Central Traffic Area to be spelt out through signage for unsuspecting motorists and local residents.
“For the last three years, I have asked each year of the relevant Lord Mayor (currently Graham Quirk and before him Campbell Newman) to allocate approximately $100,000 from the parking-fine revenue received each year by council to go towards installing more signs throughout the CTA. I've suggested that if that were done over a 5 year period, we could have hundreds more signs to warn motorists.
It is unrealistic to expect that every section of kerbside in every one of the hundreds of streets within the CTA will have large signs. However, I think it is perfectly reasonable to have a lot more signs installed with a message along the following lines:

PARKING WARNING: You are in the Central Traffic Area.
RESTRICTIONS APPLY
* Unless otherwise sign-posted, parking is restricted to 2P, Mon-Fri 7am-7pm. *Residents within the CTA may apply for Resident Parking Permits.

“I think this would eliminate a lot of ignorance about the Central Traffic Area. Of course the more informed the public is, perhaps the fewer people will be caught out breaking the rules – and that of course would result in less revenue for Cr Quirk and his Administration.
“In relation to your particular infringement notice, I believe on the basis of previous cases, this should be waived and withdrawn. That decision will be up to the council.”

WHERE AM I?

This mural is just about slap-bang in the middle of the Indie’s circulation area. Tell us where it is for a chance to win a $60 voucher to enjoy some tucker and a glass of something nice at the Brunswick Hotel in New Farm. Email your answer to reach us no later than 5pm on Friday 6 January 2012. Or post your answer to us at PO Box 476 Fortitude Valley Q 4006 to reach us by the same deadline. All correct entires will go into the barrel. Only the winner will be notified.



Eagle-eyed Bob McLeod of Bowen Hills was the winner of our recent Where am I, spotting this old sign where the bulk store of Bushells Tea Company once stood in Berwick Street, The Valley. It helped that his grandfather was the warehouse manager there.

Look up and save

PROPERTY news

Look up or it could cost you thousands of dollars. This is the message from Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Archicentre, who said the vast majority of home buyers have little or no knowledge of the state of the roof of the home they are purchasing.

According to Archicentre, research from its pre-purchase home inspections program has shown 42 per cent of all homes inspected have some type of roof problems. Archicentre Queensland state manager Ian Agnew said, "Despite the roof being the vital part of the home, it often escapes the scrutiny of the home buyer as it is out of sight out of mind and requires a professional assessment."
“Often when homes are sold a fresh coat of paint is used to cover long term tell tale water stains on the interior ceiling and walls or in the case of metal roofs, a fresh coat of paint on the exterior could suggest a quick artificial makeover of a rusty roof".
“Water pouring down the walls or a section of plaster collapsing is often the first indication that there is a problem with the roof.”
Mr Agnew said the cost of water damage by leaking roofs on plaster, especially lath and plaster in older homes, can run into thousands of dollars and is usually discovered after people move into their new home and experience the first heavy downpour.
“This damage can be caused by a simple lack of maintenance in clearing out guttering or downpipes which cause the water to back up and enter the home".
“Apart from the appearance of the roof, it is also vital that inside the roof cavity is inspected for structural soundness.” Mr Agnew said following major storms and heavy rain, leaky roof problems can lead to dangerous situations where water can penetrate walls, roof linings, and insulation leading to the growth of mould and deterioration of the home. “People who put off having leaks fixed could be putting themselves and their families at risk, especially if the water was likely to enter the electrical system or appliances.”

ROOF CHECK LIST
• Check guttering and downpipes are clear of fallen leaves, sticks and other debris.
• If there have been storms or high winds look for cracked or broken roof tiles, loose ridge and valley tiles allowing bird and possum entry as well as water leaks.
• Check that corrugated iron sheets are in good condition and well attached.
• Ensure valley and eaves guttering are free from holes and rust. Even small holes can create large leaks often making extensive replacement necessary.
• Make sure flues and chimneys are structurally safe and the flashings around them are secure against water penetration
• Check inside the roof space for water stains or pinholes of light indicating holes in the roof or flashings.