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QUEENSLAND FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES PROHIBITION ON THE LIGHTING, MAINTENANCE AND USE OF FIRES IN THE OPEN.

Current fire conditions have been assessed and with due regard to the weather forecasts issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, a Local Fire Ban is hereby imposed by Queensland Fire and Emergency Services as described below.

A prohibition on lighting fires in the open applies for a 24 hour period from 0001hrs Thursday 14 September to 2359 hrs on Thursday 14 September, 2017 in the following areas:

-Brisbane City Council
-Moreton Bay Regional Council
-Redland City Council
-Ipswich City Council
-Somerset Regional Council
-Lockyer Valley Regional Council
-The City of Gold Coast
-Logan City Council
-Scenic Rim Regional Council

All residents in these local government areas will be prohibited from lighting a fire in the open, unless it is within a properly constructed and supervised barbecue.

All Permits to Light Fire previously issued are hereby cancelled until further notice.

Information on Fire Bans and the exemptions that can apply to a ban of the lighting of fires in the open can be found on the Rural Fire Service Queensland website. www.ruralfire.qld.gov.au

Note: Power tools including lawn mowers and mechanical slashers may be used, however the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services encourages people to use these with extreme care and to ensure that adequate equipment is available to extinguish any fire that may start. This could include having a person available to watch out for any ignitions that occur.

You might have noticed that there’s been a bit of smoke around lately.

The cooler months are an ideal time for controlled burns, or burn-offs, where supervised small-scale fires are lit and safely guided in targeted bush locations. This practice is invaluable for public safety and Australia’s biodiversity.

For millennia, fire has been a critical process in the Australian ecosystem. It has influenced the spread of certain groups of plants, like eucalypts and acacias, where these fire-tolerant species could out-compete others. In fact, Australia’s fire-adapted species are often highly flammable, naturally equipped to promote the fire that is the crucial trigger for the release or germination of their seeds. Without fire, some species simply cannot reproduce.
When there hasn’t been a fire for a while, the fuel load from dry leaf litter, flammable plants and connected corridors builds up.
This means that any subsequent fire can be significant and disastrous. A primary cause for controlled burns is to minimise the maximum risk to people, properties, wildlife and the environment that could be posed by a bushfire.

This means that any subsequent fire can be significant and disastrous. A primary cause for controlled burns is to minimise the maximum risk to people, properties, wildlife and the environment that could be posed by a bushfire.
Controlled burns are not just about prevention, there are many ecological benefits to introducing fire to patches of bush.

Fires allow those fire-dependent native plants to continue their life cycle, control weeds, limit the spread of disease, and reinvigorate the soil with nutrient-rich ash. While all fires carry some risk, controlled burns are conducted with a strict view to safety.

Burns involve only low-temperature fires, which do not produce the high flames that harm flora and fauna or the high heat that causes physical and chemical damage to soil. These fires are also less likely to get out of hand than hot fires, especially when they occur on still, cool days in winter and early spring. Care is also taken to preserve the habitats and homes of vulnerable species; specific areas are avoided and flammable material is cleared from around features like nesting trees and burrows. Litter-free fire-trails and backburning create barriers between the burn site and its surrounds to reduce the chance of the fire spreading.

If fire, as a natural part of the ecosystem, must occur, controlled burns are the safest way for it to happen. The seemingly omnipresent smoke of winter is a small price to pay to avoid massive bushfires and give our native communities a nudge.

By Charlotte Liehr

Did you know that one in three people are going to need blood sometime in their lifetime, but only one in thirty people donate?

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service operates a Mobile Donor Centre that travels throughout North Brisbane and the Moreton Bay region, and will be visiting North Lakes on the 19th to the 22nd September. The van will be located outside The Good Guys, on North Lakes Drive.

Community Relations Officer for the Blood Service in North Brisbane, Liam Richardson, said that it’s really important that the Blood Service sees some new donors in September, and encourages everyone in the North Lakes community to consider donating blood. ‘After winter, when the weather is getting warmer, people are generally feeling fitter and healthier, and so are able to make a blood donation. We love to see new donors make their first donation in September, and then look to make their second in December, in the lead up to Christmas. This helps us ensure that we have enough blood stocks required for the 25 000 patients a week across Australia, who need a blood donation.’

It really is a simple process, and the actual taking of the blood only takes between five and ten minutes.  A lot of people use the time to relax, maybe think about what you might want to do on your next holiday, or catch up on social media. All the while you are saving three lives!’

All blood types are needed by the Blood Service, but it is particularly important to donate if you have O negative blood. People with O- blood are known as the universal donor, and their blood can be given to anyone in an emergency.

If you are keen to donate, but can’t make it to the Mobile Donor Centre on those days, there is also a permanent donor centre located just 15 minutes down the road, in Strathpine. The Strathpine Donor centre is located at 349 Gympie Road, Strathpine, and is open 6 days a week, including Saturdays. The centre is open early mornings on Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays, and late nights on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

If you are interested in donating, or would like more information, you can visit donateblood.com.au, or phone 13 14 95.

If you run a business, or would like to donate as part of a community or church group, the Blood Service runs a group donation program called Red25. For more information on Red25, please call Liam Richardson on 3481 5908, or email lrichardson@redcrossblood.org.au

It’s on again! The annual TLC Fun Run is being held on Sunday, the 13th of August. Join in the largest health and fitness event in North Lakes!

The Lakes College Fun Run provides the community with an opportunity to take part in this excellent health event with four individual races to cater for everyone.

The Fun Run takes advantage of the eighty kilometres of bike and pathways that criss-cross the North Lakes community.

TLC Fun Run started in 2007 and has grown to become a highlight on the running calendar for the Brisbane North region.

Starting in the grounds of The Lakes College and meandering through the picturesque parks and paths of North Lakes, the annual TLC Fun Run is the premiere health and fitness event in the North Lakes and Mango Hill region.

This year, The Lakes College Fun Run is donating $2 from every entry to the Redcliffe Breakfast Club, supporting those in need within our community!

The Lakes College last year gave away Fun Run hats, which proved incredibly popular! They are again giving away hats to registrants, get in quick though, they’re only available to the first one thousand runners!

Offering 2km, 5km, 10km Runs/Walks, Team events and the Community Shield, along with entertainment, coffee, food, and stalls there is something for everyone at the TLC Fun Run. Registration is required!

Please visit the website: www.thelakescollege.com.au/fun-run or the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/tlcfunrun/ to register!

2km Run/Walk
Leaving the College grounds, the 2km Run/Walk makes one complete loop of picturesque Lake Eden before returning to The Lakes College. A great activity for families, bring your stroller, bring your dog and join this great community event.

2km Team Time Trial
The Lakes College Fun Run Community Shield Team Time Trial is a great opportunity to get your group of friends or workmates together and raise money for the charity of your choice. Each Community Shield Relay team consists of four runners each completing the 2km Lake Eden course.

5km Run/Walk
Leaving The Lakes College, you’ll pass under Discovery Drive and along the northern edge of Lake Eden before doing a loop of Finnegan Dr and joining Copeland Drive. At Byron Park, you’ll cross the Golf Course and join Endeavour Boulevard and then onto Lakefield Dr, past Lake Eden and return to The Lakes College.

10km Run
As it leaves the College grounds, the 10 km Run follows the northern edge of Lake Eden before passing around the southern tip of the North Lakes Resort Golf Course and joining Copeland Drive. Continuing northbound beyond the Golf Club, the 10 km Course crosses the Golf Course winding its way through Fairway Chase and along Bounty Boulevard to Discovery Drive. The course then follows the tree-lined eastern perimeter of the Golf Course back along Copeland Dr to The Lakes College.

Proudly sponsored by the Peninsula Private Hospital, Zande Law, Snap Fitness and Chris Whiting, Member for Murrumba.

Rothwell roundabout is one step closer to becoming a safer, easier to use signalised intersection.

In the meantime, it is still a roundabout which has been gradually modified to allow for continued access during the upgrade.

This stage is temporary and a necessity for the functionality of the intersection during the construction process.

Please note that the speed limit is 40 kilometres an hour due to the roadworks and take care, remembering to shoulder check your blind spot before merging!

Concerns have been raised by locals regarding the difficulty in merging from Deception Bay to Redcliffe. Chris Whiting MP, who also travels on the roundabout daily, has raised this issue with the Project Team from the Department of Transport.

It’s National Tree Day on Sunday, 30 July and young native seedlings are being given away to local residents!

Chris Whiting MP, hopes this will inspire people to get out in their gardens or community spaces and plant more trees to make it a “greener” community.

“It would be great to see young children prompted to go into their gardens to plant and tend to these young trees and shrubs,” Chris Whiting said.

 This year, Chris will be giving away seedlings at specific times, at the following locations:

The Hub (Corner Buckley & Uhlmann Road, Burpengary) – 9am – 10:30am next to Spicerite.

The Deception Bay Market Place (Bay Avenue, Deception Bay – 11am – 12:30pm inside near the post office.

The Hilltop Shopping Centre (71 Astley Parade, North Lakes) – 12:45pm – 1:45pm near the IGA.

“Come and have a chat with me about the importance of what planting one little tree can do for our environment and our health,” said Chris Whiting.

Local residents and parents of students at Bounty Boulevard State School have raised concerns on many occasions in relation to the safety of students during school drop off and pick up times.

Unfortunately, speeding through school zones is a very real safety concern. Risks to pedestrians are increased, as the faster a vehicle is travelling, the longer it takes to stop and the greater the severity of impact.

We all know children can be impulsive. Coupled with their inexperience and lack of depth perception, motorists need to exercise caution in the vicinity of a school.

The flashing school zone signs have been found to be quite effective, by highlighting when school zones are in operation and alerting motorists to slow down to the enforced speed limit.

To encourage increased compliance with the lower speed limits, the department is installing flashing school zone signs at risk assessed school zones.

Chris Whiting said the signs would be installed this financial year on Bounty Boulevard for Bounty Boulevard State School students.

“I have been lobbying the Minister for flashing signs on Bounty Boulevard since August 2016, and I’m thrilled that Bounty Boulevard State School students will now be safer,” Chris Whiting said.

“We have already installed over 740 flashing signs across Queensland and they have made school zones much safer ever since they starting lighting-up our roads in 2011.

“It is great to see yet another school in our community benefit from our safety initiative.

“Significant planning goes into ensuring the signs are delivered to where they’ll be most effective.

“We ensure these important safety signs are placed in highly visible places, benefiting the schools and communities that need them most.

“Flashing signs play an important role in alerting motorists that they are entering a school zone, reminding drivers to slow down and keep an eye out for children.

“The signs only flash on school days and during school times, so motorists will be notified when children are likely to be around.

“We want to create a safe environment for our students to allow them to focus on their studies, rather than having to worry about careless drivers,” Chris Whiting said.

Schools are selected for flashing school zone signs following detailed analyse, which considers crash history, vehicle and pedestrian traffic, speed limits and visibility problems.

For more information on flashing school zone signs visit https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/School-road-safety.