Message from The Area Coordinator
Busy month ahead with the book sale at Logan West (Grand Plaza) library on March 15th and the Neighbour Day event in Brabham Park on Sunday March 30th between 11am and 2pm. Come along and meet some new friends. We hope this will encourage people to look out for one another and put a bit of the community spirit back into our own and others lives.
Responsibility for Australia’s annual cele-bration of community, Neighbour Day, was assumed by Relationships Australia from 1/1/2014. It brings together the people next door or across the street for a beer, a barbie or just a cuppa.
Held on the last Sunday in March every year, it’s the perfect day to say thanks for being a great neighbour and for being there when I needed you most. Our event will have a prize draw where you can nominate someone you regard as the per-fect neighbour—a great prize is there for the winner. There will be a sausage sizzle, face painting and drinks available plus some exhibits to help us all enjoy our local community.
REMEMBER THE COMMUNITY YOU WANT STARTS AT YOUR FRONT DOOR
If you have any particular concerns you would like covered at future meetings please email crestmeadnhw@hotmail.com
What a wonderful meeting we held last month with Andrew Plint from Hannah’s Foundation speaking about his journey following the death of his daughter & how he has progressed to helping others. We were also joined by Michael Pucci MLA who gave infor-mation & resuscitation charts for those with pools & these will be available at both the Neighbour Day event & next meeting. All new swimming pools require a building approval - a state based pool safe register operates in Qld. Failing to register your pool can result in an on the spot fine of $220 or a maximum penalty of $2200. All inflatable pools & spas capable of being filled with 300 mls or more of water, have a volume of more than 2000 litres or has a filtration system are affected by the new laws. They must have a pool fence, be registered and obtain a certifi-cate from a licensed building certifier that the pool complies with the pool safety standard. If a swimming pool is included as part of a rental property the maintenance should be covered in the special terms of the tenancy agreement. The tenant is generally responsi-ble for everyday maintenance such as clean-ing leaves from the pool etc. The lessor must have a pool safety compliance certificate from a licensed pool inspector prior to renting the property & should include a copy with the ten-ancy agreement.
Pool owners have until 30/11/2015 to comply with the pool safety laws or earlier if they sell or lease their property before this time. Andrew is a qualified pool inspector and can help with advice.
For more information contact Andrew 07 5465 2000 or www.hannasfoundation.org.au
There is of course much more to be considered for a pool safety checklist such as the type of gate, what is around the fence, whether a CPR sign is on display, whether there are climbable items which need to be removed from near the fence etc. You can contact mypoolinspection.com.au or ph 1300 86 64 63
Our next meeting will have a spokesperson from PACT—Protecting All Children Today and we hope you will find this useful for yourself or others you know may need assistance. PACT’s mission is to enhance child protection by reducing trauma experienced by children (aged 3—17) and young people who are required to give evidence in the criminal justice system as victims or witnesses.
We thank Michael Pucci who has agreed to come along to another meeting in a couple of months time to answer specific questions you may have about our current laws etc. He is always willing to speak to residents at his offices at Hillcrest but if you would like to nominate any particular question to be raised with him please contact NHW either by mail—PO Box 1121 Browns Plains 4118 or email crestmeadnhw@hotmail.com and we will raise the matter with Michael. Do you have a specific query with law and order or the motorcycle gang laws? Do you think the laws regarding late night drinking need to be reconsidered? Anything you wish to raise (keeping your language reasonable please) will be put to him at a future meeting, and he will bring along information for our use.
I look forward to seeing you at a future event take care Geoff
