23,000+ signatures on Suttons Beach Pavilion petitions

The Suttons Beach Pavilion Preservation Group has this morning handed Moreton Bay Regional Council two petitions with a total of more than 23,000 signatures calling for it to save the Redcliffe landmark.

A petition on Change.org attracted 14,570 signatures, while the group’s paper petition had 8610 signatures.

Representatives of the group handed over the petitions to Councillor Karl Winchester (Div 6) at Moreton Bay Regional Council’s Redcliffe administration building.

Suttons Beach Pavilion Preservation Group President Jodie Starr says the handover went well with a contingent of members there to show their support and she is proud of the number of signatures they have managed to collect.

“It’s an amazing effort from the community,” she says.

“We had a good chat with Karl (Cr Winchester) about the next steps forward as well. We’ve got to get council to commit to funding. We need to talk with the other councillors to get them on board.”

In the meantime, the group is pushing for temporary toilets to be installed for the public to use when visiting the area.

Jodie says today’s meeting was another step in their fight to preserve or rebuild the landmark.

“We’re still fighting hard. We’re planning a family fun day at the beach in April to raise campaign awareness,” she says.

“We want the community to see it is fenced off right now and is an eyesore. We still have a long way to go. We need to get the results of the invasive testing, but I don’t see full demolition and green space happening now.

“We’re waiting to organise another meeting with council in the next few weeks. We have a lot of questions to ask.

What happens now

Cr Winchester says he is planning to table the paper petition at next Wednesday’s council general meeting and the online petition signatures will be accepted as correspondence.

In his view, the two combined represent the total number of signatures in support of preserving or rebuilding the structures.

“I was really encouraged to see all the volunteers and representatives there at council today,” he says.

“They’ve put a lot of hard work into it. I will be advocating that the community expectation is that council repairs or rebuilds.”

Tenders have been called for the invasive testing work that needs to happen before any decisions are made about the structures’ future.

Cr Winchester says he is also advocating for the toilets to be opened to the public as soon as possible until the work begins and for temporary toilets to be provided after that time.