Thursday, October 13, 2005
CATT the mouse

Communities Against the Tunnels (CATT) has an uphill struggle to slow down, and eventually halt, the construction of the Lord Mayor’s tunnels across Brisbane: TransApex.

What we do know is….

• Information and education works. When residents are presented with complex issues, are given time to understand the context and assess the trade-offs and are then asked for their open-ended opinions, rarely do they reach the conclusion that simply building more roads is the answer. Brisbane City Council’s recent CityShape Conference presented residents with such information and not one of the 525 open-ended messages concocted by the work groups was supportive of TransApex.
• Many residents remain ignorant of the impacts of the routes of the tunnels, the siting of the exits, the implications for local traffic and the potential air quality and noise issues associated with building and operating the tunnels.
• Many residents continue to feel ‘helpless’ about the ‘inevitability’ of construction, concerned there seems to be no voice speaking out against the tunnels. The consultation process conducted by BCC – whilst glossy and informative – presented no ‘no-tunnels’ option.
• Alliances must be built with the shared goal of ‘no-tunnels’. Many community associations, local groups and political bodies are opposed to TransApex. Alliances can be used to access like-minded constituents, utilise diverse media channels and reinforce the core message through different group’s own narratives.
• TransApex is not just about tunnels. Though the battles will be fought over tunnels, the real debate should be over the strategic direction that Brisbane takes. The city could be likened to a ship navigating the oceans; the choice of direction now could point us towards becoming a more livable city, with a thoroughly modern transit system and revitalised neighbourhoods. The wrong bearing - a different choice - extrapolated 25 years ahead, could lead us to a very different future, with dilapidated suburbs, archaic public transport and utterly bankrupt.
• Economic, demographic, social and cultural trends consistently provide evidence that sinking billions of dollars into tunnels is not the solution. Issues ranging from peak-oil, an aging population (fewer drivers), a rediscovery of place making in urban villages and personal re-evaluations of the opportunity cost of leisure (“down-shifting”) all present alternative, less car-dependent futures; even near-futures. Sydney’s current tunnel woes will also continue to generate controversy over the viability of such an investment.
• The 2004 Council election was not a mandate for TransApex. Despite the rhetoric at the time, Newman’s victory cannot be seen as the first and last step of the political process to sign-off TransApex, yet it appears this is the case. At the time, it was likely the long-entrenched Labor administration would fall. A Labor defeat could only have resulted in Newman being returned as Lord Mayor. TransApex has been implemented by default.

But alas….

• Information and education is desperately slow to disseminate. For example, the CityShape Conference reached a grand total of 155 residents, out of Brisbane’s 957,000 (all right, not all of them are voters). CATT maybe reaches another hundred. These numbers are insignificant.
• The clock is ticking. Tenders from the two invited bidders for NSBT are requested by early December. Digging is projected to start ‘in 2006’. Airport Link is in the ($21m) detailed feasibility study stage. And when it gets to the crunch….
• When you’re laying in front of bulldozers, it’s too late. When opponents to the tunnels start laying in the mud, they become ‘protestors’, ‘demonstrators’ or simply ‘NIMBYs’; painted by the media in a very different light. Public opinion can very quickly be turned against such ‘environmental extremists’ who are wasting public money and not going through ‘appropriate democratic channels’ to achieve their goal.
• Alliances can pull in many directions. It is essential that such a loose association does not get bogged down in subtle differences over policy in non-tunnel arenas. A non-tunnels future must always bind them.
• Citizen-consumers are generally apathetic. People are conservative in their consumer and lifestyle choices and are ambivalent about the slow erosion of their quality of life. Furthermore, a big block of voters are car drivers and thus quite content to see tunnels built, jobs created and congestion temporarily shifted elsewhere. Many will vote as such, despite publicly maintaining contrary views. Sadly, often people’s world-view is shaped by how they perceive the next two or three years of their lives only.
• Pursuing a ‘tunnels referendum’ would be a strategic mistake. [This is not CATT policy.] Though at face value, a Brisbane-wide referendum on the tunnels would seem appealing, there are too many associated risks. The timing of any poll would be at the discretion of BCC and defeat would utterly entrench the TransApex scheme in future city planning.

Therefore….

• Communication needs to be ramped up… and quickly. Names, addresses and emails should be collected and residents communicated with. And those people who agree to become part of the network should receive something in return – a newsletter, information or new research. Opponents to the tunnels need to feel part of a community of interest, not isolated and helpless in their homes, whingeing at the television.
• All media contact should be fresh and present new and relevant information. This is not an election, where the same ‘message’ should be thrashed out ad nauseam. The mounting evidence that supports an alternative future, should be presented in an evolving, coherent narrative. Today, for example, the latest debacle with Sydney’s tolled tunnel (no one is using it) has direct relevance to the viability of TransApex. But media contact can also make connections backwards, demonstrating trends: petrol pump prices were big news three weeks ago, when prices reached $1.30 per litre, up from $0.80 one year ago. Yet today, petrol prices remain in the $1.20-25 mark. Consumers could benefit from being reminded.
• The tunnels should be opposed as a matter of transport policy. Residents’ concern over their loss of amenity caused by the tunnels is quite legitimate, but will never be enough. Such concern can be easily dismissed by tunnel proponents as being of narrow self-interest. (As if that’s a bad thing, when we are conditioned to believe ‘self-interest’ should govern society.) Presenting a different, more sustainable, more accessible and more viable future, should be the cental theme running through the no-tunnels message.

However….

• Media channels are becoming more receptive to a no-tunnels view. The Courier-Mail has begun to publish more critical analysis of transport policy and TransApex, even printing two lead editorials (one submitted, one internal), questioning Newman’s policy. It seems that since the CM picked up the regional planning agenda, many journalists have embarked on learning curves themselves, discovering that ever-more infrastructure provision is not always the answer.
• The world-wide-web is the perfect tool for raising awareness and disseminating information. Newsgroups, websites, blogs, emails, SMS, RSS, all provide avenues to improve communication and let residents who are opposed to the tunnels know that there is a group representing their interests.
• There is a vast resource of skilled, committed and intelligent people dedicated to stopping TransApex.
• Sheer numbers of people will be sufficient to close down this whole tunnel idea. Already more people voted against Campbell Newman than for him. Voters – adequately motivated – can prevent Brisbane from making an enormous and but entirely foreseen error of judgement.

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