If you live in The Gap Ward, I'm always happy to have a chat about local matters.

Click here to get in touch 

I have 3x3 marquees available at The Gap Ward office for any community groups to borrow for their events.

Please ensure you include the event details in your request.

Click here to request a marquee 

Below are the steps to receive a free native plant from The Gap Ward office.

1. When you visit the ward office, present a paid rates notice or written authority from the current financial year from the property owner or property manager. Public housing and Defence Housing residents must provide evidence of a recent rental payment.
2. You will receive an approved stamped Free Native Plants voucher.
3. Visit a participating retail nursery (the closest one in Paten Park Native Nursery) and exchange your voucher for two free native plants.

Pensioners are entitled to a discount on the rate account for their principal place of residence. Brisbane City Council are continuing to support pensioners by providing a rebate of up to 40 per cent on their rates bill.

Please visit this website to ensure that you are eligible for the Pensioner Rebate

If you are applying for a maximum or partial rebate on your rates, please bring the following documents with you to The Gap Ward office:

• your Queensland Pensioner Concession Card or Veteran Card for All Conditions (Gold Card)
• a copy of your rate notice (if possible)
• proof of pension received (concession eligibility letter from Centrelink Queensland or Department of Veterans' Affairs).

If you need any further assistance with your application, please call us on 3407 1900.

Click here to request a bin sticker!

Under the Council’s Animal Local Law 2003, if a dog barks in excess of the following limitations it is considered a nuisance:

• 7am - 10pm

more than six minutes of animal noise in any hour

• 10pm - 7am

more than three minutes of animal noise in any half hour

Animal noise is also considered a nuisance if a Council officer finds it to be:

• unreasonably disrupting or inhibiting an activity ordinarily carried out on a residential premises, such as hanging the washing out or gardening

Making a complaint about a barking dog
If your neighbour's dog is barking excessively, you can take the following steps:

• approach the dog's owner and state your case clearly and politely

• if the dog's owner is unapproachable or does not agree that a problem exists, you can contact the Dispute Resolution Centre on 1800 017 288 - this service provides free mediation that is impartial, confidential and available 24 hours a day

If these methods don’t work, you can phone the Council on 07 3403 8888 to report the problem.

How does the Council handle complaints about barking dogs?
The Council will take the following steps after receiving a complaint about a barking dog:

• investigate the complaint to determine whether the dog is causing a noise nuisance

• if the dog is found to be causing a noise nuisance, the Council will serve the owner with a notice to remedy the nuisance and will offer assistance to achieve this

• if the nuisance continues, the Council may issue a $375 fine

• if the dog continues to create a nuisance, the Council may issue a notice to remove the dog. If the owner doesn't comply, the Council may seize and impound the dog

How can I control my barking dog?
If your dog is barking excessively, consult a vet to determine the cause of the barking.

If the vet is unable to resolve the issue, contact an animal behaviouralist or a dog training organisation. Neighbours may be more patient with your dog's barking if they are aware of the steps you are taking the fix the problem.

Noise can disrupt sleep and interfere with daily activities. If loud enough, it can also have a detrimental impact on people's health.

Guide to decibel levels
Some noise regulations include a maximum loudness in decibels. Here are usual decibel levels for everyday situations:

• quiet room in the house - 20 to 30 decibels
• daytime in a quiet residential street - 35 to 45 decibels
• large busy office - 50 to 60 decibels
• lawn mower from 15 metres away - 70 decibels

Which noise complaints are not handled by Council?
The Council does not deal with these common complaints:

• noise from music, parties, off-road vehicles and burglar alarms - contact the Queensland Police on 07 3364 6464
• noise from premises with a liquor licence - contact the Department of Tourism and Racing's Liquor Licensing Division on 07 3224 7196
• other types of noise complaints may be dealt with by the Environmental Protection Agency – contact the agency on 07 3224 5520

Our office carries AEC enrolment forms that you can complete and send into the AEC. Alternatively, you can update your electoral details by completing an enrolment form from the Australian Electoral Commission website and mailing it to: Australian Electoral Commission, Reply Paid 9867, Brisbane 4000.

• Obtain house numbers Collect brochures (see Catalogue of Brochures)
• Make a request to the Call Centre
• Make an appointment with Cr S. Toomey
• Make an application to address a Council meeting in City Hall
• Apply for the Free Plants Program
• Obtain Council Green Waste and General Waste tip vouchers
• Obtain a Pensioner Rate Remission Application Receipt
• Pick up a free Graffiti removal kit
• Pick up a free ‘I Choose to Reuse’ environmentally friendly shopping bag
• Obtain free notepads and calendars

Brisbane City Council offers a range of different grants and funding programs to local non-profit community groups to help develop and improve services and facilities across Brisbane.
Available grants and funding programs include:

• Community Grants Program
• Lord Mayor’s Helen Taylor award for history
• Lord Mayor’s Sustainability Grant
• Environmental Grants Program
• Senior Citizens Grants Program
• Community Support Funding Program
• Creative Sparks Grants Program
• Lord Mayor’s Suburban Initiative Fund
• Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship

Application forms and guidelines for each program, as well as information relating to opening and closing dates, is available from www.brisbane.qld.gov.au or by calling 3403 8888.

Current applications under assessment can be viewed online via Brisbane City Council's development and search tracking tool. Click here to learn how to perform an application enquiry search.

To go directly to Development.i click here.

On 1 July 2009, the Queensland State Government introduced new regulations for cat and dog owners. The Brisbane City Council is responsible for administering these State Government laws, including mandatory registration of cats, microchipping of cats and dogs (seller responsibility), microchipping of cats and dogs when given away (responsibility of person giving the animal away), microchipping of cats and dogs before reaching the age of 12 weeks and tattooing of cats and dogs at the time of desexing. For more information, please visit Brisbane City Council's website.

A rainwater tank gives you your own water supply. You’ll save on your water bills, as well as help to:

• reduce demand on the city’s main water supplies and network infrastructure
• defer the need for new dams
• reduce the size of water distribution pipes and the energy needed to operate supply systems
• reduce stormwater run-off that can cause local erosion and flooding
• improve water quality in local waterways, the river and the bay

The Council recommends you use your tank water for:

• toilet flushing
• watering the garden
• washing the car
• cold water washing machine taps

Using a 3,000 litre tank for toilet flushing, washing machine and outdoor use will cut the average Brisbane household’s use of mains water by 11%. Your local plumber, builder or rainwater tank supplier can give you information about installing a rainwater tank at your home. Before installing your tank, you may need to obtain plumbing and/or building approvals to make sure it meets plumbing and building standards.

Enforcement of speed limits is the responsibility of the Queensland Police Service and any instances of speeding or other irresponsible and dangerous driver behaviour should be reported directly to your local Police Station for action. Written requests tend to receive a higher priority than phone calls. Brisbane’s road network consists of more than 7000km of roads and speeding is a problem right across the city. Other than Police enforcement, there are no quick or easy solutions to the widespread problem of speeding in suburban streets.

Council receives almost one thousand requests for traffic calming each year and it is not possible or practical to implement every request. Only around 10 percent of the requests processed by Council Road Network Officers meet the criteria necessary for work to proceed. While traffic calming may be effective in some situations, there are also instances where it is inappropriate, such as when the road in question is expected to cater for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods through a District or Region.

Traffic calming is unlikely to prevent irresponsible or anti-social driving (commonly known as “hooning”). In some cases, traffic calming has been know to exacerbate these problems by providing “hoons” with the opportunity to test their high performance vehicles under more challenging road conditions.

Traffic calming works are generally planned and implemented on an area-wide basis, called a Local Area Traffic Management (LATM) project, to ensure that traffic problems in one street are not relocated to another nearby street.

In most cases, the aim of an LATM project is to discourage through traffic from using suburban streets (Local Access Roads) instead of major traffic routes.

Given this aim, LATM projects can also cause significant inconvenience to local residents, who have to negotiate the traffic calming on a daily basis. This is a drawback that needs to be weighed up against any potential benefits a traffic calming project may deliver. As a result, community consultation is an important part of an LATM project.

Although Council considers a wide range of criteria when assessing the need for traffic calming, successful projects generally involve the following factors:

1) The roads under consideration are Local Access Roads, which are primarily required to provide access to adjoining properties and do NOT have a significant function for carrying through traffic in the road network.

2) Demonstrated community support for traffic calming measures (i.e. a petition or numerous letters, emails or phone calls from local residents), representing at least two-thirds of the households in the affected area. A similar proportion of those households should also be prepared to have a traffic calming device (road hump, chicane or intersection modification) adjacent to their property.

3) Significant non-local traffic volumes on Local Access Roads in a particular area (i.e. through traffic that is not generated by local residents or their visitors).

4) A significant proportion of vehicles exceeding the maximum lawful speed on Local Access Roads in an area.

If these factors are proven to exist, Council officers will list an area as a candidate for an LATM project in the future. Funding is allocated to these projects in each financial year’s budget based on city-wide priorities.

Once funding is allocated, potential projects commence a two-stage process, which usually happens over the course of two or more financial years. The first stage involves community consultation, consisting of a newsletter/questionnaire delivered to each household, outlining a conceptual scheme and inviting feedback to gauge the level of community support.

If a scheme is supported by at least 60% of respondents to the newsletter, all residents will be advised of the outcome and detailed design work will commence. This process includes further consultation with directly affected residents and property owners, whose properties are adjacent to proposed traffic calming measures.

Subject to satisfactory resolution of any issues arising in the detailed design process, such as property access, residential amenity or budgetary considerations, a submission for funding to construct the scheme is usually submitted for Council approval in the subsequent financial year’s budget.

This second stage of the project may be spread over more than one financial year, depending on the size of the area being treated and the amount of work involved in the scheme.