My neighbour parked over my driveway and then attacked me.

Everybody Loves Good Neighbours

Except this fella. He just thinks of himself.

A couple of years ago when he bought the house across the road at auction, some of my neighbours and I were there to see the outcome. We introduced ourselves, but sadly (and strangely), that wasn’t reciprocated, so we didn’t learn his name or those of his young family. We still haven’t. The guy next door told him about an easement on their border. He wasn’t aware of it and of course the estate agent hadn’t mentioned it.

Not long after, the nature strip grew knee high in some hot, wet weather; a nice hideout for venomous brown snakes. I finally found an opportunity to chat to him, introduced myself again and explained the situation to him and the danger to his children. He brushed me off, as if to say what business was it of mine. I spoke to neighbours about it and we wrote a letter to him explaining that although it’s Council land, we all do it to keep the streetscape beautiful. If we all expected the Council to mow it, the rates would go up. We suggested employing one of the local lads to mow it. No response. I tried again with his wife and she smilingly rushed on.

The maintenance of our verges prompted me to post about Beauty, Nature Strips and Well-Being.

Against my advice, some neighbours told him to complain to Council. There are three other property owners on the intersection who do it themselves. Council, for some reason, added it to their mowing list. Apparently if you complain enough, they’ll do it, but according to information from the Ward next door, the Council only has funds to mow lawns in front of Council properties (and other special cases). Apparently the local Member in our Ward can influence the mowing list. He’s particularly hard working and a keen advocate… and a member of the opposition party. Since then, nobody has spoken to my neighbour about it – or anything else to my knowledge.

Lately, the neighbourhood has been inundated with parked cars during working hours. The nearby QEII Hospital is being expanded. Our streets are barely passable and many residents are having trouble accessing their homes. The number of beds at the hospital has increased during construction while the number of onsite parking spaces has been reduced, just as the number of people attending the hospital – construction workers, hospital staff, patients and visitors – has increased dramatically. No extra off-site parking was secured for the construction period.

A neighbour and I set up a resident’s action group called Lewis Hill Neighbours to help deal with the problem. Over the past seven months we’ve been letterbox dropping and holding meetings at the library. Both local and state members of parliament have attended and a team from the hospital gave us a presentation. Residents have been getting illegally parked vehicles booked. Every other week I patrol the area for illegally parked vehicles and report them. Council is so cooperative it makes me uneasy, so I produced this flyer:

I don’t want people pointing fingers at each other and getting into arguments. I want their attention to go to those responsible; the business elites, local, state and federal politicians.

There are about 50 residents on our contact list and about 10 people come to our meetings regularly. It’s all voluntary and nobody bugs anyone if they’re not interested.

The other day, I woke up to find this car parked over my driveway. I wasn’t sure whose it was, but I knew it was bookable. Residents who park badly set a bad example. I don’t mind if you don’t want to be involved in solving the parking problem, but please don’t add to it.

When the inspector came out and put a ticket on the windscreen, I found out it belonged to the unfriendly fellow on the corner. But I didn’t know how unfriendly he was. I hadn’t spoken to him for a year.

It was one of those mornings I work out in my garage gym with the door open ready to have a friendly chat with passersby.

When he came out and saw the ticket, it was soon apparent he’d been holding a grudge against me.

It’s unfortunate that the next time I meet this fellow, it’ll be in court. Personally, I’d prefer to go through a Restorative Justice process, where we sit opposite a table with a mediator and try to find resolution.

I felt traumatized for days after this incident. The thing that keeps going through my mind is how little time he spent talking about the way he had parked and the whole congestion issue. There wasn’t an opportunity to explain where the fault ultimately lies. Next time, I’ll do more to focus attention on the issue at hand.

An Australian Renaissance

I’m writing a book and one chapter will deal with multiculturalism, subtitled ‘Uncomfortable Bedfellows’. Many people say we should avoid ‘culture wars’. I disagree, but I don’t believe in ‘going in to battle’. We need to address cultural issues with calm and reserve. In a nutshell, I believe in Australians who care about our culture because they feel enriched by it such that they do not need more than a comfortable material life. Australians are the quiet achievers; conservative conservationists.

I’m toying with the idea of running for Lord Mayor in Brisbane’s 2028 municipal elections. My chief concerns are defending the quality of life and culture of Brisbane’s citizen ratepayers and residents, our future and children’s future. I believe the current regime is addicted to construction and Australia’s ponzi economy. What are your thoughts?