"What's Best for the West" Community Conversation - Strengthening Community Resilience with Social Infrastructure, Programs and Services 

When: Sunday 26 April, 2026 

Time: 2pm - 4pm

Where: Moggill State School Hall

Please arrive 1:45pm

Community Information and Input Event - ALL Welcome

This Conversation will focus on addressing the following: -

• Improving 4070 Community Disaster Resilience

Speaker: Kylie Daniel.  Brisbane City Council - Community Recovery and Resilience Officer.  

Joined by Mark Smeaton - 2IC - 4070 Community Disaster Coordination Group (4070 CDCG)

Brisbane’s weather can turn quickly and understanding the risks is one of the strongest tools we have. Join us for an engaging presentation exploring the types of severe weather and natural disasters we face in Brisbane and the city’s long history of resilience. 

The session breaks down the essential steps to being prepared, how to check your risk, ways to stay informed during an emergency, and how to interpret official warnings with confidence. 

Whether you’re new to the region or a long‑time local, this presentation offers practical, easy‑to‑apply guidance to help you protect yourself, your family and your property.

• Brisbane West Uniting Church - A Future Vision of Moggill Heritage Hall (Cnr Moggill & Kangaroo Gully Roads)

Lions have teamed up with Brisbane West Uniting Church to assist with securing funding for Moggill Heritage Hall - one of Moggills oldest buildings.  Seeking funding via various grants to facilitate the buildings integrity long into the future and we now wish to seek input from the community on how this iconic historical building can be preserved and better utilised to meet the needs of local residents, groups and clubs etc.

• Social Infrastructure - What Is It? and Why Do WE need it?

Speaker: Veronica Laverick.  Community Services and Social Welfare Professional - now retired

What is social infrastructure and its importance for community wellbeing. 

HOPEFULLY Additionally sharing an update from Dr Christian Rowan re: election commitments – Integrated Road and Public Transport Plan for Brisbane’s Western Suburbs, the proposed new High School Business Planning, Foot path to Moggill’s Sports Park, the new Community and Neighbourhood Centre with its proposed programs and services.

This event is open to all residents interested in any of the above topics - this event is not just to share information with residents but to listen and collate input from the community.

Background

Over the last few years our Community Infrastructure and Wellbeing committee conducted various Community Conversations to learn more about what matters most to members of our community.  We adopted a ‘kitchen table conversation style’ engagement approach to provide an opportunity for community members to sit down and explore questions centred around topics of local interest.

Three conversations were held for residents in Moggill, Mt Crosby and Kenmore.  Each one was a chance for our club to better understand what residents aspire for their local community, the concerns they have and what they believe might make a difference in strengthening the community.  We collated residents feedback into a detailed Community Report, which you can access in the below links.

Guided by Table Hosts, the aim of the community conversation was to build and deepen our sense of community whilst listening to and exploring a range of ideas on local matters. Recognising that what’s important in one location within our area may be different in another, the Brisbane West Lions planned these series of community conversations across our local area to ensure everyone’s voice is heard. 

After each Community Conversation was held, the information from each of the tables was collated into a report and presented in a second event and various working groups were formed to progress the following: 

1.  The need for a local Community Centre/Hub in Moggill/Bellbowrie & Kenmore

2. The need for another Public High School

3. The need for improved Transport

4. The need for a Community Battery   

5. The need to improve our sense of community through Placemaking

Many of the reports recommendations were recognised by our local State Member for Moggill - Dr Christian Rowan, who made commitments for an Integrated Road and Public Transport Plan for Brisbane’s Western Suburbs, the proposed new High School Business Planning, Foot path to Moggill’s Sports Park, and a new Community and Neighbourhood Centre.

The Community Battery working group has morphed into a Community Resilience Group including batteries and Brisbane West Uniting Church asked us to help with Moggill Heritage Hall.

On Sunday the 8th October The Lions Club of Brisbane West brought together a panel of transport experts and planners to discuss solutions for improving travel times on Moggill Road.

Guest Speakers

Dr Elin Charles-Edwards - UQ

Dr Elin is a Population Geographer and Demographer. Her research is focused on understanding patterns, processes and determinants of human migration and mobility and its impacts on local and regional populations. he co-wrote a Journal called "Greening the Commute: Assessing the Impact of the Eleanor Schonell ‘Green’ Bridge on Travel to the University of Queensland, Australia"

Prof Mark Hickman - UQ

The TAP (Australian Transport Assessment and Planning) Chair and Professor of Transport Engineering within the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland. Prof Hickman has taught courses and performed research in public transit planning and operations, travel demand modelling, and traffic engineering. His areas of research interest and expertise include public transit planning and operations, urban transportation planning, and the application of remote sensing technology for traffic management

Chris Cox - Brisbane West BUG

Chair of Brisbane West Bicycle User Group (BUG) - a community based, volunteer run organisation representing the interests of people who ride or would like to ride bicycles in the western suburbs of Brisbane. The BUG lobbies for dedicated cycling infrastructure suitable for all ages and abilities and improved overall riding conditions. Also secretary of Bicycle Queensland, a spokesperson for the Space4cycling Brisbane and a member of the joint BCC/Qld Government Active Transport Advisory Committee.

Why Did We Hold This Event?

During the past 6 months the Lions Club Community Infrastructure & Wellbeing Committee (CIWC) has engaged with residents by implementing our Community Conversations initiative to gauge ways the Club can advocate for improvements in our communities.  To date we have met with residents in the Moggill, Bellbowrie, Anstead, Karana Downs, Mt Crosby, Kholo and Lake Manchester areas.  To no surprise to us there are quite a few topics of concern across these communities but the biggest is traffic congestion on Moggill Road, lack of public transport options and disconnection to the wider region.  

What became apparent during the Community Conversations was that:

• the community are divided on how best to solve the congestion on Moggill Road from Moggill to the Kenmore Roundabout

• there are groups who do not want any change/any bridge to those who wish to see multiple bridges spanning the river to give better access to major arterial motorways, the railway network and to cycleways

• that this matter is an entrenched issue spanning 100 years with records showing the first community groups being established to address the issue in 1923

In order to assist our community to move forward on these issues and to have meaningful discussion and action, the CIWC organised this forum.

To view the full reports please visit the Finished Reports and Knowledge Library Page

Thank you CIWC (Community Infrastructure & Wellbeing Committee)