Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be give to letters of 100 words or less.
- Read the story: Renewed plea to use council building as shelter for homeless
I am sure throughout the Coast there are numerous buildings sitting empty that in some way could be used to help those who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in this nightmare situation.
Imagine being so vulnerable that nothing is safe – your shelter, your provisions, your personal safety. And the absolute horror some feel being forced into this situation through the greedy housing crisis is a humanitarian problem.
I am sure if the powers that be worked together a solution can be reached to provide basic personal hygiene and safety.
The general community I am sure would gladly help contribute in some capacity. I for one hate to see others suffer and it is inhumane coming up to winter leaving people in the cold. It could just easily be someone from your family one day.
I don’t have the answers but strong conversations need to be had regarding this spiralling problem.
Tracey, Bellmere
- Read the story: Big makeover for Big Pineapple
The disappointment about growing up is other iconic landmarks appear smaller: the Big Pineapple for one.
Any reason why the delay – not an important project to some?
It has to be bigger and a standout to start with. No dogs allowed would be another consideration.
Craig Moody, Mooloolaba
- Read the story: Researcher sounds alarm over growing ‘dead zone’ in bay
We have been watching and complaining about silt build-up in Moreton Bay.
I for one, living in Clontarf, have watched it degrade. I even wrote to the federal member but the response did not generate a comment. I gave away boating due to issues.
This research guy jumped on the bandwagon and good on him. All we need is to find a listener.
The silt has come from all the development along waterways. They dredged the channels at ratepayers’ expense in Newport. Didn’t do anything about the sand beds around it. You can see the holes and channels fill up after rains.
Stewart Hyder, Clontarf
If you clear vegetation at record rates you will have more erosion of soils, and that soil goes into the drainage system (creeks and rivers) and ends up in the sea – in this case, Moreton Bay.
It has little to do with climate change, mostly greed and government neglect has caused this situation.
The beautiful bay that I have visited over many years will soon become nothing but mud flats if nothing changes.
Stuart Symonds, Bendigo
- Read the story: Why I’ve switched from double-shot lattes to instant coffee
I think you need to do some research on how instant coffee is manufactured and what chemicals are used.
Buying a cheaper model DeLonghi coffee machine is a much safer option for your health rather than the instant poison and it tastes like coffee because it is, with nothing added.
Richard Courtenay, Witta
- Read the story: Our new future as ‘planning directions’ revealed
Do you ever wonder what we are doing now that people will look back aghast exclaiming, “What the hell were they thinking?”?
A good starting point would be for urban developments on the Sunshine Coast to avoid creating a sea of fashionable dark roofs, black bitumen roads and a lack of tree cover.
To be fair, gaining tree cover takes time but the colour of roads and roofs can be addressed quickly from planning to construction to avoid creating heat islands and suburban hot boxes requiring expensive energy to cool them.
It costs householders with heat-trapping dark roofs almost $700 extra a year on their electricity bill.
But wait there’s more. When suburbs are full of dark-coloured roofs, the whole area heats up, trapping neighbours on an expensive climate-unfriendly heat island.
The bonus with cooler light-coloured roofs reflecting the sun is that they slash how much heat gets into our homes.
The surrounding cooler air from lighter roofs boosts aircon efficiency and enables our solar panels to work more effectively. This is doubly desirable as blackouts are more likely to occur during heat extremes and we know we are in for more of them.
With multiple benefits available, ‘what were they thinking scenarios’ turn nightmarish as we face increasing heat from climate change.
We are called the Sunshine Coast for a reason, which puts our housing choices in the spotlight of common sense versus being costly slaves to fashion from cooler climates.
As the coastline gets more crowded and expensive, people are tending to settle further inland from cooling sea breezes increasingly being intercepted by multi-storey towers.
In the past, using monotone dark colour palettes would have had us viewed as communist Eastern Bloc enclaves.
We don’t have to head to an unthinking hell in a handcart we’re building at great expense.
It costs no more to install light-coloured roofs than dark ones.
Plunging into the dark puts more pressure on our lifestyle choices to cut emissions to make up for our mindless roof extravagance.
We can’t say we didn’t know because our great-grandparents sure did.
Look at the classic Queenslander, a building of beauty designed fit for purpose for our climate with a light-coloured roof.
Now we have new councils, isn’t it a wonderful opportunity to address climate and cost of living challenges by lightening up.
We know that unless our councils choose to change their planning conditions and approvals, homeowners, renters, and communities will keep paying dearly for the luxury of dark roofs through power bill pain and sweltering suburbs.
Wouldn’t it be great for our grandchildren to look back proudly and thank us for daring to think sanely in creating a cool change.
Garry Reynolds, Peregian Springs
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be give to letters of 100 words or less.
