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: Appeal looms after supermarket application rejected
When 93 per cent of people in an affected community make submissions in favour of something, one would assume in a democracy that would be enough. But not apparently in Sunshine Coast Council land.
If we want to understand the quality of the planning department, one only needs to look at Aerodrome Road to know how incompetent these people are. I am appalled that our elected representatives somehow fall prey to these faceless grey men and women and their “reports”.
The simple fact is that there has been an influx of people moving to Palmwoods and to state that this site falls outside of the “Local Retail Activity Centre” means that there can never be any further development as there simply isn’t the land available. The suggested site is in a perfect location as it will not impinge on the character of Margaret Street, but it is still close enough to be central. Currently, everyone I know goes out of town to do their grocery shopping. By having a supermarket here it would bolster the other businesses by keeping people in town. Pop into the hardware on the way home, stop and have a coffee – all these things are currently happening in Nambour or North Buderim as Palmwoods people drive there to do their shopping. I know this from personal experience.
To say that there is another supermarket approved is beyond the pale. How long should an approval last? At least 15 years apparently, with derelict buildings and overgrown land the only thing to show for it. Surely a “use it or lose it” clause must kick in at some stage.
There is a way to stop this endless cycle of unelected people making all the decisions in the background to be rubber stamped by weak councillors, only to have poor decisions inevitably going through myriad court processes and the cost that entails. The solution is to make the people in the planning department fiscally liable if the court process goes against the council. If they had some real skin in the game I suspect we would see much better outcomes.
Chris, Palmwoods
- Read the story: Parking fines up 45 per cent in two years
Council have had success fining motorists up 45 per cent and reducing abuse to collectors.
I think we like to be law abiding, I just can’t help but think this is a money grab and I would like to know the net proceeds after the outlay of these vehicles and the technology.
They didn’t report that they operate in Eumundi on market days, with there being limited parking in town, and much of it for two hours.
I can’t see how this is helping tourism when you get home with a $154 parking ticket if you overstay your park a few minutes.
Richard Locke, Eumundi
- Read the story: Emergency department jolted by e-scooter related injuries
I’m not surprised the rates are so high but to be honest I expected them to be higher given what I’ve been witnessing in Golden Beach and Pelican Waters the past few months.
I regularly run along the Coastal Pathway from Pelican Waters to Caloundra and every single time I come across at least one teenager speeding along the pathway at very dangerous speeds. It’s a miracle that they aren’t hitting more little kids or older residents and doing some serious harm.
Ironically, a lot of them now seem to be wearing full face-covering motorbike helmets, which I suspect they use to hide their identity. I’ve also had at least three occasions in the past couple of months when they have been riding so fast along roads like Westminster Avenue and The Esplanade they overtake me and weave in and around traffic when the traffic is moving at 50khmh to 60kmh.
I can’t believe the police aren’t doing more to monitor this. They need a taskforce to tackle it and the first thing they need to do is set up some cameras, drones and speed monitoring cables along the Coastal Pathway and surrounding streets/footpaths. I think they will be quite shocked at the volume of these scooters and the speeds these idiots are travelling at.
Mark, Pelican Waters
- Read the story: Desalination plant could be on ‘northern Sunshine Coast’
The Gold Coast plant, built in 2004, cost $2 billion.
It costs $40 million per year to maintain even though it’s idle. The cost to power, if running, would be more than the total Gold Coast bill.
Heavy saline waste would also be put back into the sea and kill lots of wildlife.
Think more about water capture and improving dams.
Tony Marshall, Buddina
- Read the story: Family camping restrictions loom after dingo attacks
I am continually upset by the number of attacks from dingoes on Fraser Island (now K’gari).
Is there not a common ground? We built a rabbit fence. We have designed many life-changing ways to protect our native animals. It is time to preserve our natural heritage but also the ability to enjoy and create our own unique environment.
We need to look outside the box, for all Australians.
David Bryant
- Funding disparity
At the monthly meeting of Sunshine Coast Council on August 29, council unanimously applauded itself for its Community Partnership Funding Program that contributes towards operational funding for well-established not-for-profit groups that provide key facilities or services to local communities over a three-year cycle. The Community Facilities stream was awarded $603,809 for 91 not-for-profit groups.
As president of Montville Village Association, we greatly appreciated the $9000 to be received by the association for each of the next three years to offset the operational costs of providing significant community support, even though the figure is less than a third of the bare minimum asked for and needed.
The Montville Village Association provides a wide range of support to the community, including maintaining the village hall and delivering monthly markets, as well as being the heart and soul of Montville and its surrounds through community engagement. We are not ungrateful, we did comparatively well, when the average grant amount for this purpose is just $6600!
But the back-slapping self-congratulations of the council about how cheaply essential community services are being delivered by not-for-profit organisations was appalling. This nickel-and-dime approach by council delivers less than four cents per week to each of the more than 300,000 people who benefit from community services. Just $2 per person per year for services that the council claims are essential – this is a sad reflection on the truth about the value council places on volunteers and community support.
My concerns extend to all not-for-profit groups and community halls in the region who are struggling. The gorgeous small halls that are dotted through our regional communities, that provide a sense of pride and place in our communities, that host our local markets, weddings, birthday parties and community meetings, are being crushed under the weight of galloping insurance and other operational costs. Council is shirking its responsibilities with these tokenistic grant allocations. Council is ignoring the demise of our small halls and communities while gloating about grandiose Olympics facilities that are announced and fully funded at the coast.
It didn’t take long for the sun of the new council administration to set on the west of the Bruce Highway, did it?
Wayne Parcell, Montville Village Association president
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.
