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: ‘I just wanted to do something different, so I built a chateau’
At a time when ordinary Australians are struggling to either keep up with their mortgages or find accommodation in the rental market, I was appalled when I read the article.
Mr Gardner could have invested his money in the community in which he lives through financing the construction of affordable homes, but instead he has spent $12 million on an ostentatious home that is completely out of character with the Sunshine Coast hinterland, showing zero altruism for his community.
This so-called chateau, boasting a crystal chandelier, white marble, gold ceilings, parking for a ridiculous 21 cars, 10 bathrooms and eight bedrooms, is only occupied by two adults and two children. Hard to swallow when there are people living in their cars or in tents.
Jules Verity, Buderim
- Read the story: Victorians buy up entire unit block as southern surge continues
Fascinated to read this article. Particularly as it’s so parochial. Does it really matter who buys property?
I can imagine a similar story from perhaps the ’60s, “… and all apartments are now owned by Vietnamese”.
So much more insightful information could be written for us readers. Perhaps how our councils are, or are not, providing new housing stock. Or even how much economic value has been added to the Sunshine Coast by property sales compared to other councils.
I’m a huge supporter of local newspapers. They are critical. Let’s just improve the content please.
Raphael Ozsvath, Noosa
- Read the story: Childcare centre rejection prompts court appeal
The traffic and parking already in this area is very heavy without adding to it by having a childcare centre on this busy road.
Also getting out of Jellicoe Street onto Landsborough Parade now is difficult, let alone having more traffic to contend with on the roundabout.
Valerie Redman, Golden Beach
Thank you to the council for refusing the childcare centre application.
The traffic around that area and Taylor Avenue is at times nothing short of chaotic. There are not enough parking spaces for local residents now and I dread to think what it would be like during peak time if the centre was allowed to go ahead. With all the trucks delivering goods to the shops, bringing all other traffic to a standstill, the extra cars would make it even worse.
Please do not let Bridgeman Enterprises proceed with their plan in any other form in this area.
Mervyn and Ursula Bradshaw, Golden Beach
- Read the story: Council votes to refuse next stage of housing estate
I agree with the majority of councillors that it is not a good thing, especially now with the increasing intensity of storm activity.
Rod Thomas, Caloundra
Congratulations to the Sunshine Coast councillors who voted against a housing development on the floodplain in the area between Bli Bli and Yandina.
Floodplains are so important in the movement of water flows through soil, in protecting our river and creek and ocean systems – they should be protected at all costs.
They also add to the aesthetics of a highly developed area, and are in keeping with maintaining the area in a natural setting for the future enjoyment as a public space and for environmental education of both soil and water management.
Dianne Hockey, Twin Waters
How can they put in all these new subdivisions when they don’t have the infrastructure to take all the new traffic? The roads are stuffed now during peak traffic time.
Duggy, Park Lakes
Building on a floodplain is just wrong and totally irresponsible.
I know of two small acreages near us that are back on the market every couple of years. The owners are left with a property that is hard to move often after a traumatic event (e.g. being trapped in the roof during a flood) and/or with a financial loss. They have to wait for the next unwary buyer, usually from out of town, before they can move on.
No one wants this, even in a housing crisis.
Madeleine Fisher, Belli Park
The infrastructure is not in place, roads are not handling the volume already and the floodplain would be affected.
Cameron Lindsay, Bli Bli
I am all for sustainable development to allow everyone the opportunity for a chance to live in this wonderful suburb. But please leave Bli Bli alone until our road system is improved.
There desperately needs to be alternative routes in and out of the suburb to reduce the traffic gridlock and bottlenecking, especially at peak times.
Bli Bli has grown too rapidly with no upgrades to the road network.
Brett O’Donnell, Bli Bli
- Read the story: Bigger NYE fireworks promised but midnight show fizzles out
The Sunshine Coast Council’s Christmas spirit is paltry.
For the past 15 years at least, the whole demonstration of the festive and spiritual season at Dicky Beach is lamentable.
Suggestion: how about the council scraps all fireworks that last 30 minutes and put that money into streetscape Christmas lighting or laser lighting that lasts for the complete festive season and are reusable year after year.
Dicky Beach is a popular location for tourists. The council caravan park is a large tourist venue, there is a safe beach and it is a friendly cafe/restaurant precinct.
Any such change would be display for the tourists, for the high volume of traffic passing through and for locals.
Tom Young, Dicky Beach
Read the story: Three-term MP re-endorsed as candidate for federal election
Andrew Wallace, the Member for Fisher who claims to be working for the people while being a climate change denier, is doing those people and their descendants a great disservice, as much of this electorate will be underwater without urgent action to address the prime cause of climate change, the continued mining and burning of fossil fuels.
Our society relies on electricity to live and work, but we need a safe and non-destructive way to generate and store it. Solar and wind and other renewable sources together with pumped hydro and storage batteries are the only realistic way to do this, at this point in time.
We have to stop using fossil fuels or this planet is doomed. There won’t be any habitat for koalas or anything else if the planet goes into thermal runaway, which is what will happen if we continue to burn coal, oil and gas, all of which produce carbon dioxide when burnt.
The point that many, including Mr Wallace, are missing is that climate change is inevitable, but to date it’s been relatively slow in terms of an individual’s perception. However, that could all change and a catastrophe could suddenly be upon us. It is a known fact that atmospheric carbon dioxide has been steadily increasing since the start of the industrial age, over 150 years ago. This, in the upper atmosphere, acts as a filter allowing solar energy in, but blocking radiated energy going out. We call this the greenhouse effect.
Greenhouses are warmer on the inside because the solar energy gets in but the glass blocks the radiated energy getting out. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere acts in much the same way as glass in a greenhouse. This is causing the earth to warm.
The increase in the average temperature of earth is causing the ice caps and glaciers to melt, resulting in the sea level rising. This is only about 3mm per year at the moment. However, the permafrost in the tundra is also thawing, due to this temperature rise.
Only a couple of further degrees increase in average temperature will cause this to happen catastrophically in summer times. Should the tundra thaw, millions of tons of trapped methane will be released into the atmosphere. Refreezing of the permafrost in winter will not recapture the released methane.
Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and when released, the earth’s temperature will experience thermal runaway, resulting in widespread flooding of the ports and major population centres, including much of the electorate of Fisher, as the icecaps and glaciers melt, causing the sea level to rise up to around 70m. This will cause complete disruption to human and animal life on earth as we know it.
Action needs to be taken right now to stop any further increase in carbon dioxide levels, and as there is a lag between carbon dioxide level increasing and average temperature increasing. We actually need to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide now, to avoid the possibility of thermal runaway and the resultant catastrophic flooding of all coastal and low lying lands.
You should know this and ignoring it beggars belief Mr Wallace. Please educate yourself, take a look at Venus, with an atmosphere of 96 per cent carbon dioxide, the hottest planet in the solar system, even though it’s not the closest to the sun, and act to ensure our children and their children and the koalas and other wildlife are not faced with the prospect of nowhere to live, as earth’s temperatures soar and Earth turns into Venus mark two.
Tom Swann, Currimundi
Expose intellectual dark web
The sinister intellectual dark web needs to be drawn out of the shadows and exposed to healthy Aussie sunlight before the coming federal election.
The web’s chief members from the USA, including the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, played a major role in the election of President Trump and secured powerful positions in his administration.
Awareness of how these unelected influencers exercise power out of sight of most of the public is important if our own democracy is going to function effectively and give us the governments that we want and deserve as independent-thinking citizens in our own country not surreptitiously manipulated by foreign influencers. Intellectual dark web influencers skulk under the mainstream media radar by delivering extreme conspiratorial messages through podcasts, YouTube, and Twitter.
They exploit the vulnerability of the disaffected including susceptible groups of angry young men encouraged to violence by radical messages against what some refer to as woke liberal measures combatting sexism and racism. The dark web influencers find fertile territory in calling for a return to their distorted versions of traditional values and gender roles.
They want to roll back gains we have made against discrimination on race or religion and return to an oppressive ‘manosphere’ in the treatment of women and minorities. Powerful information controllers like Elon Musk champion their views and the authoritarian and vengeful aspects of Trumpism through the force of their wealth while extolling the virtues of free speech.
Exercising their narcissistic free speech often comes at the cost of overwhelming the rights of others through their control of information avenues not subject to the daylight of our traditional print media, radio, and TV.
As the Sunshine Coast community, let’s look at how we can support our local media closest to our authentic issues rather than the confected outrage imported from overseas through unregulated social media channels before we are overwhelmed by foreign influencers in the next federal election campaign.
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.
