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.
Three months on and the state treasurer is still trying to fiddle with figures to avoid admitting the promises the LNP made were fiction and can’t be kept. The health minister has learned the shortage of medical and health services in many areas is real. And something needs to be done. Still.
The deputy premier has learned that you can’t order a railway if you can’t pay for it. The bankers propose services be reduced and that the one cost-of-living assistance the LNP provided – 50c fares – end, or the sky will fall in. And natural disasters are again having a major impact on Queenslanders.
Welcome to government.
It’s time we had one. The posturing and excuses need to end. Perhaps voters might then ignore or excuse the elephant in the room (that the LNP can’t deliver what it promised) and not ask why they were made.
Meanwhile, Christmas is coming.
Andrew Moran, Battery Hill
I am appalled that our elected representatives are considering axing the rail service plan, which we have been promised then denied for decades.
We still have a single train track to Brisbane, with infrequent services. It often requires (unreliable) bus work-arounds. We share this train track with the rest of northern Queensland. We had to absorb a new city the size of Gladstone (i.e. Aura) between us and Brisbane and have grown 32 per cent since 2011. We must have a two-track train to Maroochydore and to eventually to Nambour.
The land set aside for this in the Camcos corridor must never ever be sold.
Ava Kras, Buderim
I live in Maroochydore and desperately need a train that runs through Maroochydore to Brisbane.
The amount of traffic in Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast generally and on the Bruce Highway is very busy and getting worse with all the new homes and developments going on.
I, and many other people that live on the Sunshine Coast, would use the train to get to work and just to get around, instead of using the car.
Public servants need to stop talking about it and just get it done. If they had done it years ago it would have been a lot cheaper to build and there would be a lot less traffic on the road today.
Hurry up and get the train line to Maroochydore.
Shane Mason, Maroochydore
- Read the story: Mayors set for overseas fact-finding mission
Business-class airfares, five-star hotels and fine dining where very little gets achieved.
Noosa’s far-left mayor Frank Wilkie seems unfazed about his carbon footprint. Perhaps his time would be better spent planning a response to the looming crocodile threat Noosa is facing.
Peter Wilkinson, Noosaville
Great to see mayor Rosanna Natoli representing and promoting the Sunshine Coast on her proposed trip.
Ratepayers’ money well spent and I am sure the trade and tourism benefits will come back to the Coast and boost local businesses.
Matt Dyason, Buddina
- Read the story: Men’s health beach gathering shut down over permit
I have read with interest that this men’s group is experiencing difficulty and maybe should not just apply for a permit but apply for and receive council funding.
From the photo provided, it appears that there are more attendants than my exercise class that is funded by the council. In this world of toxic masculinity, domestic violence and other crime, it seems it would be a welcome blessing to have men attend this group that practices ‘love and compassion’.
Please ensure this group continues and grows.
Marg Robley, Pacific Paradise
I’m all for council shutting down commercial use of public land without permits. Yes, the permits are expensive and sometimes restrictive, but until council improves them they are what they are. Many business owners jump through the hoops and red tape to get appropriate permits for conducting their business services, which makes their insurance valid and creates safety for them and their clients, attendees and customers, as well as management of the areas.
Business owners need to do the right thing, period. But the council does need to hold open discussions with and take feedback from business owners on a regular basis to improve the broken system that’s for sure. Often they don’t keep safe and clean the areas paid permit holders are using; permit options are limited and inclusions or rules often restrictive; and the cost has risen immensely since just before Covid. It can and needs to be improved.
Casey Allan
I strongly object to this peaceful and health-giving dawn men’s beach meeting being treated as a money-making commercial project by Sunshine Coast Council.
Our men need as much help as they can get.
Get a grip and some compassion, council.
Vanessa Sinclair, Golden Beach
I am horrified at the attack of an innocent community gathering on the beach.
Council do not own the beach. Beach is for people to gather. No one is building illegally, just gathering to meditate. How greedy and disgusting is this act? I am completely gob-smacked by the complaint.
One hour of meditation on the beach … are you people serious?
Cathy, Cape Paterson, Victoria
Absurd.
Years ago, when I organised a protest attended by about 200 people at Cotton Tree park two council rangers came and said it had to stop. I said it was a picnic and they couldn’t take any action.
Valarie Ross, BuderimÂ
What a load of rubbish. Next thing you will need a permit to bring your family to the beach for a family gathering.
Heaven forbid, anything to make a buck.
Geoff Batten, Currimundi
- Read the story: Brewery co-owner joins panel to boost night-time economy
Congratulations to Sharynne Wilson for being included on the Nightlife Economy Commission Advisory Panel, as it is important for the Sunshine Coast to have a voice at that table.
As identified in recent UniSC research, the Sunshine Coast nighttime economy is tenuous. There are a number of reasons for this but our growing population and shifting demographics means there is high demand and need for more nighttime socialisation opportunities. This doesn’t mean nightclubs on every corner, just less constraints for restaurants and bars that offer live entertainment and where residents and tourists alike can socialise in relaxed, safe settings of an evening. This would address the ‘lack of vibe’ detracting from the Sunshine Coast’s overall appeal as a destination to live, invest in or visit, and of course mean more local employment.
Fortunately, the commissioner is well across these issues as our local events (Sunshine Coast Events Industry Association) and music (Sunshine Coast Music Industry Collective) associations have been in close contact with him. We look forward to continue working with his office and our local councils to address the related issues on behalf of the industry.
Dr Lenny Vance, Currimundi
- Read the story: Planning well underway to address junction as petition launched
Traffic lights are not a solution, driver education is.
Queensland drivers are among the worst at merging. Use of roundabouts and adding lights (e.g. Caloundra Road/Pelican Waters Boulevard) leaves drivers waiting at a red light when there is no traffic.
The UK and Europe have had roundabouts for a very long time without the use of traffic lights. It’s time for Queensland and Australian drivers to use the roundabout correctly.
Joy Marshall, Golden Beach
My view on the interchange is to do it right with a flyover straight away. Doing an interim set of lights will cost more money and add another source of frustration for motorists.
Trevor, Beerwah
Kendall Morton, now LNP MP for Caloundra, promised work on projects would commence within six months. Except the funding to undertake the work, estimated as $1.6b, required a massive federal government commitment (around $1.2b) and never existed.
When challenged about the funding, Ms Morton denied any funding shortfall. And it now seems Ms Morton has gone missing on this.
You’d have expected she might have had some comments on the recent discussion about the local rail extension. But no, nowhere to be seen.
She left it to Jarrod Bleijie to explain that the LNP was breaking the promise it had made to complete the Caloundra to Maroochydore section.
Caloundra needs better. An MP who turns up, understands what accountability means and makes and keeps promises.
Andrew Moran, Battery HillÂ
The problem with the roundabout is not the roundabout but the lack of skills that drivers have.
Asia has some very busy roundabouts but they are navigated with ease. I have seen this for years.
The more you take away skills needed, the worse it gets.
Richard Barca, BrookfieldÂ
- Read the story: Croc sighted near Inskip camping area
These creatures can never be wiped out, no matter how many are culled.
They have survived for millions of years. They just swim in from Indonesia and the Coral Sea. It’s about time something was done to drastically limit their numbers before they are swimming off the Gold Coast.
Stuart Hearn, Buderim
Crocodile movements in southern Queensland are not so stunning as one might think. There is a well-known record of a crocodile shot in 1905 in the Logan River. Even further south in 1939 there were a number of reports of a crocodile near Yamba. There was also a crocodile also caught at Lismore in the ’70s. This was almost certainly an escaped pet, with the name Hector.
Crocodiles are thought to currently be distributed north of Bundaberg or Gladstone depending on which paper you read. Either way, crocodiles are certainly capable of rapidly moving significant distances. How significant? 411km in a season following translocation in a study conducted in the early 2000s. A study demonstrated strong site fidelity with translocated animals moving back in areas they were captured from, posing the question as to whether translocation of “problem” crocodiles is a viable option.
So why do crocodiles move? Well simply put crocodiles are territorial. Adolescent male crocodiles are chased out of territories (if they are not killed) by larger resident males and end up somewhere. Now if a crocodile can move 400km in 20 days is it not that hard to fathom that a crocodile could travel the same distance south in summer?
We should learn to live with our environment, including alongside predators. Crocodile management in Queensland is disappointing, with crocodiles being removed from around towns. They were here first by a few million years. We live alongside sharks and this does not prevent us from entering the ocean but may cause some to take precautions. With global warming who knows, maybe southerly crocodile occurrences will be more common.
Scott Eipper, MarsdenÂ
- Read the story: Tapas bar brings taste of Spain to Coast
It’s sad to see so many new businesses shy away from Caloundra. More are moving to Maroochydore and Noosa.
Years ago, Caloundra was the tourist destination and attraction on the Sunshine Coast. Now any new restaurants or businesses are heading north, leaving Caloundra to gradually die.
You just have to look at the Caloundra centre to see how bad it’s become. How the businesses that are still there survive is amazing.
Bazza, Currimundi
- Read the story: Council rejects club’s application for new headquarters
This rejection ticks all the boxes for an award in extreme nimbyism.
More noise is generated by suburban lawnmowers and leaf blowers, and I doubt club members would be upset having a gravel road for access rather than a super-highway.
I was once involved in the application for a runway for light aircraft and one of the principal reasons for rejection was the objection of the local pony club that the aircraft noise would frighten the horses. I have worked with horses at the end of a metropolitan airport runway with jet aircraft taking off and landing overhead: the horses ignored them completely.
As for the objection for possible climate change, I burnt our barbecue sausages last weekend, a disaster I blame on climate change.
Ken Baker, Cedar Pocket
It looks like the club has done everything possible with their detailed application.
I notice the proposed site is close to the CASA ‘No Fly’ limit for the Sunshine Coast Airport. Does that mean there are passenger jets and private planes in the area every day? They’re not as quiet as model aircraft.
Mention was made of flooding events. That’s simply fixed, they don’t turn up when it’s flooded. Exactly the same as not attending a footy match if it’s flooded. The club stated that, due to the weather, they have only been able to attend their existing club four times in a month. That’s a lot different to seven days a week.
The road to the property seems to be a dirt road. If it’s graded regularly it’s not a problem. We have many dirt roads in our area, even major thoroughfares.
As for the building restricting the view, at 800m to the nearest dwelling, it would fade into the background. I expect it would be an open timber structure with a roof so that people could stand in the shade. From a distance you would be looking at the roof edge on, therefore no real impact on the view.
I’m not sure what Cr Suarez was talking about re acid sulphate soil and how the club would impact it. It’s not as though they’re going to be digging it up or planting. I assume they’re just going to be walking on it intermittently.
I think the council should rethink its stance on this. It’s an opportunity for like-minded people to come together and enjoy their hobby and each others company.
Derek Browning, Glass House Mountains
- Read the story: Notable tree removed from roundaboutÂ
We need to walk outside in the summer and these trees are our protection from the sun and house enormous amounts of wildlife.
They make us feel happy to look at them and smell them, let alone shelter under them. Trees that the council plants will take decades to grow to mature trees.
Are we going to chop them down too when they get big or annoy someone with a chain saw?
Julie-Anna McWilliamÂ
As this was not a heritage tree I see no issue. However, if the people leasing from the owner do not have it in the contracts of lease to ensure owners keep road in good order they should repair it themselves.
Stewart Hyder, Clontarf
Extremely sad to see. Years to grow, five minutes to cut down.
Andrew Lang
Bureaucracy wins again. God bless the natural world because bureaucracy/local government does not care. We are lost.
Allan Zillmann, Maryborough
Whenever I visit the Sunshine Coast, I am appalled by the vista of white houses surrounded by very little vegetation. Blades of grass don’t count.
Trees provide habitats for many living creatures. Most beneficial to us humans is the cooling shade under broad branches, especially when the days in summer become hotter and hotter.
Carolyn van Langenberg, BlackheathÂ
Too many beautiful trees are being cut down and not being moved to different locations.
Large older trees cost a fortune when you buy them to put into certain areas, so I know that it can be done. The tree that was on the roundabout in Mooloolaba near the Shell servo was beautiful, now it is gone. I hope that the trunk section of it was used for some purpose at least and not just put through a chipper.
The large intersection at North Buderim near the Coles and McDonald’s looks denuded now that all the trees and vegetation has been removed: a lovely maple and many others. Why do you pay money to plant these lovely trees and then just cut them down on a whim? Why wasn’t the undergrowth just tidied up without the trees having to be cut down?
What about the oxygen that all those trees, and many others that I have not mentioned here, are now not making for this area, not to mention the beauty of them as tourists drive around our area? It’s ridiculous, just because they are not native to the local area.
Merle Walker, Kuluin
- Read the story: Bank to close to Coast branches as numbers drop
Bank closures have been happening for a long time. But the fact is sometimes we do need to talk to a real bank person to help with issues.
So why are banks choosing not to increase their level of telephone support? If it’s about money and savings with all the branches already closed, a small investment back into customer service would go a long way. For example, when I chat online for support with the AI chat, there is no option ever to transfer me to a live agent. Why?
Pity customer service has been thrown out with the bath water.
I love free enterprises but service and respect for customers should always be a focus.
Pia Vogel, Doonan
- Read the story: Plans for 30-unit housing complex revealed
Thanks to the company building these units.
Hopefully, it will help, through the Department of Housing, to give consideration to the many homeless in our area.
The one thing that concerns me is where will the children play and how far is this complex to schools and park areas? Children need maybe a skateboard park, like the one off Albany Road at Sippy Downs: not really big but suits many young people’s needs. Council would need to consider the upkeep of a public park. Bored young people lead to problems.
All said, this is a good start to helping those who can’t find affordable rentals. It would be wonderful if this was just a start to helping people get out of tents and their cars.
I look forward to hearing about a plan for children of all ages who may live at this complex.
Barbara Bishop, Caloundra
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.
