Archive for September, 2009

Better news

September 24th, 2009

Great to read the story in the Chronicle today written by Stephen O’Grady after he spoke with me on Tuesday. After Peter Chapman wrote about this blog on Saturday I took up his invitation to call him. We had a short but informative and very cordial chat and Peter decided to ask Stephen to follow up on some of the issues that I had raised via this blog.

I thank Peter and Stephen for giving me the opportunity to be heard. My worries about how a conversation would turn out in print were unnecessary as Stephen has done a good job. Chronicle journalists have in the past, had a hard time being granted enough space to write very many ‘in depth’ news stories. I look forward to the new look Chronicle, under Peter’s leadership, devoting more space to a story or interview so that we the reading public, can learn more about a particular issue or person and receive both sides to any given issue.  In the national weekend papers I enjoy feature columns where a writer can take the time to develop a line of thought or give us a very detailed account of an issue. While I understand that space is more limited in a daily regional paper I hope we can somehow squash in the longer story.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the entire front page being devoted to a story about the eagles nesting at Urangan earlier this week. Now that front page story was a lovely way to start the day. Much more uplifting than the latest car crash or courthouse story. My only question now is …’What has happened to Quick Draw?” Whoever was the human behind these cartoons they added a very special something local to our daily news. I hope Quick Draw is having a holiday and will be back soon to enlighten us, irritate us or humour us via those skillfully rendered cartoons.

In relation to development issues the main point I was attempting to make is that Council has to decide a development application based on compliance with a set of rules and if these rules don’t provide the result we, as a community desire, then we should change the rules. And yes I truly wish that we had fewer ‘rules’ and where we have good rules that we have a better means of enforcing them.

(So while I think of rules…. to the guys continually fishing at Arkarra Lagoons we know you are doing it and it is against a Council rule. The lagoon is a no fishing area. Many residents are very annoyed that you are blatantly breaking the rules… Maybe a hefty fine will get the message across).

Traveston Travesty

September 23rd, 2009

Here is the media release of the FCRC released this morning. Councillors are very concerned about the planned dam and are unanimously opposed to it. We are very concerned about the impacts that any large dam on the Mary River would have on the local fisheries and RAMSAR wetland not to mention the impacts on endangered species and the loss of valuable rural producing lands.

 

22 September 2009

Fraser Coast Regional Council continues to oppose Traveston Crossing Dam

 The Fraser Coast Regional Council has re-iterated its opposition to proposals to build a dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing, near Gympie. 

At its meeting last week the Council moved again to state its opposition in light of reports that the Queensland Co-ordinator General had approved a list of conditions that would need to be met for the dam to be approved and state government moves to push ahead with the project.

 The Queensland Government submission is being investigated by the Federal Minister 

 

 for Environment, Heritage and the Arts , Peter Garrett.

 

 

 

“This is not the first time Fraser Coast Councils have opposed the dam,” Fraser Coast Regional Council Mayor Mick Kruger said.

 ”The former Councils helped fund a $120,000 independent study to find alternatives to the dam. The South East Queensland Water Optimisation Study was undertaken by Dr Stuart White of the University of Technology, Sydney. It was funded by the nine local governments that made up the Mary River Council of Mayors.”

 The mayors initiated the study after being told by then Premier Peter Beattie that if they wanted to look at alternative sites for a proposed Mary River dam they would have to fund the investigations.

 The study examined the social, environmental and economic impact of the proposed dam.

 In May, 2008, the Fraser Coast Regional Council endorsed the actions of the previous Councils and challenged the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for the project.

 The Council directed the following concerns to the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and the Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure Paul Lucas, the Project managers and the Federal Minister Peter Garrett and Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong.

 The concerns included:

 1. Water supply security for the Fraser Coast Region is not adequately considered;

2. Justification for the dam is made on the basis of flawed and / or inadequate economic analysis;

3. The effects of downstream changes on social and economic factors have not been adequately considered;

4. Hydrological analysis probably underestimates the downstream flow impacts to a considerable degree;

5. Hydrological modelling is not linked with aquatic ecology and water quality; there is no predictive analysis of water quality or biota in the impoundment or downstream and the discussion on impacts is necessarily speculative;

6. In some cases, the evidence from research, case studies and even studies within the EIS are contrary to the conclusions in the executive summary;

7. The Mary River Water Resource Plan (WRP) is not considered to have sufficient scientific basis to provide reliable flow targets; most of the targets are expert panel derived, and there is an acknowledged lack of scientific understanding of the flow requirements of several of the iconic species;

8. Inconsistent and sometimes misleading treatment of Stage 2 and other related projects that will have cumulative impact on the Mary River (Northern Pipeline and Borumba Dam raising); these are included in the water supply benefits, but not in the costs or impacts;

9. No allowance for climate change in the modelling, which is likely to further reduce the frequency and volume of flushing flows;

10. Inconsistency about mitigation measures – many of the measures recommended in the chapters are not included in the executive summary and even fewer are included in the cost assessment; and

11. In consideration of points 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 particularly, the downstream impacts on the Mary estuary and the Great Sandy Straits are inadequately predicted and the optimistic assessment has no evidentiary basis.

 When the Council re-iterates its opposition to the dam it will send another copy of its concerns to the state and federal governments and ask for the points it raised be answered and considered during any investigation into the proposed dam.

 ”The Council also will write to the Premier to ask that the Co-ordinator General’s report be released to the public,” Cr Kruger said.

 ENDS

 I attended the Greater Mary Association meeting last night and was pleased to see so many dedicated people volunteering their time to keep fighting against this dam. We all need to write to Minister Peter Garrett and to the National papers. I fear that unless we gain public support nationally we will lose our battle.

Mobility Scooters and Dingo’s

September 20th, 2009

Yesterday morning saw the very long convoy of mobility scooters take to the Esplanade pathway. I hope that we will finally make it into the Guinness Book of Records this year for the longest convoy. I always enjoy talking to people who join in and make these events special. No one complained about waiting for the Minister and the officialdom to arrive. The mood was buoyant and although I ran away without attending the finish line I’m sure the partying was every bit as joyful as was the start.

Today I popped down again to our foreshore and met all the very concerned and committed people trying to save the Fraser Island Dingo. I met Jennifer Parkhurst and Dingo Simon amongst others. I saw some of the photographs of what looks like a dingo with fatal gun shot wounds. I am very concerned that the dingo’s on Fraser Island are being mistreated and hope that the Minister Kate Jones takes the time to listen to some of the stories told by the people who actualy live or have lived on the island over the years. I believe the stories they tell me of a time when the dingo was an accepted part of island life and no one feared for their safety. I also believe that increased tourism has led to the conflict between human safety and dingo preservation. I believe with sensible conversations we can learn to co exist and that preserving the dingo means preserving their family structures and their environment and taking care when we enter their domain.

Peter Chapman reads this blog!

September 18th, 2009

Dear Peter, a very warm welcome to the Fraser Coast. Although I agree with you that not many people read this blog I’m glad that you take the time to peruse it. I enjoy the ability to communicate directly with the public and although my readership is very much less than that of the daily Chronicle it is wonderful to be able to express my thoughts freely and openly without being censored. It is also a great way to communicate directly with the community and I am glad that some people take the time to read and debate ‘online’.

I will be taking up your kind offer of ringing you directly and appreciate you giving out your phone number to enable people to contact you directly. I suppose I was feeling a bit cranky with you the other day however, as I personally emailed you over 2 weeks ago now on a non Council related matter and am still awaiting a response. I try very hard to respond to all the emails and calls I receive and although I am sure some people slip through the cracks from time to time the fact that I had not yet received a response from you regarding my email has made me feel a bit annoyed with you.

In the past I have emailed the Deputy Editor also on both Council related and non Council related issues and have also received nothing but the sounds of silence so maybe my emails are just totally boring and not worthy of a response. At least the Dep. Ed. has publicly stated that email is his very least preferred method of communication….. Many other Chronicle journalists do respond promptly to email communication and I wish to thank them as ignoring someone is really a good way to make someone feel powerless. I’m also aware of the difference in gaining newspaper inches as a means of personal self promotion rather than simply to educate or inform the community about Council related issues and try always to focus on the latter not the former.

I am glad Peter, that you want to learn more about Council so I look forward to seeing you at the odd Council meeting in the weeks to come. Some more extensive reporting of what occurs at Council meetings would be a great way to ensure the wider community gets to know more about Council and how it operates.

You and I have something in common as I also detest people making constant excuses for non performance and I very much detest bureaucratic red tape that ties everyone in knots. However much of the ‘red tape’ surrounding Council is foisted upon us by those above us. Maybe if we all work together we can make inroads in reducing the ever growing knots of red tape so I look forward to hearing about how best to do this.

I really do hope that you enjoy your time on the Fraser Coast and in particular Hervey Bay and that the Chronicle under your leadership, provides our community with balanced reporting that truthfully informs us all about the issues that impact on all of us. I abhor sensationalism. Now do you work Sat mornings for that phone chat and will you be responding to my earlier email or should I try again? See you soon, Sue

Yesterdays news today.

September 17th, 2009

While development is still taking pride of place within our daily newspaper the story is a measured and accurate description of the Mary Harbour proposal. Gone is the hysteria from the last couple of stories thank goodness. Cr O’Connell has been given enough space to provide a sensible report on his own and Councils collective efforts to assist and not hinder the redevelopment of the burned buildings in Maryborough. I thank Cr O’Connell for quickly responding to that story and for the Chronicle for reporting it.

As a resident who can’t break the habit of a life time which is to start my day with a walk down the drive way to collect my daily paper I look forward to balanced reporting which gives me both sides of a story. I also believe that if the media concentrates heavily on all the negative aspects of our society we all collectively tend to get a bit depressed and worry that our society is very inadequate and faulty. A good balance between the bad news and the good news is seen in the paper today and I appreciate that. While I want to know what is happening within my community I don’t want the court cases taking prominence. While I believe that publicly shaming our wrong doers is a very good deterrant I trust that we can read about our hard working community members doing good deeds in greater numbers than our wrong doers.

We are lucky to live in a great climate within a good community. There are many positive stories and I find inspiration and a lifting of my spirit when I hear about people overcoming challenges and getting on with life. I hope our media can find the right balance.

Chronicle …. what can I say!

September 16th, 2009

Someone said yesterday that the new Chron editor makes Nancy look good! After the last few days coverage I wonder if Council will ever get fair and equal coverage in any media anywhere ever! While there is an attempt at balanced reporting it leaves me cold to see the coverage and front page headlines painting Council in such a negative light.

The flooding story opposite Ramada is a good example. Council had responded with a media release before the deadline the day before the story was published. But what did we read in the paper? We read that Council staff  couldn’t be contacted. In my mind that was telling a porky. Council had forwarded a response that same day but the Chron didn’t use it.

In the paper today we see Alan Wetton taking aim. The fees for demolition of the buildings in Maryborough are more expensive than usual due to the Heritage component from what I can gather. The other development related fees are compared with Bundaberg and Townsville. If there were some comparisons made with some Sunshine Coast or other Councils the comparisons would show that FCRC is not the most expensive Council to deal with. Council is not collecting these fees to fight Court battles! Legal expenses are budgetted for every year and Council will always face legal challenges. It is part and parcel of every day life especially for Council areas subject to rapid development.

I’m interested in why the Chronicle doesn’t investigate how many applications are approved only to find the land, with approval, going straight into the ‘For Sale’ pages of the property guide. Recently Council approved a subdivision in Hughes rd on a Wednesday and the land was for sale that following weekend! Much land in Hervey Bay has approvals on it which impact on all our statistics, and the great majority of this land remains undeveloped. No 8 storey buildings are being constructed yet but they are approved. Where is our promised Spotlight? This was supposed to be going into the land opposite Bunnings. We are all still waiting for construction to start but this land is more than likely on the market also.

If anyone believes developers are leaving town because they are having a hard time with Council then maybe we should ask the developers why they aren’t constructing their developments on all the land with approvals. Believe me there are lots and lots of developments approved but not started. I will try and obtain some stats for you.

Headline hurdles (mark 2) and server hiccups!

September 13th, 2009

I apologise for the disappearance of the last post and associated comments.. The server that hosts my site crashed and burned it seems so the latest web site contributions have disappeared for ever. I can resurrect the comments via my email but whatever I wrote in my earlier post is gone for good. Teach me not to save a copy of my posts doesn’t it!

The point I was trying to make if I recall, was that the development called Della Vista earmarked for land at Granville, has been deferred by Council now at least 3 times. The last two times I did not vote in support of the motion to defer. This is because development on land at Granville, in my opinion, struggles to meet key criteria of the Maryborough City Council Planning Scheme. To begin with most of Granville is not zoned for urban development but is zoned rural and classed as ‘good quality agricultural land’ according to State Government guidelines. This term is used to describe land that should be kept to be used for rural production. There are also big hurdles to overcome to provide infrastructure such as water and sewerage and road access facilities across the river to Granville. Maryborough has other land zoned for urban growth and it continues to annoy me that developers speculate by buying rural land cheaply and then lobbying politicians at all levels, to allow development of that land. Why have a Planning Scheme that guides development sensibly if one doesn’t abide by it?

As a Councillor my job is to decide if the Council staff have assessed an application fairly and accurately against the rules or criteria laid down in our 4 Planning Schemes. I cannot vote to support any development because I think it is ‘good to have’, rather I have to base my decisions on how a particular development application aligns or doesn’t align with the rules. So sometimes I have to vote in support of applications that I personally don’t like! If Council makes decisions to approve or not approve developments and these decisions are not aligned with the rules laid down within our Planning Schemes, then the State Government is more than likely going to take a keen interest and may in fact intervene.

In my opinion if this Granville application had met the requirements of the Maryborough Planning Scheme it would more than likely have been approved prior to amalgamation by the then Maryborough City Council.

So if we collectively, Councillors and community alike, want to provide increased or restricted opportunities for development, then we have to change our Planning Schemes. This process has begun with the awarding of contracts to commence our Land Use Strategy. This strategy will be the key guiding document in the creation of the new Fraser Coast Planning Scheme. As soon as public participation processes are advertised I will be shouting from the roof tops as that will be the right time to express your views on where we want people to live, where we want to protect important habitat and how best we can provide the supporting social, sporting, cultural and economic needs of our bigger community. One key question that I hope receives an airing is how many people is an ideal population size?

So to more gentle pursuits. This morning I rushed and worried and moaned and groaned as I had committed to going snorkelling at 9am at Point Vernon. After visiting the start of the Tech Challenge race in Maryborough yesterday (which was absolutely wonderful to witness) I was hoping for one day at home to relax a bit, garden a bit (catch up with email a bit) and play with our new puppies. But once I arrived at Point Vernon and met up with our small gang and entered the water my grumbles were literally washed away.

The water was flat as a table top and quite clear, the clouds disappeared and the sky was painted a brilliant blue. The coral was teeming with little and  bigger fish and it was simply wonderful. On coming in we looked back to see how some of the more thickly wet suited snorkellers were travelling in time to witness two dolphins slowly cruise past. Then a turtle splashed near by and I recounted my near head butt with a little sea snake! Birds were soaring and singing and all was right with the world.

Nature does this to me every time. The cares of the human world wash away and the wonders that abound in the natural world are like a soothing salve. The rest of the day has been enriched by my snorkelling with good people and I am so lucky that I live in a beautiful place with beautiful weather and underwater wonders. Take care, Sue

Council meetings and a bit of a mixture

September 7th, 2009

I apologise for the lack of more frequent postings. So to cover a few different topics.

Tomorrow Council meets for the Planning and Development Committee Meeting no 8. Items to be considered include a large Granville development application which has been on the agenda now for some three times. The recommendation is to refuse this development as it is in an area not zoned for residential development. One of the constraints for future development in the Granville area is the access across the river. Another bridge will be needed to facilitate increased urban growth in that area and bridges don’t come cheaply!

In these times of increasing financial and climatic and environmental considerations I believe it is more important than ever that Council closely address the issues of where we place urban development. Maybe the threat of rising seas etc, will see development moving inland from the coastal strip towards Maryborough?

Last week Council awarded the contract to develop our Fraser Coast Land Use Strategy. This strategy will outline where we want what as we move forward as a region and will guide the development of our new Planning Scheme. Community consultation will be a very important aspect of this process and I will be urging everyone to have a say.

Also tomorrow we will consider a reconfiguration of a Lot in Howard, a retail development in Alice St, Maryborough, an addition to the community centre in Poona, some negotiated decisions in relation to the Airport Industrial Estate, Hervey Bay and to a development in Iindah Rd, Tinana and lastly an amendment to the Bay Planning Scheme to address some bureaucratic complications in relation to the Natural Areas Overlay.

Recently Councillors toured WBWC assets which included a glimpse of the Water Park. Here is a pic of the wave rider in action…

Water Park wave machine

Water Park wave machine

Lastly our two little sister puppies Ellie and Becki are growing and are as active as ever. I’m very glad we decided to bring home both puppies as they play for hours with each other and aren’t so needy of our company.
Playful puppies

Playful puppies