Comments on: Development – coping with the downturn.

By: Sadman

Sadman — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:07:21 +0000

Sue,

You ask, “do we forever keep rezoning and developing for housing, our rural zoned lands”?
In my view the answer is NO. With the increase in population and the loss of pestercides
and fertilzers courtesy of oil deriditives, we need all the arable land we have.

What we need, is to move all industrial premises away from our coast line to Howard or
Torbanlea. Induce niche organic industries to the Woocoo and Tiaro areas, seduce
hospices and retirement homes to our region. Suck up to to governments for more
educational facilities, while maintaining our laid back and slow lifestyle.

Growth for growth’s sake just does not work long term.
Here endeth the second lesson.

Sadman

By: sue

sue — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:42:18 +0000

Absolutely correct Sadman. FCRC has recently advertised and invited tenders for the development of our Land Use Strategy. The information collected via this strategy will provide ‘the bones’ for our new FCRC Planning Scheme. However, as is the case now, different areas within the region will be treated as part of an overall plan but with the possibility of having unique requirements.
Just the same as our current zonings whereby our coastal ‘villages’ are treated differently to Hervey Bay ’suburbs’ such as Pt Vernon through to Urangan.
So we need the one plan that is flexible enough to address the issues in geographically and possibly demographically disparate places. Population limits are already in force now as each area within our region now has the ability to develop ‘urban’ zoned land which is limited. The big question is do we forever keep rezoning and developing for housing, our rural zoned lands?
I await a world or ‘planet plan’ but hey I’m an optimist believe it or not!

By: Sadman

Sadman — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:15:16 +0000

Sue,

Like it or lump it, we have one council and one budget. Costs and
debts are therefore shared by all ratepayers. What impacts on
one area impacts on all to a greater or lesser degree.

For it to work, we can only have one long term plan for the
Fraser Coast Regional Council.

Sadman

By: sue

sue — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:24:48 +0000

Sadman I am focussing on the Hervey Bay population in my discussion not the Fraser Coast region population. Development pressure is greatest in Hervey Bay although with the increasing price of property in Hervey Bay, people will be more and more attracted to invest and reside in areas outside the immediate Hervey Bay area. Also as Hervey Bay becomes busier some people are leaving to go to more peaceful places like Howard for instance.
The Hervey Bay population is currently approx 55 thousand people I believe. Maryborough has a very low growth rate currently but this may begin to change also due to affordability issues.
While we are all one region I think it is important to remember that the region is made up of separate communities each with a unique identity and unique challenges.

By: Sadman

Sadman — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:41:09 +0000

Sue,
Based on council’s figures current population is about 89,000.
If this is correct, I’d suggest capping our population at 100,000.
But of more importance, capping should be openly discussed by
the council and the residents views should be sort.

Sadamn

By: sue

sue — Sun, 31 May 2009 11:35:07 +0000

I cannot separate the Gold Coast from the traffic the high rise and the beach! Maybe I should compare Surfers Pardise and inner Hervey Bay rather than the entire LGA’s!Hervey Bay has a wonderful beautiful Esplanade and beaches. We don’t have this jewel in our crown yet wrecked by towers of glass, concrete and steel. We can still drive, walk or cycle down the Esplanade at nearly any time of day, without traffic snarls, looking at blue waters, blue skies and green trees. How long will this last?
I don’t live ‘in town’ but will do what I can to preserve the natural beauty of our ocean bordered boulevard.
If our city becomes developed in the same manner as the Gold and Sunshine Coasts why will people want to visit us? What will be unique? I believe many visitors come here to experience our relaxed ‘undeveloped’ low rise low density lifestyle.
Yes I would enjoy more choice in dining and some improvements to our seaside amenity but these things will come in time. If we hand over our prime beachfront property to developers I fear that our Esplanade, like the Gold Coast, will become a place of tourists not residents. The development pressure is still only found in Hervey Bay and this is focussed as close as possible to the beach. The pressure to develop inland is not nearly as high.
In relation to a poulation cap. Every city and town in Australia has one. It is called a Planning Scheme. Currently the Hervey Bay Planning Scheme can accomodate between 100 to 110 thousand people on the land designated for growth. We have a water supply for less than that number of people however. Noosa’s poulation cap was simply the number of people that Noosa’s Planning Scheme could accomodate (it was 60 thousand I thought). Noosa just marketed the population cap concept and it has not hurt them in my opinion.
On some things we simply have to agree to disagree I think. I do wish Hervey Bay had a decent entertainment venue and better dining choice but we will achieve these things eventually. Our future growth has to be placed where it is sensible to have it and our traffic/roads network properly forward planned so we avoid the worst impacts of too many cars on roads that are not built to accomodate them.

By: Sadman

Sadman — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:03:26 +0000

Baggins,
While the point you make about the Gold Coast is valid, they are in a different situation to us.
Close to Brisbane, close to the docks, close to an international airport and close to existing large
and small industry. We don’t have any.

The current financial situation precludes us from getting any large investment for the forseeable
future. Building more houses and flats will cause more trouble than they are worth.

Sadman

By: baggins

baggins — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:41:42 +0000

Steady on there Sue. Just as there is more to the Fraser Coast region than simply the Hervey Bay Esplanade, there is more to the Gold Coast Region than the popular tourist strip with its many highrises along the crowded beachfront from Southport to Coolangatta.

Gold Coast City Council (population 500,000 growing at 3% pa) includes many beautiful rural areas, popular scenic hinterland townships and beautiful waterways since its amalgamation occured years ago. GCCC is even responsible for several nearby island areas, just like our council is! Apart from the disadvantages of overly dense highrises in certain popular tourist spots, and the associated crowds and traffic, I think the Gold Coast success stories should be heeded by emerging regions such as ours in planning future infrastructure and objectives. Their GCCC’s latest plans for a mini Venice using their canal system sounds exciting and reminds me of Mandurah (WA), where a similar project is nearly completed and looks like being an amazing success and drawcard imo.

The good thing about the GC planning approach is that they offer infrastructure, services and areas to suit ALL lifestyle requirements …. they don’t attempt to make a single lifestyle choice ‘fit’ all areas or everyone who lives or visits their region. I once chose to live in Tambourine Village with all its rustic charm, tropical forests and natural beauty, but occasionally it was wonderful to use the excellent road network to visit crowded beachfront areas, attend large musical concerts or take advantage of the other wonderful entertainment and dining available on the busy coastal strip.

It appears that GCCC meticulously plan and maintain the coastal strip especially well as a showpiece for all to use and enjoy with its walking/cycling tracks, gardens, shade trees, scenery, and handy shopping malls and outdoor dining venues built along wonderfully wide, quiet and traffic safe footpaths. As much as I would prefer Hervey Bay to follow a more Port Douglas orientated approach to its tourism coastal strip, I really do miss the dining and entertainment infrastructure that both these tourist hotspots already offer. Its a bit like the chicken and the egg …. do the facilities bring the people, or do the arrivals generate the infrastructure development needed?

Like you, I personally would prefer to avoid overly dense highrise in Hb. However, a sensible highrise approach in obvious tourism areas is, I believe OK to most folk, as they would simply choose to live a convenient distance away from any resulting hub-bub, unless it doesn’t bother them or they even enjoyed it.

On the subject of population caps, Noosa decided on a 100,000 cap (prior to amalgamation) because its tourist area and road system was so restricted and becoming over-crowded. But, during the time I lived there (and even now), I can see little effect and the Noosa region still continues to grow ….. mainly ‘out’ rather than ‘up’, but even this can be a disadvantage if it results in ‘urban sprawl’, rather than a bit of ‘urban tall’? Personally, I would prefer to see us not implement ‘population caps’ at this early stage as it could easily backfire in terms of future infrastructure funding and development from government and the private sector. We have plenty of room, if as you say, we begin to properly utilise and promote our less populated rural areas. If we do encourage industry and business to set up along the HB-Mbo Road (as it should imo), hopefully they will include that fact in planning for future highway access roads and through traffic volumes rather than simply having direct property access as some short-sighted areas have to contend with now.

Anyway Sue, next time anyone mentions the Gold Coast to you…. do try and visualise more than just the traffic and highrises at Surfers and along the tourist strip …. just as we keep trying to convince others that there is more to Hervey Bay than simply ‘whale-watching’ and Fraser!

By: sue

sue — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:02:22 +0000

Shock horror says I when the Gold Coast is mentioned. There is no way I want Hervey Bay to ever become anything like the Gold Coast. Vertical sprawl is my pet name for the Gold Coast suburbs of high rise buildings.
I chose to settle in Hervey Bay because I do not want to live in a ‘big city’. By big I mean over 100 thousand people. At different times I have lived in Melbourne (too big) in a little town about half way between Wangaratta and Albury, on the outskirts of Ballarat, in Bundaberg, in Darwin and now settled in my beloved Hervey Bay. In my own experience a population of about 80-100k for an urban city is just about right. In other words a city with a footprint of about that many people is a Bendigo or Ballarat, a Toowoomba or a Mackay. A bit bigger but still under 150k people is Townsville, Cairns and Darwin.
Why do I think that a city of this size is ideal? Because a city with around a hundred thousand people gives a density of people large enough to support tertiary education facilities, a decent health/hospital service and good quality sporting and arts and cultural venues and facilities and participants, together with a good range of retail services. A smaller population size does not facilitate these things.
Once we see cities grow larger than a hundred thousand residents we end up with some negatives in the form of increased congestion and pollution. But most of all a larger population means we lose the closeness and sense of community that comes from meeting people you know when out and about. I enjoy walking around town and bumping into people I know. In cities with a larger population this ceases to happen. I don’t get to know the shop assistants and the waiters and tellers that serve me.
I believe we need to settle on an ideal ‘population size that enables us to support the infrastructure and services that we like to avail ourselves of without compromising our ‘laid back’ friendly and happy and close to nature lifestyle.
If we grow too big and to dense, I believe we will have problems with water provision and waste disposal.
I personally enjoy the benefits of this region and while I hope we can grow bigger I don’t want us to keep growing bigger and bigger and I think we need to decide on a target population now. I think we need to do this at a National (and International) level also.
I would like to see future development inland away from the coast and that development is facilitated and encouraged to be placed between Maryborough and Hervey Bay. Go West as the saying goes. We already have road and power provision in this area and in my mind it is the logical direction to go. Council has invited applications via the tender process publicly this week, as part of the process to develop our Land Use Strategy. I expect our community to take a keen interest in this process and when the time comes to have your say.

By: Sadman

Sadman — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:20:26 +0000

Baggins,

I sincerely hope you are right. But we (the collective we),
never seem to learn from our mistakes.

We are three hours to the big city and about the same to a large port. So to attract industry here will be very hard, we
are a tourist, agricultural region, with poor road and rail facilities. As a result I see an increased population as being a disaster. I hope I am wrong.

Sadman