Chronicle pool campaign
Sue Brooks March 16th, 2010
I believe the article about the pool on Saturday took my words from this blog out of context. But hey what’s new! So yesterday morning I thought I should respond and did so by way of a letter to the editor. I’m still waiting to see if it sees light of day but here is what I sent in.
‘I have not yet made up my mind about the future development of the Maryborough Swimming Pool. I am listening to the debate and still want to learn more about options to restore the 50m pool. I don’t want any community to lose facilities but rather to gain them as we grow our region.
I do however believe that there are ‘some’ facilities that will have to be shared across the region and not duplicated in each city, especially sporting and entertainment facilities. I used the Brolga theatre as one such example in a general discussion on my blog some time ago now. I am not comparing driving to the theatre with daily swimming training and apologise if that inference was made.
I do believe in sharing my views publicly and so openly debate topics that are Council related on my private web blog found at www.suebrooks.com.au I believe it is my duty as your elected member to be accessible and make myself readily available to residents wanting to communicate with me. But I do change my mind and update comments and topics. I won’t remove something once I have said it but will build on the conversation or change my mind as my knowledge grows. Open communication is important to me and I appreciate the intense community interest in the pool redevelopment’.
- Uncategorized
- Comments(17)
Maryborough is well placed to double its population by 2050. Has electric rail, airport connection ,easy access to Sandy Straits beaches and Mary River, several hospitals schools etc.Should be the industrial driver for FCRC.
MCC became lost in Mary Poppins land. Too much heritage nostalgia ,no growth.
FCRC has an opportunity to do a forward economic plan backed by coal , sugar, engineering small manufacturing.. Sport is important including swimming.
If FCRC do decide that a city of 30000 people cannot afford or does not deserve a standard 50m pool this will be a signal to Maryborough and ALL Qlanders that the city is on a road to nowhere… a poor cousin of mighty Hervey Bay , a distant outer slum.
To reinvent Maryborough you should look at inner city urban renewal. My suggestion …put 500 new dwellings in substantial 10 or 12 level buildings around but not on the river between Brolga and Granville Bridge. Probably only 5 buildings needed nicely spaced and connected to the river precinct . Walking and bicycles or new commuter electric vehicles will connect to the pool and the shops . Your rate base will be boosted without urban sprawl and you will be able to afford a little progress.
Would bring a new class of affluent settler, the mature age couple or single with $1m plus in their super and some upwardly mobile younger owners who will choose unit lifestyle not the quarter acre.
VERY environmentally friendly ,sustainable living for the future.
E G Turner, are we talking about the same Maryborough? The population is going backward. Literally, have a look at the figures. The Chronicle has pulled up stumps and set up office in Hervey Bay. The Maryborough staff barely know the new editor. Some state departments are in the process of moving. If they could move one of the primary schools they would. The people who have the few jobs in here have started to move to the Bay, content to make the daily commute. I have lived here a long time – I like your optimism but it is never going to happen. Who is going to build 50 let alone 500 new residences? There are no jobs here, and the people that take them can live by the beach in the Bay with Sunday trading and decent restaurants. Its just us oldies on the pension left and young unemployed people.
Regarding the pool and other deteriorating facilities, the former Maryborough Council has a lot to answer for. Maryborough will benefit from amalgamation more than anyone else, now recieiving rate funds from the prosperous coastal areas. There is no way we would be in a position to buy a new 50m pool if we were still under the MCC.
EG Turner has just made my day, it is about time more people like this person started bringing forwards ideas on how we can bring Maryborough into the next generation.
For too long Maryborough has been Hervey Bay’s poor cousin and yes, Sue and others can justify this by saying there are more voters / ratepayers in the bay but it is time to encourage growth elsewhere.
Sue, you can not dismiss community sentiment and the needs of ‘our’ community.
It may just be that council needs to run a campaign as the former Maryborough city council did to raise the funds to build the Brolga Theatre. The community built the first pool, perhaps there are enough among us generous to assist in doing it a second time?
I am a firm believer in user pays but at the same time, our forebears gave Maryborough an olympic sized pool and I think it is our duty to ensure Maryborough continues to have such a pool for many years to come.
Council seems to be focussed on consultant report after report and always looking at ‘safe’ options and those that ‘fit within a box’. Maybe it is time for fresh thinking.
If not, I can see there will be eleven new faces down at the local centrelink office come next council election. It is that simple.
I have previously stated that Maryborough must continue to redevelop the CBD and one way to do this is to bring residential development into the city centre.
How do you bring residential development into the city centre if the owners of the existing buildings won’t even keep them in proper repair?
Sue, someone said to me last week that the ‘old school’ group of perhaps 10 families are still holding Maryborough back in the dark ages. I hadn’t heard this expressed in many years but now wonder if there was some truth in that.
I understand only a handful of families own a large portion of Maryborough’s CBD and surrounds. If they do not want to embrace council’s vision, they can control this quite readily.
I have heard talk of change and redevelopment for many many years now but aside from one apartment block and plenty of council investment, there has not been too much indication of a willingness on the behalf of private enterprise to follow suite.
Can council find the support for this bold plan? Where are the jobs that will attract the right investment in the city? Too many questions and not enough answers I think.
Ben,
Well said,”I think it is our duty”. So why not do it, have a levy on Maryborough residents, say $10 per year for 10 years, this can supplement the $5million council has suggested it can afford.
Maryborough residents can then feel they are honouring their forfathers.
Sadman
Why Sue are you so determined about sharing the 50m pool at Herney Bay as stated in your letter to the editor,but then do a back flip a few days, later in the editor by saying my mind is not made up yet.
I am thinking about calling on a public meeting ‘to rally some good support for the pool .
You must try to care for everyone in your erea.
Just remember you are judged on what people remember .
I will be keeping a close eye on you.
Kind regards
Gordon Dal
I didn’t write a letter to the editor Gordon prior to the weekend. The Chronicle simply visited this web blog and grabbed some sentences from a post I had written and printed them without my knowledge last Saturday. If you scroll back through my posts you will see that the first time I mention the pool was as a result of the preliminary discussions that the staff had with the swimming club. I had not and have not yet made a decision on what I think is the best path forward. I also hope that I am free to change my mind when necessary when I learn more or receive differing advice.. I am pleased that you are keeping a close eye on me and welcome comment and feedback. Take care Gordon, Sue
Ben,
I agree with your comment, this is some thing I have alluded to on many occassions,
useing the terms untouchables or the White Shoe Brigade. These sons of the squatters
are even represented on our councils, both past and present.
The sole concern of these people is to maintain their position and to date they have
done this very well. There was a recent case of this in Maryborough very recently.
Ben, until this region gets some new faces, new ideas and the support of the people
nothing will ever change.
John A Neve
lol this is ridiculous. u did say that it was like the brolga….going to a 50m pool every day. you made the comparison. now u wont stick with it. don’t know why anyone even bothers trying to discuss it, apparently councillours can just make it up as they go along. if the council does get rid of the 50m pool, maryborough will be the largest town in qld without one. how’s that for progress?? thanks for returning us to the dark ages.
Sue
I think you have copped enough flak over “we drive to the Brolga, you drive to our pool” to realise it was a poor comment! Maryborough needs a 50 metre pool and to suggest 2 x 25 pools is stupid. Maybe we should have 2 CEO’s and pay them half what the current one gets? A woman sent to buy a 12lb slege hammer came home with 2 x6lb hammers?? She probably works in a senior position in the Council!
Ben, where did you get the stats on ownership in the Maryborough CBD. You are wide of the mark I assure you. What’s holding Maryborough back is a poor effort by the Council and the Councillors to ensure that development projects are fostered and encouraged instead of ignored and declined. The Flight Training Centre is a classic of how lack of decision making is hindering the whole region. The mad rush by the Council to relocate everything into Hervey Bay is evidence of poor judgement. When you look at the geographical centre of the Fraser Coast Council boundaries it is Kent Street, Maryborough yet the Council in its wisdom choose to relocate all it can to Tavistock Street for convenience! Even the people in Hervey Bay aren’t happy about the way Maryborough gets ignored.
Alan Wetton
Outraged you are right. I won’t stick to what I said as comparing daily swimming training with driving to the Brolga to watch a show from time to time is a ridiculous comparison. Have you not ever said something and then realised you were wrong or should have worded things better? One of the personal qualities I admire and use to decide how mature or not someone is, is that persons ability to admit that they are wrong. Human nature tends to lead us in the opposite direction and admitting you made a mistake or that you are wrong is not easy for some people. I sometimes also struggle with admitting I’m wrong but do try to keep my opinions current and informed.
Alan. There has been no ‘mad rush’ to locate everything in Hervey Bay. Some services are located in Hervey Bay and some remain based throughout the region including Maryborough. How else do you believe that Council can shrink costs and pass savings onto you and your fellow residents post amalgamation?
Please do let me know what else has been relocated to Hervey Bay as I’m interested in getting to the bottom of this perception. I agree that the Maryborough CBD isn’t being held back by property owners but rather by an out of date planning scheme. I hope we can fix that sooner rather than later.
Hi Sue,
I like reading your site, especially posts from the likes of Outraged, who whinges but offers no solutions. Perhaps Outrage could tell us all why Maryborough’s infrastructure is in such a bad way?
As for Allan Wetton (edited by Sue), sorry Allan but I think two beats one any day. Tell us Allan what was good about the flight training school, maybe you tell all about that $20million, or the proposed peppercorn rental, or all those jobs. Tell us Allan do you ever do any research?
(edited again)
Sadman
So let me get this right. Sue, you are saying council is failing Maryborough’s progress through a town planning scheme that should have been replaced? You are admitting council is failing us! At least someone can be honest.
How long IS the new scheme going to take? In the meantime, there is nothing stopping CBD building owners at least taking a little pride in their buildings whether it be repairing cracking facades, throwing a little render over old bricks (yes Alan, there have been a few done recently) or even a lick of paint.
I might have been over stating things re ownership in the CBD but there is still a perception of an element in the community that don’t want or accept change.
Until the community starts working in unison as I think they will on the pool issue, things will only continue to decline.
I believe all the town plans need replacing Ben not just Maryborough’s as I think we need to look at land use on a regional basis. Hervey Bay also a plan that I don’t entirely like either so I’m not wanting to finger point or blame. I do think both cities need to address retail and commercial land use issues and ensure the option of bringing residential space into the city centres. Hervey Bay has more of this than Maryborough I believe. Maryborough has too large a CBD as I’m told it is nearly as large as the Brisbane CBD. So we need to redefine and revitalise it. But someone has to pay and I don’t believe property owners have much spare cash these days! Refitting an older building into residential units costs heaps. A challenge however that needs to be faced.
Sue,Your blog pages serve a vital role in promoting debate. The bottom line is LEADERSHIP and this is what we elected the MAYOR and the council for.
Good leaders are rare and government is usually about reaction rather than action.
A shining example of what good leadership can achieve is Paul Pissale mayor of Ipswich a CAN DO leader who understands the importance of gaining support of private enterprise investment capital .
Governments plan but private investors (those despised DEVELOPERS) build and spend.
FCRC might benefit if they were to quietly study and understand the Paul Pissale formula. Go to Ipswich. He will be happy to spend a little of his time with you .
There really is no excuse that after two years FCRC still have not prepared a believable economic development strategy for Maryborough which is the first step to a new town plan.
Solution? Find a way to keep the 50m pool. I know cost is a concern but surely two 25m pools isn’t the answer. The pool is a great asset. BTW Sadman….I’m merely making a few points about saying one thing and then another. Ms Brooks, you are perfectly entitled to change your mind and I appalud you for doing so – unlike other councillors who doggedly stick by what they say even though they know they are wrong or find out new facts and even then don’t reconsider – but please don’t say you were misquoted initially because that is wrong. When it comes down to it, it isn’t us who will come up with the solution – it is the councillors. I genuinely hope it’s the right one.