Foreshore Frustration

October 10th, 2012

I have signed this petition because I am annoyed. Council, without our consultation, has amended the Foreshore Plan and gone ahead and “cleaned up” the Hervey Bay foreshore. While I commend the removal of weeds and rubbish the clearing of cotton wood trees and other established vegetation has left us with a windswept foreshore totally devoid of protection from winds. Picnicers at Scarness last weekend were struggling to enjoy the view while battling the strong winds. In the past they had a view as well as shade and protection from wind.
Far better to leave patches of vegetation to protect the precious native fauna and flora and give us humans shelter also. Something glimpsed and promised is also often more attractive than something laid bare.
Now I have recently moved to a beach front Dundowran block. Will our foreshore also be “tidied up?” it seems hypocritical at best to target an area of foreshore most highly used while at the same time offering no assistance to residents further from town at Toogoom battling erosion. It seems to me that the business owners, Esplanade residents and property developers have won. Their wishes for views have been acted upon regardless of the wishes of the majority of residents and visitors. A simple Council questionnaire would have solved the problem of community consultation and given all interested persons the chance to have their say.
I await the windy summer with interest. I truly hope that our foreshore doesn’t simply blow across the road!
Plase visit The Chronicle web site or this petition to have your say.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/hervey-bay-foreshore-protection-group/signatures-page3.html
http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/story/2012/10/08/online-petition-opposes-foreshore-clearing/

11 Responses to “Foreshore Frustration”

  1. Paulon 10 Oct 2012 at 2:55 pm

    I’ve already signed the petition Sue and so have a few of my friends. The foreshore did need cleaning up but not to the extent it has been. Too much habitat has been lost and I fear the road sweepers will now have constant work keeping our Esplanade free of sand.

  2. Annaon 18 Oct 2012 at 2:37 pm

    I have been very upset at what I regarded as the most beautiful sight in Hervey Bay – the foreshore with all its vegetation and the animals. This is a grave and ignorant tragedy of which I am sure nature will have her revenge.

  3. Colin Burton 18 Oct 2012 at 7:20 pm

    Where Council is concerned only the tourist dollar and the businesses which stand to earn it are really listened to.
    If the businesses on the tourist strip wanted every tree bulldozed and the whole foreshore area concreted for parking we would be invited to lodge submissions, which would then be completely ignored. Petitions carry about as much weight.
    The common old resident householder, the retiree, and the pensioners come a poor last nowadays.
    To make Hervey Bay into another Noosa or Gold Coast is their devout wish. To ‘create jobs’ is more important than to preserve the character of a once pleasant place. Shame on them . May soon be time to move on .

  4. Zahra Datooon 19 Oct 2012 at 2:34 pm

    Hi Sue
    Just signed the petition. I have been sending emails for months with no or little replies. The arrogance is appalling as it is obvious no environment consultant was consulted. Just a group of boys thinking back to the good old days pre vegetation and dreaming of the Gold Coast look. Tourism is down for all major cities, the clearing won’t held bring them here. Instead of putting us in a niche environmental tourist position they want jet boats and jet skis. Ignoring the UN listed Fraser Island, UN listed Bio Sphere region and the Marine park. The attitude is breat taking. Who ever formed the pro clean up lobby group is well organised thats all I can say.
    Meanwhile, we, the general rate payer had better prepare ourselves for the expensive maintenance costs in the years to come.
    Then I worry will this happen out here in Toogoom. Do we sell now or what? It is very upsetting and the feeling of being absolutely powerless is abundant.

  5. Lester Gallagheron 21 Oct 2012 at 8:34 pm

    The environmental movement was highjacked by the Pollies long ago. Fear keeps us in place.I have enough “guts” to see beyond this.Sea levels are not rising,the arctic melted because of a violent storm,record ice in Antarctica and their has been no global warming since 1979 according to the U.K. Met office which is one of the official stations that measure the temperature of the Earth.If you check your facts you will find if you filter all the anonymous people and all the outside Greenies and people that were signed on without their knowledge and permission there is about 88 legitimate signatures. This petition should be investigated for fraud.

  6. Patriciaon 24 Oct 2012 at 2:24 pm

    I have to agree with Lester, above. A lot of the signatures are from people outside Hervey Bay, and many from overseas. Sure, they could all have been past visitors to Hervey Bay, but that leads to another point that has been forgotten – if of all the millions of visitors to Hervey Bay over the recent years, and of the tens of thousands of residents who live here, only around 200 people could be found to click a button on their computer to protest this clearing project, then I think the protest is indisputable proof once and for all that this clearing is what the vast majority want. Even the petition in Maryborough to stop the closure of an unneeded and duplicated pathology service managed to drum up 3000 signatures on paper in a few days. It’s time to say you’ve got it wrong this time, greenies. Sorry to say, but the good guys (the vast majority) have won this round.

  7. Lester Gallagheron 24 Oct 2012 at 5:46 pm

    # Zahra Datoo on 19 Oct 2012 at 2:34 pm said

    “Ignoring the UN listed Fraser Island, UN listed Bio Sphere region and the Marine park.” Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Zahra but the U.N. (Unelected Nut jobs) have no jurisdiction over any location on the Fraser Coast. We are a sovereign nation with a constitution. The Climate Sceptics now control local and state goverments. There will be a Federal election next February which the Climate Sceptics will win. The greens will not even poll 5% of the vote. You only have to see the ACT election to see that is true. On Nov. 6 in U.S. our counterparts the tea party will have a Vice President in the White house. Then we will be able to indict climate criminals like failed politician Al Gore, Astronomer James Hansen and the Climategate Hockey Stick fraud Michael Mann. And then we can drop kick Political Correctness and the I.P.C.C. (Idiots Pretending to Change Climate) back to bankrupt Socialist Europe where they belong.

  8. Paulon 09 Nov 2012 at 9:22 am

    After reading some of the comments on this blog I have to say how disappointed I am with the attitude and comments of some of the above contributors.

    It’s not about calling people greenies, unelected nut jobs, climate criminals, frauds or idiots. It’s about choice. Even if you don’t believe in climate change everyone has a choice to minimise their impact on the environment or not and to air their beliefs in public. For example I am passionate about recycling and reducing waste to landfill. Most people nowadays agree that any form of recycling is preferable to sending all waste to landfill. Does that make be a greenie? No, but 20 years ago I would have been labelled an extremist. Over time and because initially a few people shared their beliefs with others, the attitudes of the majority changed.

    The same principle applies here. A few people believe the clearing of undergrowth on the foreshore will have a detrimental effect. They have every right to make their beliefs public in the hope of convincing others to rethink their actions. Whether or not they are successful is yet to be seen but at the very least it has made people consider the environmental effects of clearing trees & undergrowth, its impact on the community, and will assist people in making future environmental decisions.

    To sum up, everyone has a right to share their beliefs without being called names and by keeping arguments on topic, credible and non political you will gain respect and not appear to be a raving lunatic.

  9. lester gallagheron 09 Nov 2012 at 6:59 pm

    # Patriciaon 24 Oct 2012 at 2:24 pm
    said “Sorry to say, but the good guys (the vast majority) have won this round.”
    I have to thoroghlly agrree. The Church of Climatogy with high priest Tom Foolery
    should publicly apologise for false statements regarding not hurricane sandy.
    Prime Minister Tony Abbot’s first duty should be to decommission the church of Climatology and remove the funding which should then be used to refund the Carbon Dioxide exhale and fart tax back to the people because there has been no global warming for 12 years at least. Does any in this room have enough guts to debate me on the subject of Global Warming or the lack of it . Just name the time and place.

  10. lester gallagheron 22 Nov 2012 at 8:36 pm

    # Paulon 09 Nov 2012 at 9:22 am said ”

    “To sum up, everyone has a right to share their beliefs without being called names and by keeping arguments on topic, credible and non political you will gain respect and not “appear to be a raving lunatic”.
    Now who is doing the name calling.

  11. Patriciaon 25 Jan 2013 at 8:37 am

    Sue says, “I await the windy summer with interest. I truly hope that our foreshore doesn’t simply blow across the road!”.
    Well the windy summer winds have come, along with the king tides coinciding with those winds, and no, the foreshore didn’t simply blow across the road. But still the vocal handful still get up on their soapboxes and spread their visions of doom and gloom.
    But what really annoys me is that the same person who collected those 1000 or so online signatures is now using those very same signees to validate his objection to other totally unrelated development projects, like the Urangan waterpark and low rise accomodation blocks.
    I might be missing something here, but just because you may oppose minor rubbish removal on the foreshore doesn’t necessarily automatically mean you are opposed to a water park, a shopping centre or a unit complex. These people aren’t against EVERYTHING, are they?

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