Properly made submission (object) Rob Bower MCU13/0087

Subject: SK BCS 1192 MCU13/0097 Notice of submission Rob Bower
From: Rob Bower
Date: 2013-10-18T01:23:56+00:00
To: Internet Mailbox Sunshine Coast Regional Council

This is a submission re MCU13/0097

I have divided my submission into four main points:

1.      The proposal will not take Noosa Junction in a direction where it can prosper economically and socially. Noosa Junction has been a poor cousin of Noosa for years and needs a cohesive strategy to overcome this. The proposal includes a tavern and bottle shop, but no social impact study. In the absence of such a study the best guess is that a tavern and associated bottle shop/commercial shops/office etc would cement the tone of Noosa Junction as the ‘low end’ of Noosa. The part of Noosa around the National Park/Hastings St has successfully been developed into a world class, beautiful, relatively unspoilt and natural precinct and they have reaped the benefits commercially. In contrast the Junction has a high turnover of retail shops, few successful restaurants and a poor feel to it. More retail shops, in the absence of a strategy to beautify and improve the look and feel of the Junction, would just add to the problems facing the retail sector in the Junction. This proposal is totally incompatible with a strategy to improve the Junction for its residents and for tourists. The proposal will add to the problems of attracting more tourists to the Junction

2.      There are limited sites for future public amenities. At some point it will be a good idea to create a public amenity or recreational facility for the benefit of residents and to attract tourists to the Junction area. For example a swimming pool and water recreational facility would attract tourists from Noosa to the Junction. Sites for this sort of amenity are very few and it would be a strategically poor decision to allow the construction of a Tavern etc at the cost of this valuable opportunity to improve the Junction in coming years. 

 

3.      The Council has a duty of care to rate-payers to safe guard rate-payer’s interests. Groups such as Coles and IgA have been attempting a strategy of acquiring very valuable land at low non-commercial rates and then attempting to convert them to high value commercial sites. This was recently unsuccessfully attempted at Peregian Beach at the Bowls Club. This is in effect a transfer of rate-payer value to a large company. The Council needs to prevent this to safeguard its rate-payers rights. This can be done, in part, by ensuring a use of the site that adds value for rate-payers rather than just value for a commercial entity. 

 

4.      The proposal has elements that will cause environmental damage. Removal of land from Pinaroo Park and removal of mature trees is not compatible with the need to preserve the Noosa environment and to beautify the Junction. The Junction needs a lot more greenery and shade trees to become a more pleasant place to be for residents and tourists. Any proposal that removes an area of a reserve or park should be automatically rejected or sent back for re-design. 

 

This is an important decision and one that is in major conflict with the current Noosa plan. On that ground alone the proposal needs to be rejected, or at least deferred until the new Council has been elected. That is plain common sense, as well as paying respect to the rights of rate payers to have key decisions taken by the representatives they elect in the coming elections. 

Regards

 

Rob Bower 

47 Cormorant Crescent, Peregian Beach 4573

Mob  0458 989 282