Submission letter of OBJECTION for the Use of Open Space Recreational Land for a Shopping Comple-Peregian Beach Sports & Recreation Club Inc. · MCU13/0092

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PLANNING – OPEN SPACE NETWORK

   1. The applicant has not provided sufficient evidence & justification
       that the Open Space Recreation zoned land is not required for
       current & future open space recreation/community uses.

   •   If the Bowls Club site is lost to a supermarket, there is no
       alternative public or private land available to replace it for
       recreation.

The applicant has made no formal contact with the Peregian Beach
community nor Peregian Beach Sports & Recreation Club since
acquiring the property under contract to find & understand the local
community & business support and needs for recreational use on this
land.
It should be noted that letters from many of the community stakeholder
groups were sent to the proposed developer & the Sunshine Coast
Council Planning department about NOT supporting commercial
development on this land in July 2012 prior to them entering a contract
with the landholder.
We had hoped the applicant would understand there is a greater future
need for recreational facilities in our community than the convenience of
yet another shopping center and develop their proposal to suit.

Peregian Beach Sports & Recreation Club records show in 2012 it had
received approximately twenty-five letters of support from
Peregian/Coolum community groups and stakeholders, held meetings
with the community to provide regular feedback, secured commitments
from four different potential shared lessees of the site (without
compromising the community house), ensured the site was identified in
the SCRC Regional Sport & Recreation Strategy and kept the hopes
of bowlers alive that maybe from this process of protecting the site they
may have a chance to play their game locally again (albeit in a different
framework).
Jeff Bampton of The Sandpit Beach Volleyball, was and is still
interested to work with the Sports Club as a co-tenant of the facility.



   •   The Sunshine Coast Council Open Space Strategy 2011
       identifies that “Peregian Beach locality area is generally under
       provided for with recreational parks”(2011:35) and we object to
       loss of this recreational land for the current and future residents of
       Peregian Beach and wider catchment.

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2. The disadvantages caused by loss of open space recreational
   land has not been sufficiently demonstrated by the applicant.

   •   For over forty years volunteers from all over the region have
       been nurturing this area for a diverse & growing range of
       community activities that are casually connected and shared
       with one another.

   •   The ethos of the Tennis Club, Bowls Club, Kindergarten,
       Veggie Village on Di Hirst Oval & Community House are
       complimentary and create a recreational precinct that
       generate voluntary community support, contribution and
       commitment. This is priceless and desired in models of
       urban planning.

A privately owned commercial shopping centre would
divide and disrupt this healthy & holistic precinct in the town.
The location and facilities of the Bowls Club were vital for
helping the founding members of Veggie Village establish the
Community Garden on Di Hirst Oval. Many more community
initiatives such as the Food Co Op have future plans that share
community recreational facilities.

   • Local schools often used the beach volleyball courts until
     The Sandpit Beach Volleyball was told to vacate the site by
     the landholder, Pine Rivers Memorial Bowls Club.
   • Both the Community Garden & Coolum Cricket Club utilizes
     Di Hirst Oval as well as dog walkers, the Peregian Beach
     Running Club and families playing informal ball games.




Two of the existing uses on Oval.

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The fact the zoning is Open Space and Recreation has nothing to
do with the internal difficulties of the previous freehold lease owner
(bowls club) and the current community need for the land.
The current community demographic was not responsible for a
voluntarily managed club's difficulties and therefore should not be
penalized by losing access to what is the last remaining parcel of
open space in Peregian Beach. This issue has been locked down
in landholder/tenant battles for many years. During that time the
town and district's demographic has changed immensely, placing
greater pressures on the need for recreation land.

The land is still required by the community and the Council as
open space and recreation provision for a range of demonstrated
community uses and therefore needs to be developed for that
purpose.

The operators of the very successful beach volleyball competition
were asked to finish up & vacate the site.
Fixtures, junior state competitions and SEQ competitions were
attracted and accommodation in Peregian Beach was filled for
entire weekends.

The Sunshine Coast Council presented leading economist Michael
Shuman and Richard Heinberg talks last year.
Progressive Economists are recognizing the sustainable qualities
of localism noting Community, Co operatives, Artistry and Beauty
of the natural environment have not yet reached their peak.

Everyday the community energy is prevented from flowing through
this site, the opportunity to make the place richer is lost.

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      3. The applicants proposal will create a second
      ‘neighbourhood centre’ in Peregian Beach, taking away from
      the compact town centre. This proposal is in direct conflict
      with the outcomes of the Noosa Plan

      We appreciate the applicant’s acknowledgement in their
      proposal of the community driven ‘Vision on the Village’
      master plan and wish to provide this as supporting document
      to show there is no need for a second ‘neighbourhood centre’
      and a significant desire to regain the land for public
      recreational use.

      The recent community driven ‘Vision on the Village’ planning
      activity (scenario games) & the report currently undergoing
      community feedback, should be seen as evidence of what
      capacity and support a Sports & Recreation Club has in the
      local community. (Draft Attached)

One heart , two chambers:-
Image of the Vision on the Village – Peregian Beach
by town planning consultant wonder city + landscape
(Final Report available shortly once presented to the local community.)

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Vision on the Village
(Exert of chapter five)

Peregian Beach is a delightful place to live and to visit.
What makes Peregian Beach unique is the lush, relaxed village atmosphere, it
is compact and walkable, it is enveloped sea and National Park and it has a
great sense of community. This needs to be nourished and protected.
This doesn’t mean Peregian Beach will always stay the same.
Change is a fact of life, impossible to avoid.
Children grow up and move out. Shops remodel and change tenants.
Houses will be replaced. Sports trends come and go.
These alterations can take place AS LONG AS THEY ARE SENTITIVE to the
unique setting and the village atmosphere.

The biggest threat to Peregian Beach is not so much that things might
change, but that these changes lack balance; developments that are too
large, too fast and at the wrong location. These kind of developments upset
the community’s cohesion, the social, spatial and economical balance.

Though Peregian Beach is bliss, there are indeed things that could be
improved. The coordination of all activities and businesses around the square
can be better, so that the services complete each other, more then compete
against each other. The sport facilities around Rufous Street can to be
improved. The oval is often swampy. The bowls club wound up. Whilst the
beach volleyball club was operating successfully, it unfortunately was not
allowed to continue.
On the positive side, the tennis club and kindy are healthy and viable. The
community garden and food co öp are successful and could continue grow.
In addition there are emerging businesses that have the potential to greatly
contribute to our town. We vision a village that integrates these
improvements, in such a way that the village character becomes strengthened
and we can continue the Peregian way of life.
A second threat that needs to be addressed is how we cherish and harness
our volunteers. We got along and rich history of volunteers in Peregian Beach.
This represents a great value for the town. However, as Peregian has grown,
the tasks are becoming overwhelming, resulting in possible duplication,
challenging coordination and unfair responsibilities. The cooperation of
community groups is already improving;
the quest to further strengthen and empower our community continues.
This vision aims to contribute to this quest by providing a joint perspective for
the future of the Peregian Beach.
A vision that everybody can share in and a vision that strengthens the
cohesion of our community.
One that celebrates the work of our volunteers and show the combined results
can be greater.
This vision encourages enthusiasm and invites more community
members to become active in shaping the future of our great village.

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The Application states that:
“… the Peregian Bowls Club has been abandoned as an active
sporting destination for about three years and no community or
Council progress has been made in acquiring it for recreational or
community use during that period…”

This statement is misleading and deceptive for the following
reasons:
   • It may not have been used from April 2010 but the existence
      of the PB Sports & Recreation Club demonstrates there has
      always been a continued community interest in the site
      despite a legal inability to access it.

  •   The old Bowls Club members were the ones to agree to
      winding up the club at a special general meeting in May 2010
      and therefore ceasing playing and trading on the site. But
      they did so unwillingly upon evidence that a reinstatement of
      a very large monthly lease, which it was understood was
      around $17,000, could threaten their financial future again
      when it appeared they were gradually reducing debt.

  •   If in fact the site has been “abandoned” it has been
      abandoned by the present landholder, for the purpose of
      advancing this application. Its purported abandonment has
      never been in the interests of the Peregian Beach community
      who have wished to continue to use the site for open space
      recreation purposes.

  •   The operators of the very successful beach volleyball
      competition were evicted from the site. Fixtures, junior state
      competitions and SEQ competitions were attracted and PB
      accommodation was filled for entire weekends.

  • The Landholder-Pine Rivers Memorial Bowls Club has never
  offered the land for sale on the open market.

  • PRMBC has refused to return calls from the SCRC and other
  persons interested in purchasing the site but wanting to pay a
  price related to a recreational zoning.

  • Even now, purchasers are willing to buy the site and maintain
  it for recreational purposes when this application is refused.

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In Summary

The Peregian Beach Sports & Recreation Club Inc requests that
the Sunshine Coast Council reject this Application.

‘It would be most regrettable if one of the Sunshine Coast
Council’s last important planning decisions in relation to land which
will soon become part the new Noosa Shire permanently damaged
the current & future Peregian Communities.’

Peregian Beach Sports & Recreation Club Inc.
Secretary
Sharyn Kerrigan
29.08.13