PM Submission - Darrel Roche - MCU18/0138.msg

Subject: PLANNING SUBMISSION MCU18/0138 UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE AT NOOSA
From: Darrel Roche
Date: 2019-01-18T06:44:24+00:00
To: Mailbox Council Mail

Dear Sir/Madam,

As you are aware, some years ago Michell House was kindly donated by the generous benefactor, Sandy Michell, to be used as a University of the Third Age (U3A) at Noosa. The street address of Michell House is 64 Poinciana Avenue, Tewantin. As I'm sure you are already aware, Universities of the Third Age are international voluntary community-inspired educational and social interactive groups, that are aimed at providing crucial, wonderful and inspiring opportunities for retirees, seniors, and anyone else in the community, to participate in an incredibly wide range of educational, physical, and social programs. All run voluntarily. On the educational side, Sunshine Coast University also supports U3A Noosa by sending one of their own lecturers to provide a class, once every month, on a voluntary basis. U3A Noosa has been successfully providing an excellent array of activities for members to participate in for many years, and has become a crucial part of the daily life of each of its members, now numbering 800.

Depending on the activity, class sizes can vary from as little as five participants to as many as fifty participants, and everything has operated wonderfully until, on one occasion, a Tewantin resident made a complaint to Noosa Council about someone parking across their driveway. Suddenly "all hell broke loose": class sizes were forcibly cut in half, classes were forced to change their days, and other classes were forced to totally relocate to different locations scattered around Noosa and its environs. As a result, many senior and retiree members just gave up and withdrew from the activities and social interaction that they have loved and cherished for so many years. This is not good for these senior and retiree members of our Noosa community, and it is not a good look for Noosa Council, which in the past, has always had such a high reputation for supporting the wellbeing of its elderly citizens.

I am a voluntary tutor at U3A Noosa, and provide lectures on subjects in line with my academic qualifications. I provide classes on 'A History of Ancient Greece', 'A History of Ancient Rome', and 'A History of World Religions (back to 3000 BC)'. My classes were wonderfully supported and thoroughly enjoyed by up to 50 participants at a time, but now with cut backs in class sizes in line with the requirements of Noosa Council, my class sizes have been forcibly reduced by half, and my classes have been changed to different days that doesn't suit many students. Because of the months of research work tutors put in to preparing their lectures, this is greatly disheartening, and some tutors are now considering throwing in the towel altogether, and just giving up.

For the sake of the wellbeing and quality of life of Noosa's retirees, seniors, and elderly, I strongly encourage, no, more than that, I beg, Noosa Council to wholeheartedly support the fantastic services provided by a wonderful array of community volunteers at U3A Noosa, by seizing the initiative and doing whatever it takes to ensure U3A Noosa can continue to operate at full strength, as it has done for so many years, by initiating purpose-approved authorisation of the community facility, and by providing adequate car-parking solutions that would satisfy the Tewantin resident who lodged the complaint. Please do not let our elderly down.

Yours sincerely,

Darrel Roche
Tutor
U3A Noosa