The Sunshine Coast Regional Council says growth is no longer good, but is the state government hearing the message? As local community and environment groups urge Council to defy planning minister Hinchcliffe, Mayor Bob Abbot is trusting that his powers of persuasion will turn the tide of high growth. Hinterland Times editor, Michael Berry asked the mayor if it was crunch time.
HT: Some Coast community groups say your ‘linein-the-sand’ is simply that … a line that can easily be rubbed out … that you aren’t tough enough to challenge the state government on growth planning.
BA: Well, I’d ask at what level do I not challenge the state? There’s still a lot of work to be done on the planning scheme, and detailed work, but I don’t see any weakening of this Council’s position. There isn’t a Council policy that says there’s a line in the sand, but Council policy is determined to ensure that those long term sustainability issues are well and truly entrenched in the planning scheme.
I think there is a very strong backlash against the Queensland Government’s persistent view, and I’m talking about 30 years, that in the state of Queensland, growth is good. And when you see predicted in the next 20 years massive growth in the south-east corner, that to me rings extremely loud bells in the community.
HT: Do you think councillors would resist the state government and risk having their planning controls taken away … possibly losing their seats in the process?
BA: That’s an awful big question for a Council. If the first test comes and the state legislates to remove the planning responsibilities from all of local government, then that’s a big onus to put on the Sunshine Coast regional councillors. But let me say, this Council has a determination like I’ve never seen before.
HT: Minister Hinchcliffe recently backed down on a massive development proposal on the Caboolture River through a threat of war from the mayor of Moreton Bay. Can you say your Council is equally strong enough to support you in opposing say, Palmwoods and Maroochydore greenfield sites?
BA: The Minister is very clear on my position with Palmwoods, Caloundra South and the Maroochydore areas. There will be some development in those areas but – no development without infrastructure – that is still the solid commitment of this Council.
HT: If infrastructure is the key for your Council accepting the kind of growth being pushed by the state government, what is the infrastructure that must be put on the front burner?
BA: CAMCOS is critical. We need efficient public transport that will create movement through the coastal corridor without the need for motor vehicles. It’s got to be able to tie together the town centres of Maroochydore, Kawana, Caloundra and the future Caloundra South in a highly efficient, cheap, high patronage system. What we need is public transport on the Coast, not public transport to the Coast. I think that’s the first course of action.
HT: So why is CAMCOS so delayed?
BA: I think it’s the capacity argument. When do we get to the size that we need that kind of integrated transport system.
HT: So we have to develop first, then we get an integrated public transport system?
BA: Well, this is the argument we can play. Currently there are significant problems with traffic, and the current level of public transport is struggling to cope, mainly because it’s not competitive, because it’s on-road. Translink’s doing a great job, but they’re working on a very limited budget, and they’re working in some difficulty because of the layout of the Sunshine Coast.
The point is, we still don’t know the carrying capacity of the Sunshine Coast, yet we have been forced into making decisions before we understand what that is. My view is we need to know where the community wants us to go, and to do that we need a planning scheme in place.
HT: You told me early last year that you felt that after 350,000 people the Coast would be moving into a different style of community. Aren’t we well into that now?
BA: My original comments to you were not based on science. I only rely on what I see. The Gold Coast is the analogy that I use. When it got up to that 350,000 that’s when their world started to change and it lost its small town feel . So, I would like to see us develop policies and a philosophy so that we didn’t go beyond that. That will be heavily driven by this first Council and heavily driven by this first planning scheme. That’s why this Council wanted to put its stamp on that and get it through in this first term.
HT: Do you sense there is a crunch time with the state government?
BA: I don’t see one crunch time, but there are a number of issues ahead of us such as the minister’s response to Palmview and to Maroochy town centre, because we’ve basically dug our toes in on that. We’ve started discussions on Caloundra South and that will be another crunch opportunity. I think the really big crunch will come when Council advertises its planning scheme. That will be a milestone of some note. And we will want it finished well before the election in 2012.
HT: You were elected because many residents of Maroochy and Caloundra wanted a piece of what Noosa had – a strong balance between the built and natural environments. Half way through your term, some electors are saying where is our piece of the Noosa action.
BA: Well the reality is we are where Noosa was 15 years ago when it was having these growth arguments in the community, and when a number of battles were fought under the leadership of Noel Playford. We’re having those battles now in the south but we are faced with significant hurdles to jump because previous councils made assumptions on Caloundra South , Palmview, Maroochy town centre and Caloundra town centre. But at the same time as trying to deliver some of this growth we are trying to deliver some of that protectionist psyche for our communities to give them a rate of growth that they can accept and not lose their lifestyle.
Leave a Reply