Showers min 16° - max 24°Survey unveils Coast future no-one wants
12:00a.m. 2 March 2008
It’s the summer of 2020 and you’re on your way to Mooloolaba beach.
As usual, the traffic is gridlocked across the Maroochy River Bridge.
When you finally arrive, it takes another 45 minutes to find a park. You put the steering lock on, set the alarm, and hide your valuables under the seat but you’re still nervous you’ll return to find them gone – this carpark is notorious for theft.
You would have taken the bus, but they run infrequently and are overcrowded.
You dodge the litter on the parched brown esplanade grass and note someone has defaced the Steve Irwin memorial again.
The beach is crowded with snap-happy tourists and you jostle to find a spot that isn’t shadowed by towering high rises.
This is the worst-case-scenario future no one wants but it is also the future many of us envision.
With only 15 days left until the formation of the new super council, the pressure is on our elected leaders to make sure this future does not happen.
This year, the Sunshine Coast Daily, Seven Local News, thedaily.com.au and the University of the Sunshine Coast joined forces to present a four-page survey to guage what really matters to you on the eve of a new era for our region.
Your Coast Your Say
The Your Coast Your Say Survey attracted 1582 entries, making it the largest ever residents’ survey ever undertaken on the Coast.
As USC analysts began sifting through the responses three clear messages emerged time and time again.
• We do not want high rises.
• We do not want to be another Gold Coast.
• We don’t want our environment and lifestyle ruined by overpopulation.
The biggest result of the survey was for the question of whether population growth was a concern, to which 77% said yes and only 13% answered no.
Two weeks ago, the Sunshine Coast’s most influential players met to discuss the formation of a committee for the Sunshine Coast.
Based on the highly successful Melbourne model, the bipartisan committee consisting of members from community groups, business and development sectors and environmental agencies, would develop innovative and practical ideas to lobby all levels of government.
The state government predicts an extra 180,000 people will move here in the next 20 years and while its South-East Queensland Infrastructure Plan has allocated $13.2 billion to Sunshine Coast projects, the plan has not been accepted without cynacism.
Managing growth on the Coast
The South East Queensland Regional Plan includes 11 new schools at a cost of $437 million, the Kawana hospital at $940 million, the $1.7 billion Traveston Crossing Dam and $564 million Northern Pipeline Interconnector.
And the government is planning for a multi-modal transport corridor to cope with growth, including a $1.2 billion extension of the main North Coast railway line from Beerwah to Caloundra by 2015 and Maroochydore by 2020 .
In addition, each council has drafted a Local Growth Management Strategy to cater for proposed growth, however, these documents have not yet been signed off at a state level.
Caloundra’s LGMS was signed off on by council in November last year.
It predicts the population for its current electorate will grow by another 70,000 people in the next 20 years under a growth plan approved by the council.
Maroochy’s LGMS projects its population will almost double with 53,000 new homes.
The lengthy document shows Maroochy plans to concentrate most of its growth around the key urban areas of Maroochydore, Nambour and Sippy Downs.
Noosa’s LGMS was drafted late last year without fanfare, but is on hold until the new super council decides on whether one overall planning document is needed or if the three should remain separate.
Despite this, only one in five of us think these plans will contribute to a better Sunshine Coast by 2020.
Have we left it too late?
The bad news, according to Doctor Scott Prasser, senior lecturer in business management at USC, is we’re already half way to becoming the Gold Coast.
He said the formative years of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council were vital to avoid a Gold Coast-esque landscape within the next two decades.
“You look at the Gold Coast and you look at the Sunshine Coast and we’re 10 years behind,” he said.
“To stop that from happening, maybe the new regional council might be able to have a whole of region approach, where some of the good things that have happened up in Noosa can be applied around the region.
“It doesn’t have to become like the Gold Coast, but the trends of population growth, suburban sprawl east to west, and the road networks, are in that direction. ”
Similarly, Doctor Richard White, a USC sustainability, water supply and engineering expert, said “the potential is there”.
Dr White believes public transport will be the major issue in the near future.
“Twenty years is going to fly buy,” he said. “At one level, I would have thought quality of life across the entire planet is going to drop as the population increases, but I think that if it’s managed it will be okay.
“Public transport needs to be improved dramatically, and certainly that is on the cards, but it concerns me that we’re spending huge amounts of money to make it easier for people to drive cars.
“It would be good to see light rail across the Coast, tram systems and buses that run on gas rather than diesel.”
What we want …
But we’re still not ready to abandon our cars.
Only 20% chose public transport as their preferred mode of transport for the future.
Recycled water is the most preferred option to address the coming water crisis, whereas, the Traveston Dam has lost support since last year’s survey from 12% approval to 8%.
It appears what matters to the community has changed a little since the last survey in February last year, which attracted 900 entries.
While attitudes about overdevelopment remain the same, with a resounding 90% against high-rises in last year’s survey, Coast residents have changed their tune in some areas.
In last year’s survey, the biggest crime concern was drink-driving. This year, 67% were concerned about crime, listing street violence as the most significant problem, followed by crimes against children. Daylight saving gained more support this year, with 61% for it, compared to less than half last year.
Doctor Bishnu Sharma, who poured over every single survey, can reassure you that the results are vital information at such a formative time in our history.
“We live in the information age and if we know what people are thinking, we can plan,” he said.
“Statistics are very important in any type of planning.”
Other Your Coast Your Say stories:
Development is our key concern: survey
Abbot is favourite for top job
Tourism numbers too big for us
Why we’re gloomy about the Coast’s future
Daylight saving gaining support
For our election coverage and candidates nominating for council, visit our election '08 page.
Recent Comments
I never returned to the Gold Coast until I was in my mid 50's and I was as they say, gobsmacked at the changes. All the way from Tweed Heads there was nothing I recognised.
High Rises dual roads cars everwhere and in Surfers itself (I took a wrong turn somewhere) it was worse.
I had absolutely no idea where I was going and the people I asked were so very rude.
I love the Sunny Coast and it would be a crying shame to allow it to be like the Gold Coast.
At the very least we have clean air, clean water, uncrowded beautiful beaches, lets keep it that way.
Life is not all about the money and possessions. We have a great lifestyle here with room to move let's keep it that way.
The sad fact is that that IS a description of Mooloolaba today, on any weekend during summer. There are a couple of other beaches almost like this on the Coast but Mooloolaba seems to be the trendsetter.
What I think that we really don't want is for the rest of the Coast to end up like Mooloolaba. We can still do it, but we need to act now and with conviction.
The only part of your description of 2020 Mooloolaba that isn't true todat is the parched brown Esplanade grass. Everything else you describe is there now.
The developer who caused it all should hang his head in shame.
Here is the simple fact, there are more people today then there were then and this brings cars, car parking, accomodation, etc. Based on what this survey says we need to stop everything and not allow any more people to live here so as we lucky few who got here some years ago can enjoy the beach. Am I correct???
Interesting this survey is mediated by a professor from one the fastest growing Uni's in Australia who in itself has added how many extra people to the coast? The other interesting thing is that after this survey we sent the winners to the Gold Coast for a holiday.
We needed the Uni and it is one the best things that has happened but with it comes growth so lets manage it the best we can.
The other choice is go back to the 50's, 60's or 70's and have the life "sunnyone44" talks about. By the way, remember the Coolangatta pie shop, lining up in your board shorts with a under dollar and buying those huge fantastic home made pies! You can still do that at Mooloolaba so some things don't change, they just cost more than a dollar.
Could it possibly be the one also responsible for SOUL on the Goldcoast - a 77 story tower on the beachfront. And COCONUT GROVE which is being built on the site of the hillside coconut grove on Macrossan St, Port Douglas. It hits you right in the face as you drive into Port Douglas.
"The state government predicts an extra 180,000 people will move here in the next 20 years".
This is not entirely correct. The state government through the Regional Plan requires the three sunshine coast shires to make planning provision for 180,000 more people. There is no consultation, no science, no planning methodology except an extrapolation of current historicaly high growth rates.
Now, that's some real science content.
Has anyone found out what candidates think is the biggest issue facing them in the next four years?
Have any candidates volunteered any view on the big issues they are supposedly going to manage?
I wonder if they know or care.
These big issues will be largely dealt with by the staff, and some candidates will be lazy enough to only take on that part of the job that makes them look good.
What makes them look good is being able to tell residents what they are doing for us ( read: what the staff tell them is the best outcome).
The part of the job that I think WE WANT them to do is much more difficult:
Represent our views, argue our case, stand up for the ones whose lifestyle is diminished by council decisions.....
Which candidates are up to that job?
Maybe OSCAR has a list.......
Most people will be disadvantaged by more housing estates, more high-rises, less liveablility and more stresses. Some groups will be advantaged, mainly developers and businesses!
Our coastal areas will be destroyed, and our sensitive biodiversity will mean more losses of wildlife. We are heading towards the errors of China and India! We need to stop our immigration and become economically stable.
The right wing, money oriented view is that the ageing population is a problem in that they don't participate in the workforce and are a burden in terms of health care and other services .
However, lots of 'aged' make contributions far more valuable than money.
In many cases the entire social capital of, particularly small towns, is in the hands of the 'aged' population.
Does anyone think we might be getting closer to valuing social growth as much, if not more, than economic growth?
If we were all willing to move a little to the left, I'm sure the balance could be managed without courting massive numbers of migrants.
The answer is in education.
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