Hervey Bay Gossip

Imported from 8 August 2005

A little birdie has told the Gossip that three blocks of land on the corner of Elizabeth Street and the Esplanade all changed hands last week when they were purchased for an undisclosed sum.

What new development may soon be moving in to replace a well known landmark in that locality?

Imported from 8 August 2005

Tourism Australia suggests that the new flights into Hervey Bay by Virgin Blue and Jetstar will see an increase in the number of international tourists coming to Hervey Bay.

Of course this area is no stranger to international tourists. The town is liberally dotted with backpacker accommodation but tourists that come in by plane are a different group entirely and one has to wonder if the tourism industry is ready for them.

Imported from 8 August 2005

A drive along the Esplanade from one end to the other will quickly show you that the tourist season is in full swing. The caravan parks are full and tourists are everywhere.

A drive along Boat Harbour Drive from Elizabeth Street to Denmans Camp Road on Sunday afternoon provided a chance to play a quick game of spot the Queenslander. Oncoming traffic was liberally sprinkled with caravans from interstate and number plates from every state in Australia were spotted.

It’s nice to see them come and it’s even nicer to see them go because they face the long drive home while we live here in this wonderful area and don’t have to travel to enjoy it.

Imported from 3 August 2005

Coral Sea Pearls will begin its first harvest this month and is set to join the world’s largest producers of high grade akoya pearls. Early samples have shown the gems to be of world class with a beautiful lustre that is hard to achieve.

Coral Sea Pearls grow their shells in the Great Sandy Straight between Fraser Island and the mainland.

Imported from 3 August 2005

On 1 August we reported that real estate prices were in the doldrums in south east Queensland and that a further blow to prices could be looming if the New South Wales Government removed the vendor tax from the industry in that State.

The first announcement made by the new Premier of New South Wales yesterday was that the tax would be removed and so now we may see real estate investors move south to take advantage of the low prices.

Imported from 2 August 2005

t seems that local tourism operators are expecting up to 100,000 people to come to Hervey Bay during the whale watching season. Undoubtedly the whale boat operators are ready for the influx but what about accommodation in town?

Several big developments are not yet finished and a daily trip along the Esplanade during the season last year showed a forest of no vacancy signs so how will the town cope with so many more tourists this year?

It will be something worth watching over the coming months.

Imported from 1 August 2005

A report in today’s Courier Mail suggests that the residential market in South East Queensland has bottomed and probably won’t recover any time soon. In fact the slump may not be over and new lows could be reached if New South Wales were to remove a tax on vendors.

One Queensland valuer went so far as to suggest that there are almost no first home buyers currently in the marketplace in Brisbane and that demand for houses in the $300,000 to $500,000 has dwindled.

What that means for Hervey Bay is still to be determined although housing prices and demand for housing here always seems to remain strong. The arrival of the jets might even lead to an increase in housing prices and some watchers suggest that we have already seen a slight rise in the cost of rental accommodation.

Imported from 30 July 2005

Yesterday was the day Hervey Bay ventured into the jet age. Until now Sunshine Coast Express and their faithful Short turbo props have been flying into town three to four times a day and they still do.

Yesterday though the big guys in the form of Virgin Blue and Jet Star arrived with direct flights from interstate. It seems that both planes were packed with tourists and that is great news for the town.

Well, it’s great news as long as you don’t live under the flight path. One resident who has that dubious pleasure described them as being ‘very loud’ but for others not directly under the flight path found them less noisey than the daily turbo prop flights.

Take off was so silent that even people who were listening for it failed to hear it and the flight path for departure yesterday must have been down towards Rivers Head because they didn’t come back over the hospital as they did on the way in.

So perhaps some people will have to suffer the noise for the greater good of the community but one has to wonder who has to suffer and why we have to suffer the infernal noise created by the jet boat that is coming to town.

And who granted a permit for such an inappropriate tourist attraction as a jet boat in the first place?

Sunshine Coast Express’ mid morning flight banks over Kawangan on it’s way into Hervey Bay

Imported from 28 May 2005

This week the Council took out full page ads in a number of the local papers in an effort to inform people in this city of the facts regarding the draft planning scheme and the building heights that will be allowed once the scheme is passed.

A copy of the plan, including a number of maps,could be found on the Council’s Website at the time this piece was first written but they now seem to have been removed (edit on 20 Sept 2005)

The draft plan and the maps make for interesting reading and you really should take the time to read the information the Council has provided.

However, in short, an area along The Esplanade between Scarness and Torquay, and for several blocks back from the beach front will be available for developments up to a maximum height of 20 metres.

There are also several blocks in the Scarness and Torquay business districts where the maximum height for buildings can be up to 26 metres under certain conditions.

All other areas along The Esplanade are restricted and the allowable height for buildings is 8.5 metres.

Imported from 28 May 2005

Low tide at Urangan can really be deceptive. Great expanses of sand appear around the Pier as the water level drops and it can look so inviting to four wheel drive enthusiasts.

But as the locals will tell you, when the tide turns, the water comes back fast and those expanses of dry sand quickly disappear so it can be quite a trap for the unwary.

And one four wheel drive enthusiast and his passenger found that out during the low tides this week. When they realised that the tide was on the rise again they were caught well short of the high tide mark and in the end the passenger had to run in front of the vehicle to try and find hard ground so that they could escape.

With the water lapping at the tyres they did manage to get back to dry ground but it was a very close call and should serve as a warning for anyone else who thinks that a pleasant drive out under the Pier might be a good idea.