Hervey Bay Town Plan
Ted looks like he’s been taking lessons from the John Howard School for Dealing With Difficult Questions.
Well the town plan for Hervey Bay has been approved and the buildings are going to rise higher in some parts of the town.
I can understand why some people are already feeling angry about the new plan and Ted Sorenson’s response on the television news last night really seemed to indicate that he couldn’t care less about what many people here in town think.
The comment from one councillor that all these high rise developments would include bars and cafes on their ground floors that the people of Hervey Bay could enjoy was just delusional. We already have bars and cafes we can and do enjoy - we don’t need more in places where the rents are going to be so high that normal people won’t want to pay the prices these places will have to charge.
Now let’s hear from those councillors who got elected on a platform of keeping development along the Esplanade under control.
December 17th, 2006 at 8:22 am
I am but one Councillor in a group of eight. I firmly believe that Hervey Bay is threatened with over development especially and specifically high density development concentrated anywhere that provides a view of our Bay. Most obviously this is concentrated along our Esplanade. I am sad to say that I am quite alone in my views. I repeatedly have voted against developments that breach our town plan guidelines but am consistently the only ‘no’ vote.
Yes I have supported the new Planning Scheme. Troubling as the extra height allowance is the alternative to supporting the new planning scheme was to leave the city with no planning scheme at all. The old scheme, even if it could have been extended past December 15th, was permitting more high density over a greater part of the city. I felt caught quite literally between a rock and a hard place.
The new scheme can now be amended. I have tried already to have the maximum height reduced back to the six storey limit and failed. (Cr McNeven and myself voted for this prior to adopting the scheme but received no support from any other Councillor).
The new scheme protects vegetation, recognises wetlands and water ways and has other features which make it superior to the old scheme.
I will continue to lobby as strongly as I can against high density tall buildings but feel quite powerless to effect change without support from my fellow Councillors.
Can I please ask members of the community who share my concerns about high density to lobby Councillors directly. I fear our Esplanade will become a tourist strip catering predominantly for tourists.
Thanks, Sue