Environmental and Liveability Survey
Council is asking us to have our say, so make sure it counts! We have a responsibility to stand up for our community and stand up to Council who are setting us up to stop development. With a survey now calling for a response, be aware that this presents as a manipulation tactic that could put our community in a position to stop real housing being delivered and further exacerbate our housing crisis.
There are proposed changes that will impact the delivery of new housing supply to our region, and we want to push back and make it clear that our region needs more homes to end the housing and homelessness crisis, but it doesn’t have to be at the expense of the environment.
This survey is very short but very important. Our team have read the proposed changes that relate to the survey questions and we have the following position:
Urban breaks: The current urban breaks are marked in SEQRP and do not need to be expanded, especially as the Halls Creek landholding is a Potential Future Growth Area. There is a strong need for ongoing greenfield development which is delivering most of the region’s new housing.
Urban transformation: liveability on the Sunshine Coast will rely on greenfield and infill development. Council cannot rely on community support for the proposed transformation which may take decades and there is unlikely to be sufficient, timely approvals for increased height and density in areas already occupied and developed
Dark skies - this is not a priority right now compared to housing affordability and availability. This is a proxy to limit the potential necessary expansion of the urban footprint and growth. There are enough areas of retreat to natural spaces to experience dark skies within the region.
Update statistics and facts - We agree with the direction to have a more accountable Council but they need to also monitor liveability in terms of inclusion and affordability, in line with its responsibility to facilitate sufficient housing diversity and supply - this is not just the role of the state. The strategy doesn’t focus sufficiently on supply, availability and approvals
The survey is open until 5pm Sunday 13th August, have your say: