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We need to grow up and embrace what the new $90M Council building represents If social media commentary is anything to go by, I can already feel my inbox blowing up. I unequivocally support the new development in the Hervey Bay City Centre as a fantastic landmark statement that says to all, ‘Hervey Bay has grown up’. Sure, the project will feature a new public plaza, a larger library over two levels and a stack of event spaces, but it is the essence of the bold project that signals our region is finally shedding its sleepy fishing village persona. Hundreds of jobs will be created, and local businesses will reap huge benefits during and after construction. Not everyone will agree about the need to create a social, economic, and cultural heart in
Hervey Bay, but the same people who object to it are likely less affronted by the value of their home soaring by 20% across the last two years as Hervey Bay establishes itself as a prosperous city on the move. Council is stumping up the money through a Federal Government Grant north of $40 Million, selling Council land and general revenue. I don’t get the backlash. What’s the problem? You don’t see droves of people flooding Facebook with keyboard pitch forks in hand when much loved cane fields are converted to land estates. The difference of course, in this instance, is every ratepayer thinks they are paying for it. That may be partly true, but aren’t we all
f LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR Love where I live
I love Hervey Bay with a passion for its beauty and tranquillity, the beaches of white sand and shells, the rocks and pools that hold life and mystery for the adventurous. The pleasure the safe and inviting ocean can deliver and the havoc she can render when the elements change at the whim of Mother Nature. The diverse and varied foreshore from Gataker’s Bay to Urangan so vastly different now to when Boyle Martin landed here in 1863. The generations of families who have either holidayed
or lived here and embraced all she has to offer and the cherished memories that are embedded in those people’s minds. I was not born here (my father was born in Maryborough in 1924), but I went to school, married and raised my family here, it has been my home for over seventy-five years, and it makes me feel safe.
Bev Cornwell
$15million
Last week’s letters to the editor demonizing e-scooter behaviour prompted a thought.
invested in having our rates pay for things that make our city a more desirable and cosmopolitan place to live and work? This is a Tier One builder’s job which means it won’t be awarded to a local company, but Council could do much worse than vigorously including a heavily weighted condition around local sub-contractors and suppliers and selling that to the community. They also should have launched the building with an appropriate name, perhaps in honour of a long term and highly respected community champion, to galvanise it from the chirpings of Bruce Saunders and others. Overall - It’s a big fat tick from me. Email me and tell me what you think.
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Had Council offered the choice between two possibilities, $15million for the Boundary Road Extension for vehicles or $15 million for designated e-scooters and e-mobility scooters paths, which would the letter writers choose, and more particularly, why? Thank you, Council, for your efforts and thank you H.B. Advertiser for your public service.
wide open oval shaped space for people to use as an ‘open’ space. Have you never been there to watch and listen to entertainment. Have you never driven past and seen groups of children and adults training and exercising. Have you never seen people picnicking there. We love our Seafront Oval the way it is!!!
Pam Coles
E-scooter numbers
After reading the editorial in the Hervey Bay Advertiser on July 14, I assume this related to the e-scooters for hire, which I believe are reasonably well regulated, with
F.Ekin
Seafront oval
I’m answering the letter about the Seafront Oval. It’s an ‘oval’ for a reason. It’s a
regards areas they can go, their speed and Third Party Insurance. This last one being questionable, after what has been on the news lately. I would therefore like to address the problems arising with privately owned scooters, which I have seen in abundance, with the numbers appearing to be growing. I have come home at night, across a few scooters, at times, on Washington Drive in Urangan. Some of my concerns relate to the following. Lack of visibility as most of the riders I have seen at night have tended to wear dark
f
clothes, no high visibility vests, and poor lighting or no rear lights on the scooters. Most of the ones I have seen in Urangan show little care with the use of the road and in some cases, no helmets. Are they supposed to be on the road if they have power and unregistered? I have also heard of scooters being stolen, where security chains have been cut off, and one being taken about a week or so ago from a rider by some people who wanted it more than the owner did and threatened him. I believe they also took his mobile. This was on the local news.
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