LETTERS NOOSATODAY.COM.AU
Rates leap, roads still dirt In the Noosa Today edition of 27/5/2022, it was stated by Noosa Council that “ Most Noosa residents will face a rate increase of 5.1 per cent or about $80 a year and some residents with land valuation increases of more than 60 per cent will face higher rate increases”. I have received my rates notice, my valuation increase is below 50 per cent but my rates have increased by 17.8 per cent. Why, when the Mayor stated that” Council deliberately adopted a measured approach to ease the burden on a majority of ratepayers”, I am in the minority, and slugged a three and a half times increase to what most residents will be charged. Seems like a blatant money grab, and Noosa Council seems to have trouble with the truth. I live on a through road of 6.2 kilometres, 4 kilometres sealed and 2.2 kilometres dirt, I live on the dirt section, the last time that any bitumen went on this road was over twenty years ago. Will this outrageous rate hike mean that a section of this road might be sealed in the near future, I doubt it, in the budget I can see no money for sealing of roads, only resealing. Boulevards do cost money though, Noosa parade and Noosa Drive don’t come cheap. I’m sure that I’m not the only one in this situation, but I feel that a 17.8 per cent increase in rates is excessive. Alan Deering, Cooroy
LENSCAPE
Make TAFE useful I thoroughly agree with Peter Bositti’s thoughts on using the Tewantin TAFE as accommodation for the “not so well off” residents of Noosa. This white elephant has been unused for far too long. Perhaps the State Government should put its money where its mouth is as far low cost accommodation. M.L, Noosa
Housing not a council issue I heartily agree with the letter in Noosa Today on Friday 22 July written by Alan Williams where he mentions the problems that could occur if Noosa Council decides to get involved with developers in developing low cost housing in the Noosa Shire. As Mr Williams states, it is not Council’s brief to get involved in developments of the such as has been mentioned but should be left up to the State and Federal Governments to implement. We just need to follow the problems the current Queensland State Government is having in regards to conflict of interests when it comes to development approvals. We do not need this to happen here. Noosa Council’s chickens are coming home to roost after three years of approving virtually every application they received in regards to STAs and to a majority (71%) of applicants who reside outside the Shire. It is a pity there have not been forward thinking councillors who could foresee the problems that unlimited approvals for STAs would cause on the long term rental market – which is what is happening now. Businesses in the Noosa area cannot get staff due to a lack of quality rental properties and some have had to close down due to this problem. We must protest to the Councillors en mass to remind of their duties to their existing ratepayers and to read carefully the 32 page Draft Plan that they have put forward. As Mr. Williams mentions, public submissions on this close soon. D. Saunders
Sunrise Beach In a sad state In the chook pen, some fell off their perch, but Top Cock, Big Red Turkey and some of their bird brained Bantams survived. For nine long years they ruled the roost but were unable to resist foot in mouth disease or digest the palatable truth about the unhealthy state of the pen. Margaret Wilkie, Peregian Beach
No reason to go nuclear Your correspondent, Tom Byrnes, is justified in saying that spending $300B to upgrade Australia’s transmissions lines is crazy (NT 15 July). It was my typo in my letter to the editor the week before. It should have been $30B, still quite a bit and likely to grow. Rather than explain the details of the reasons that the upgrade is necessary, irrespective of which government might be in power, it would be best to consult the Australian Energy Market Operator’s website. Mr Byrnes did go on quite a rant and may 28 NOOSA TODAY Friday, 29 July, 2022
Daniel Muschalla of Tewantin snapped this sunset shot of the Noosa river about 5.30pm on July 9. If you have a Lenscape please email to newsdesk@noosatoday.com.au have, even if the real cost is 1/10 of the erroneous figure. His main thrust is that Australia should go nuclear. He could not understand why it isn’t a top priority. There are many good reasons why Australia will never use nuclear power. Australia intends to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and 45% emissions by 2030. It takes, on average, almost a decade from when the decision is made to build a nuclear power plant to getting power from it. The costs are huge, mainly because there are numerous safety considerations involved. The insurance that nuclear power plants will be required to have, to compensate for the fact that you cannot insure your home against a nuclear accident, would make nuclear power astronomically expensive. Besides, why risk the dangers associated with the unresolved issue of storing nuclear waste products and the expense of decommissioning an expired plant when renewables are much cheaper (and have been since 2017), more dependable and, just as important, dispersed rather than centralized. Calling Greens and progressives “narrowminded” is silly, because nuclear has been debated for 50 years and discarded by all but ideologues. Economists have long advocated a carbon tax as the best way to wean us off of fossil fuels. The only time that carbon dioxide emissions have receded in Australia was during the 2 years that the Clean Energy Act of 2011 was in place. Prices rose very little during that time but carbon emissions dropped by 7%. It could have been more but investors were scared off by the opposition saying they would repeal the act if elected. One other correspondent claimed that it is worth nothing for Australia to reduce our carbon emissions because our emissions only represent less than 2% of the total. This old line can be dismissed on the grounds that much more than half of the global carbon dioxide emissions come from countries that produce less than 2% of the total. If Australia set the example, such as you might do by not throwing litter out of your car, other countries would find it easier to embrace reductions. In any case, the point was made because Australians have the highest per capita use of fossil fuels in the world so cutting down not only our use of fossil fuels but the mining and selling of them would make a very big impact. We cannot complain about the consequences of global warming if we are not working towards a solution. Steve Hall, Cooroy
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Judy Greaves took this photo on her phone Saturday night with the sun setting over Laguna Bay. “A beautiful way to end a day in Noosa,” she said. If you have a Lenscape please email to newsdesk@noosatoday.com.au
Focus on the small things For want of a nail a shoe was lost. For want of a shoe a horse was lost For want of a horse a rider was lost For want of a rider a battle was lost For want of a battle a Kingdom was lost All for the want of a horseshoe nail. - Benjamin Franklin. 1758
In my life time I have seen so many governments and leaders ignore the small things that has cost them and their followers and more importantly the country’s lives, jobs and years of debt. We need more farriers in government not stable hands. It works at the races. Ernest Wright, Tewantin