Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
Tribute to the wreck
Read the article: Council votes to remove wreck in interests of safety
My family and I lived in Brisbane in the late ’60s for seven years. Two of my children were born there. Most weekends we’d head up to Dicky Beach as my husband was a keen surf ski rider. SS Dicky was a welcome vista on the beach. We identified with its presence and resting place.
Many years later we stayed at the caravan park there. It was 2015. We were horrified when we went to the beach – something was missing! SS Dicky was gone. I was so sad.
To add insult to injury we found a replica propeller in the park in front of the toilets. I was upset and wrote a poem as a tribute to the SS Dicky, and also disgust at the so-called safety and progress.
I have enclosed the poem. Now I await the decision re SS Dicky’s final resting place and tribute. After all, the beach was named after the wreck. Once I know the final outcome I will write a sequel poem.
The Good Ship SS Dicky
Times past.
Nothing lasts.
The good old ship Dicky is no more.
For decades she lay resting on the shore.
The rusted metal lay half buried in the sand.
It’s frame sticking up like ribs buried in the land.
The beach was named after the wreck.
An historic memento of our past to check.
Now walk along the beach.
No old ship Dicky within our reach.
They came, they plundered and took away.
The skeletal remains we thought would stay.
But wait there is a replica propeller.
Made of Plaster of Paris and painted brown by some old fella.
It is mounted to a rock.
And placed in front of the toilet block!
Maureen Parsons, Adelaide
Why can’t the council just leave the wreck alone? They have stuffed all their attacks trying to make it safe. Just do the jobs we pay you for and leave our wreck alone.
Eileen Harding, Dicky Beach
Land rights debate
Read the article: Your say: homelessness, desalination and road safety
Alan Ward of Buderim makes baseless assumptions in his letter with the preamble of: ‘I worry that …’ as sufficient substance for his arguments against Native Title. How about the rights of Indigenous inhabitants to walk in their own country?
It is a bit rich to attack the restoration of rights for original inhabitants, when history clearly shows that Terra Nullius was a myth, used by British colonials to justify confiscation of First Nations land. Native Title recognises the rights of Indigenous occupants to continue their cultural practices. For the most part, these rights exist alongside and are subject to the rights of other people in the same area.
If Alan Ward is so concerned about the matter of land rights, why doesn’t he examine the subject of foreign ownership in Australia?
Christine Bennett, Burnside
Highway concerns
Read the article: Government unlocks a further 1100 lots in booming area
A further 1100 sites at Aura! Crazy!
It’s extremely difficult to use the Bruce Highway at most times now and this is sure to create further chaos.
Tom Vichta, Caloundra
Nature knows best
Read the article: How council is working to shore up exposed beach suburb
Stop playing with nature. Leave the beaches alone. Nature has always had the best approach.
Richard Lickfold, Verrierdale
Take a chill pill
Read the article: Do we have the nation’s worst drivers?
Sunshine Coasters and visitors using our roads (or what we pass off as roads, particularly the Sunshine Motorway), please take a breath and slow down a fraction.
I drive on the motorway regularly and am appalled by the behaviour of some motorists. The incidences of tailgating and needless overtaking on roundabouts are astounding and worrying. Inevitably, once these manoeuvres are completed, particularly on the northern single-lane sections, you get past one or maybe two cars and are stuck behind further traffic. Time to take a chill pill and focus on your own behaviour. You’ve achieved virtually nothing except to aggravate other drivers unnecessarily.
We all want to get to work or home safely and not be one of the vehicles sitting in the ditch beside the road. I’m an old fart who tries to stick within the speed limits and won’t be intimidated by your road rage.
Slow down, live and let live.
Peter Brooker, Peregian Beach
Lacking etiquette
Thank you for the opportunity to voice some concerns and views on driver behaviour on the Sunshine Coast. My wife and I retired here, from Sydney, almost two years ago and love the area and lifestyle after holidaying here many times over the years.
Some of my motoring concerns are tailgating (particularly from larger vehicles – dual-cabs and so on), a distinct lack of indicator use, and a lack of manners when allowing another vehicle in. This often applies when letting another vehicle in from a side street, if sitting in traffic, allowing a vehicle out of a parking spot or just just generally allowing another vehicle to merge into a traffic line. There is rarely an acknowledgement of your actions, which I find rude and disrespectful.
I know the lifestyle here is a little slower and that’s what we love about it, but a little bit of driver etiquette is required in many cases.
Thanks again for the opportunity to express our concerns.
Love the regular updates that I receive on my mobile daily, which offer new information and updates on all things Sunshine Coast. Great job.
Gary and Hazel Meyer, Pelican Waters
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
