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 for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be given to letters of 100 words or less. Some of the opinions below are comments from SCN’s Facebook page.
- Read the story: Liability claim follows pensioner’s fall from seawall
Barry Alldridge, Victoria Point: Railway stations use Tactile Ground Surface Indicators to warn visually impaired persons that the edge of the platform is close. These should also be installed on the top edge of the seawall. I also believe that visually impaired people have a responsibility to utilise available tools to assist themselves when walking. I think both parties have responsibility for the man’s mishap.
Graham Lockey, Coolum Beach: The design of this wall, as well as the Mooloolaba wall, were always asking for trouble. Having an open path, or steps, with no railing is irresponsible. When you seek to build a set of steps at home, if the rise is more than one-metre, the steps and deck must have a railing. If councils build a structure that has one pale colour and no railing, or safety fence, people will fall. A black edge marker will not stop falls. Both the TS Onslow seawall and the Mooloolaba seawall steps need barrier railings, as well as handrails, to allow people to walk up and down the steps to the beach. I dread to think how many families will be faced with the very real possibility that their children will fall off these ill-designed public area developments. Maybe the answer is that the SCRC’s public liability insurers need to step up and insist that these open edge structures are banned before more people are injured.
Graham (Ned) Kelly: How long before the same thing happens at Mooloolaba?
Julie Browne: I almost fell out of my wheelchair yesterday at Mooloolaba Surf Life Saving viewing platform. You don’t have much room when everyone else is lining up for the shower. Also, there is no colour warning paint at the step and side. That’s the part my wheelchair caught and somehow I just managed to take control to stop fully falling. I believe council should re-examine all the new fancy construction for the safety of us who are unable to just manoeuvre around edges at ease.
I’m very happy to help and consult in making sure it’s totally safe for all types of abilities. Hoping to hear from whomever is involved in the construction to offer my services, thank you.
Gomez Gray: Yes, it was definitely an accident waiting to happen, and so sorry about your injuries, Steve Minton. Hope you recover quickly from your injuries, which should never have happened! I don’t understand the temporary barrier at the top, which is so easily knocked over. Is something permanent going to replace that, and are there going to be other safety and accessibility issues properly fixed?
I don’t know if I’m the only one also concerned by the lack of sun protection? So nice to sit there in winter, but surely high risk from the hot sun reflecting off the concrete in summer?
Angela Eyles: I actually wondered about this issue when I saw the wall. As beautiful as it is, there’s no indication as to where the wall ends as is required with steps. Legally it is a ‘wall’ however, in my opinion as a person with legally blind family members, it is not possible to determine safe mobility around the area.
- Read the story: Feedback to be reviewed on industrial zone proposal
Phil Broad, Nambour: My family and I lived in Cooroy for 30 years. When we arrived there, it was a wonderful village with a very strong sense of community spirit and a sufficient retail precinct. Over the years, Cooroy has been ‘discovered’ by hundreds of people who have made their home there, while still retaining that village atmosphere and strong community spirit. Development has sensibly been undertaken by Noosa Council and investors, which has further enhanced the attraction for many. This proposed development is well placed, being on the Bruce Highway and close to town, and would offer employment opportunities for locals and school leavers. Cooroy will benefit from this proposal and continue to maintain its reputation as the ‘hub’ of the hinterland.
- Read the story: Pet treat plant approved with conditions
Bob Higgs, Caloundra: Sunshine Coast Regional Council appears to learn nothing. The pet food plant will pump obnoxious odours during the manufacturing process as attempts to contain smells are very difficult and expensive, making it the first component to be ignored as more profit is demanded. Council monitoring will not happen, just like the rendering plant in Landsborough has strict operating guidelines to stop the stench in town, but Landsborough is continually covered in the awful smell, a local problem for years. The pet food plant is similarly very close to housing, but I suspect no one in council lives around there.
- Read the story: Airport opens expanded arrivals area
Anthony Robinson, Alexandra Headland: It’s about time an upgraded airside check-in security system is installed for international departures. Long lines and very limited waiting space once the security had been cleared is unacceptable. Hopefully, the new CEO can facilitate the overdue change?
Mark Payne, Peregian Beach: I love the idea of our airport getting an upgrade but the visitors then have to deal with a single lane motorway to take them to the north of the airport.
When is the pressure being on to the state and federal governments to upgrade that motorway from Twin Waters to Noosa Civic? Come on, the northern end of the Sunshine Coast needs infrastructure.
- Read the story: Teenager turns love of sport into new bar
Ant Mac: Great seeing youth with some hustle these days. Getting in and building a bricks and mortar business with his mum. Best of luck to you both.
Scotty Eccles: Great spot, great team and the food is fantastic. Highly recommend it.
Sarah Davey: This is great! He is an energetic young entrepreneur, seems like a no-brainer to me! We will definitely come watch some games and soak up the atmosphere.
Mark Lewis: The food is surprisingly great, for pub grub. Service is great, really friendly little bar manager. Atmosphere is a bit lacking – needs more sports memorabilia and I would have loved a bar you could sit around, like most sports bars.
- Read the story: Illegal e-bikes, e-scooters seized and crushed
Hubert Sigl: It seems that the rules and laws regarding illegal bikes on the Sunshine Coast are making very little difference in Nambour.
Almost every night when I drive home from the gym, I see at least two bikes being ridden illegally. What is particularly concerning is that some of them are riding without any lights at all, making them extremely difficult to see and creating a serious danger for both the riders and other road users.
I understand that enforcement is difficult, but when this happens so regularly, it is hard to believe that the current laws and enforcement measures are having any real effect.
This is not about targeting cyclists or young people. It is about road safety and enforcing the laws that are already in place. If illegal bikes are repeatedly being used on our roads, especially at night without lights, surely more needs to be done.
Nambour residents should not have to accept this as normal. I hope the relevant authorities will take the issue seriously and increase enforcement, particularly during the evening hours.
- Revelation Sunday
Garry Reynolds, Peregian Springs: Growing up on a main road in the 1950s, my brother and I used to take glasses of water to the Southern European men digging the sewerage trench outside our house. They were building the modern Australia we now take for granted, even as passers‑by yelled: “Go back to where you came from, you Itais and Refos”.
We were too young to realise these men weren’t destroying our way of life – they were improving it while working to pay for their special girl to arrive on a ship to marry and start a family in Australia.
I was reminded of this recently when Cynthia, an Uber driver, picked me up for church in Tewantin in her family’s people mover. She’d driven from Gympie after dropping her kids at Sunday service there. Cynthia was a sponsored Filipino migrant brought to a Sydney repat hospital to help fill Australia’s nursing shortage. After five years, she was working long hours with her Australian husband to improve their small farm.
Then there’s Atem, a former African child soldier rescued by the UN who studied his way into the public service. I met him when he was driving cabs on weekends to keep up with his family’s mortgage. And Ben, who migrated from England and voluntarily cleans up large amounts of roadside rubbish – Ben is 84.
With half of us having migrant parents, and two‑thirds having migrant grandparents, it’s hard to see how people like Cynthia, Atem, and Ben are the threat to the Australian way of life posed by political pessimists. They’re part of the same story as those men outside our house in the 1950s – migrants who helped build the country we’re proud to call home.
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 for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be given to letters of 100 words or less. Some of the opinions above are comments from SCN’s Facebook page.
