A couple of weeks ago, I was on about caravans and campervans parked indefinitely on the side of the road and I must say I got some interesting comments from people.
The result, though, was that nothing can be done unless there is a rule change by Sunshine Coast Council (which I would think would be highly unlikely). So, it seems, the column was a waste of space.
It did flush out some observations around the Coast about other annoying things – like the poor lady who was fined for not having her dog under control. She says the only thing she was guilty of was not having it tethered correctly, even though it was annoying no one. It’s a bit like the people fined for having their foot on the dog lead rather than holding on to it.
Now, there are always two sides to a story and the truth lands somewhere in the middle. But surely, even if it is only half-true, council officers can exercise some common sense.
I can point out on any given day dog owners who deserve to be fined, where their dogs are actually causing drama to others and are not properly tethered.
On a completely different tangent, we are becoming a very self-centred community – whether it be caravans and boats on the side of the road or Fluffy the emu in Nambour, which upset someone riding their horse (last time I checked, the horse is not native to Australia). What really stands out to me is that we are becoming a ‘123 society’: me first, second and third and bugger the rest of you.
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I mention this because a couple of Sundays ago, I was walking my dog George (under control at the time) and I could hear doof-doof music. My first thoughts were a party that had continued on through the night. But it turned out to be a coffee shop with a DJ at breakfast time. Are you serious? A bunch of Lycra-clad folk was dancing away, right under a bunch of high-rise apartments, with zero regard to residents.
It doesn’t really impact me but I have to wonder what the residents of those buildings thought about an early morning disco. A dog not tethered correctly but not bothering anyone (allegedly) getting the owner a $800 fine seems excessive to me while Snoop Dogg is pumping out a whole bunch of nuisance at 6.30am – 123 it is!
Ashley Robinson is chairman of Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder Netball and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
