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 give to letters of 100 words or less.
- Read the story: Council backs graffiti removal efforts as resident slams delay
Lesley Evans, Kings Beach: No doubt the delay in removing graffiti at Dicky Beach Skate Park is disappointing. I am constantly sending photos and locations of graffiti around Caloundra to Sunshine Coast Council via email and have found that it is mostly acted upon quickly. Once, a 9am notification at Caloundra Bus Station Interchange stairway resulted in removal by 11.30am. Just lucky, I guess. Early removal decreases the gratification of the ‘artist’. The council did notify me that graffiti on private property can only be tackled by the property owner, which means that plenty still exists. I believe the graffiti vandals should always be sentenced to graffiti-removing chores.
- Read the story: Controversial ‘eyesore’ set to be demolished
David Ryan: I’m so disappointed with the current situation regarding the old bowls club. It was once a great club and part of the community with good affordable food and drinks, and a safe venue for entertainment that sat proudly in the centre of Pacific Paradise. To potentially be replaced by high-density and temporary housing across the road from a primary school? I do feel the community will suffer from this potential loss and poor substitute.
Lesley Evans, Kings Beach: The Green Tarragindi retirement community in Brisbane was built on a former bowls club and it still retains a bowling green. Plus there is a licensed onsite cafe, activity rooms, cinema, library, workshop, arm-height herb garden for creaky bones and many other features. It could be the perfect solution.
- Read the story: Short-stay review: applications refused, complaints down
Phillip Adamson, Maroochydore: With the proliferation of absentee property owners using their properties as short-term accommodation (STA) within the Sunshine Coast Council jurisdiction, the route that a resident has to take in making a noise complaint is totally inadequate for this day and age.
The council takes no responsibility at all for dealing with excessive noise from a noisy STA within a residential location. Instead the council will tell people to contact the police, which is only possible by completing a noise complaint form on the Queensland Police website. As if the police force is not already understaffed and underfunded. And further, this noise complaint will not receive priority police attention, particularly if police are attending more serious incidents. One can only assume then that no action would be likely for some hours or even days. So, the bottom line is that the council are not interested in receiving and dealing with a noise complaint when a resident or residents are unable to sleep because of a noise issue with a STA property and the police see a noise complaint as a low priority.
It is very easy for both the council and the police to give advice to residents to just pop over to the property and to nicely ask either the property owner and/or staying guests to reduce the noise. But such action is not always successful, and residents may not feel confident to do this in the first place, with the risk of possible verbal and/or physical abuse or even drunken violence. We are all aware that not all adults can be reasoned with in a noise complaint situation, particularly visitors to a neighbourhood who have no ongoing contact with affected neighbours. Residents have a right to peaceful enjoyment within their own homes, and this includes a safe and quiet night for sleep.
It is about time that the council set up its own 24/7 noise hotline as its current one does not handle noise complaints. The council could be guided by Noosa Council’s noise complaint system which uses a professionally trained and recognised company sanctioned by the council to attend and act upon the noise issue. To pay for this noise hotline the council needs to use the funds already generated through the extra rates charged on STA premises.
And like Noosa Council, it would also be helpful for the Sunshine Coast Council to introduce an annually reviewed short-term accommodation licence to ensure there are no breaches in the conditions of the original STA application. If an STA provider does not have a current licence then the property would not be permitted to host short-term rentals. Also, like the Noosa Council, the Sunshine Coast Council should require the STA licence number for the property to be displayed on accommodation booking site listings and at the streetfront of the property to enable affected residents to quote this when making a noise complaint, and for these complaints to be noted when an STA licence is up for renewal.
Excessive noise disrupts sleep and interferes with daily activities and can have a negative impact on people’s health if loud and a frequent occurrence. Sunshine Coast Council cannot pass its responsibilities in this regard on to the police. Noosa Council has shown the way, and as residents we need to demand action in this matter to ensure the quality of our life and sleep, and to fully enjoy our neighbourhoods and get on with our neighbours.
- Read the story: Fresh push for new laws to curb caravan parking
Rob Gray, Salisbury: How about making developers of housing estates leave enough room for proper streets, turn-arounds for no through roads and access to backyards for the people who have boats, caravans and so on? Currently developers are causing later problems for councils for the sake of a few extra dollars.
- Dimensions of dementia
Garry Reynolds, Peregian Springs: It is sad when I meet widows and they say that the last years with their husband with dementia were lost, as he wasn’t the same man. A friend took her husband to where they had enjoyed their honeymoon, hoping he would at least have a flicker of memory of the epitome of their romance. Sadly, he was unmoved.
Dementia is stealing memories, eroding personalities and indiscriminately diminishing precious relationships where love struggles to endure in a new form. People living with dementia often experience friends and family dropping away, not knowing how to interact with them once there is a diagnosis. We fear it and make nervous jokes when we misplace our keys or forget a name. We hope dementia never finds us.
For half a million Australians, dementia is not a vague threat. It is a confronting daily reality for them and their loved ones. For the first time, dementia is now our nation’s biggest killer. We have reached the crossroads with rising cases in an ageing population threatening to trigger a slow-moving personal, economic and social crisis. If we act now there is hope, but science alone will not be enough.
The good news is that a new Tasmanian study has found a link between engaging in exercise and a reduction in a protein in the blood that can lead to dementia. It has been shown that 45 per cent of cases may be preventable through lifestyle changes if we make brain health a national priority from an earlier age.
Worryingly, a barrier to early diagnosis is that more than a quarter of Australians incorrectly believe the condition only affects the elderly, and that there is nothing they can do to reduce the risk of dementia. This is tragic as early post-diagnostic support can help people maintain independence and dignity.
Pressure is already being felt on our national and family budgets, with stretched support services struggling to meet the increasing demands. While effective pharmaceutical treatments are on the horizon, focused mainstream public action across generations is required now. We can take our own preventative action too, as we know that there is a winning double we can back. What is good for our heart is good for our brain with exercise, sleep, nutrition and regularly renewing relationships.
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 give to letters of 100 words or less.
