A long-term property developer’s prediction for housing has become a reality.
Bill Freeman penned a letter to the editor in the Sunshine Coast Daily, in 2008, explaining why the region, especially Noosa, could face tough times.
“All elite areas have a reservoir of workers and industrial areas that drive the commercial engine,” he said in the letter.
“I foreshadow serious problems if there is any radical movement that starts with population capping.
“This leads to job losses, eventually leading to elitism and lack of affordability for future generations.
“Warranties … for affordable living would be a great start.”
A ‘population cap’ was introduced at Noosa in the 1990s and gathered steam in the 2000s.
Mr Freeman told Sunshine Coast News the ‘cap’ was now problematic, with people forced out of town by high prices amid high demand for a limited number of properties.
“It’s a popular place to be,” the 79-year-old said.
“I think it (the ‘cap’) is elitism. The people in working industries there must go west to Cooroy or Yandina to live, and travel to Noosa to work,” he said.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor with your name and suburb at Sunshine Coast News via: news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au
Environmentally-conscious Noosa Council said the maximum capacity for development was 63,000 people.
Mayor Clare Stewart said council was responding to the housing crunch.
“We are working with all stakeholders, existing property owners and other levels of government to provide more housing choice,” she said.
Council’s Director of Environment and Sustainable Planning, Kim Rawlings, said the shortage of affordable and available housing was not unique to Noosa and a strategy was in place to address it.
“The endorsed Housing Strategy provides a clear direction of what steps are within our power to ensure people have access to safe, affordable housing,” she said.
The strategy includes getting more self-contained granny flats and units into the permanent rental market and encouraging new developments to include more smaller dwellings.
Neighbouring region ‘lacks’ green space
Noosa’s next door neighbour, the Sunshine Coast region, has experienced rapid population growth and the local council has stressed the need to balance the requirements of the people with the sustainability of the area.
Mr Freeman said Maroochydore, where there is an emerging CBD, lacked green space.
“I would have liked to have seen a city garden centre,” he said.
“All our capital cities and many regional towns boast them.
“I disagreed with the urbanisation of Horton Park Golf Club (the site of the new CBD).
“I wrote a lengthy submission to council and said, ‘if the Sunshine Coast becomes the populous area that we seem to be heading for then it will not have a city heart.’
“All the major cities have big parks in the middle of them, but we’ve got nothing.”
Mr Freeman lobbied political heavyweights and local products Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan at the time but nothing happened.
“It would have been a good mark they could have left behind,” he said.
Mr Freeman said high rise buildings were “good” for accommodation “in the right places”.
“If you concentrate them, it becomes an urban jungle.
“It used to take me 10 minutes to drive from Maroochy Waters to Kawana but now there’s about 23 sets of traffic lights to get to Mooloolaba.”
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said more green space was coming to Maroochydore.
“Planning for Maroochydore City Centre includes the Maroochydore Parklands Precinct, intended to become a major community parkland for informal recreation activities and high-quality urban open space.”
“The new city centre will provide more than 20 hectares of public open space, waterways and public realm infrastructure.
“The (added) green space will complement the existing substantial green space in the broader Maroochydore area, which currently includes approximately 100 hectares of public open space for recreation, sport and conservation purposes.
“There are also valuable waterways, foreshores and beaches in the Maroochydore area that make it a unique and valuable locality for community recreation and the environment.”
Mr Freeman is essentially retired. He was a successful land surveyor, developing more than 1000 homes along canals, mainly at Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, and Noosa. He has holdings in Maroochydore and Gladstone and has supported many community groups, RACQ LifeFlight and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
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United action
Meanwhile, a Sunshine Coast housing analyst who is pushing for ongoing united community action to address housing stress, is urging community members to “spend 15 seconds” to sign up to help raise public awareness of the housing crisis.
Mal Cayley, of Direct Collective, has launched the Homes for Everyone website to help inform and motivate the community about the issue.
To sign up to the Homes for Everyone supporters list, click here.
“We need strength in numbers to show the politicians and decision-makers that we want to end homelessness and the rental crisis. It affects all of us,” Mr Cayley said.
“We’ll keep you updated with our progress, but we certainly won’t be marketing to you.”
Mr Cayley has previously revealed that, by his calculations, the Sunshine Coast is at least 8000 houses short, with 5500 of those needed for our desperate rental sector.
