(from an anonymous contributor)
"Today I met with a woman with piercing eyes that see much, as they dart around and collect information. She had to sit down to speak with me, as she can’t breathe properly when she talks whilst standing. She attests to having a dire health condition, which keeps her bedridden more often than not. I didn’t ask what her condition was, but I could hear the occasional breathless hitch as she spoke, and I noticed a scar on her chest. Ironic, because this woman is whip-smart, with a big heart, and she has much to say, all of which is researched and grounded in facts rather than emotion. You can tell she’s tired.
If there was ever someone to lead the charge to save Noosa from the current fracturing of our community, this woman would be it. She has the facts and figures, she is articulate, precise, and her arguments are irrefutable. Unfortunately, she is being betrayed by her body. A body that just wants to rest, to relax, and to live calmly. As she deserves.
But this is not what happens when you retire to Sunshine Beach, the jewel of Noosa Shire, and you find yourself surrounded by short term accomodations. As she says, we shouldn’t even call them holiday homes- they are actually unregulated motels. Motels that would be more at home on a reality program called, “Australia’s Most Embarrassing Bogans” than in a quaint residential street in the paradise that used to be Sunshine Beach.
Despite not being able to stand for long, this is one lady who is not taking this blight lying down. Today she spoke with a journo from the Sunshine Coast Daily, succinctly and clearly saying what we all want you to know. That there needs to be community consultation on STAs, that there needs to be on-site regulation of these flop houses and party joints, that council needs to divulge what ‘some’ approvals of more STAs exactly means (beware: you could be getting one next door to you), and that council (elected by the community) needs to protect all of the community, not just those loud voices who push their STA agenda through in sound bites, as they make their easy money, whilst the people who live in this town suffer.
This tenacious little lady said that she moved here to live in peace, to not make an impact on others, and with the hope that they would leave her unimpacted.
Well. like it or not, she made an impact on me today.
And I think she deserves her peace.
We need to do better."
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