Existing residents have had two meetings with Council in the last week
Residents have attended three meetings with Council
Large meeting on 30 July
On Tuesday 30 July, 28 residents and two members of the greater Cooroy community attended a meeting hosted by Mayor Frank Wilkie, Deputy Mayor Brian Stockwell and Senior members of Council's planning team. Two representatives of Coast2Bay also attended.
It was good to meet Council as a group. The Council had not shared the agenda for the meeting with us but did allow plenty of time for discussion. Council stated that the 3 development Lots proposed for the site were expected to accommodate 120 small dwellings. One resident had prepared a submission on behalf of the residents group which was read to the assembly. The first point in the submission was that the residents are sympathetic to the needs of those suffering from the housing shortage, and that our objective is to ensure that new housing proposals are consistent with the constraints of the place in which they get built. We want housing to be a net positive to the locations it is placed. The submission can be downloaded here.
At the conclusion of the meeting Council undertook to have frequent ongoing engagement with the residents group.
3 residents, Mayor Frank Wilkie and 3 Senior members of Council's planning team met online for a follow up discussion on Friday 2 August. Both parties reiterated the key points from Tuesday night's meeting and had ongoing discussion of the particular reasons residents in the neighbourhood seek to retain the pine forest.
We welcome Council's commitment to ongoing engagement with us and look forward to future meetings.
Online meeting on 2 August.
Round-table meeting on 9 September.
Council data transfer, 6 September.
On Friday 6 September Council released an array of reports to the residents via a new housing projects page on Council's website. We had been asking for these for a couple of months. Some residents also received an emailed letter from Kim Rawlings , Council's Director of Strategy and Planning, which responded to some of the concerns raised in all of our previous submissions to Council. The data transfer can be accessed by the links on our Downloads page on this website. This data transfer included the 1081 page Detailed Contaminated Site Investigation report (DSCI report), but importantly, no traffic study, site fauna study, or Remedial Action Plan.
Three days later on Monday 9 September Mayor Wilkie, deputy Mayor Stockwell, and planning staff Kim Rawlings, Glen Conforti and Ross Smith met 14 residents for a round table discussion. Residents Pat Spicer and Paul Noonan both read detailed submissions over a half hour. This was followed by an hour or so of discussions. The word compromise was used multiple times by Council. Perhaps the reality of the situation is sinking in.
Councillor site meeting on 4 September.
Residents met on site with Councillors Amelia Lorentson and Jess Phillips for a discussion about the site's development constraints. Cr Lorentson was particularly concerned about the late notification of Council's development plans and health risks to residents from contaminated soil excavation on such a scale so close to homes. Both Councillors expressed a commitment to help residents deal with the issues and suggested we make a Deputation to Council which we did on 19 September.
Deputation to Council's Ordinary Meeting on 19 September.
At 10am on Thursday 19 September residents Pat Spicer and Paul Noonan made a detailed Deputation for a little over 15 minutes. This was followed by a rousing ovation from the audience and a supportive email from Councillor Amelia Lorentson who thanked us for our "outstanding presentation.....If anyone wasn't listening before they are now!....you were eloquent factual, and incredibly persuasive". She also commented "Your website is also impressive and a wonderful example of a connected community seeking answers." We are very grateful for her feedback.
Mayoral 'site' meeting on 24 September.
From 4-5pm on Tuesday 24 September residents met on site with Mayor Frank Wilkie to discuss site issues. Specific argument was provided by the residents of how development could be restricted to Lot 1, the majority of contamination could remain in place, the cemetery be expanded and enhanced, and the needs of wildlife be met.
Residents, Councillors and staff meeting on 30 September.
Residents met at Council's Tewantin chambers at 5pm on Monday 30 September. Attending for Council were Mayor Wilkie, Deputy Mayor Stockwell, Councillors Finzel, Lorentson, and Wilson, CEO Larry Sengstock, Planning head Kim Rawlings, and planning staff Glen Conforti and Ross Smith. Council's Infrastructure Communications and Consultation Officer Rachel Lawrence attended for the first time.
Mayor Wilkie invited Paul Noonan to make a presentation of the resident's counter-proposal which was very well received by Councillors and planning staff. Council has agreed to examine the resident's counter-proposal for suitability as the site development model moving forward. This is a very significant milestone.
The proposal states that if residents can be satisfied that the remediation of the northern night-soil disposal area (more than the volume of 3 Olympic swimming pools) can be undertaken safely, then approx. 20 units of social/affordable housing could be built on 62LMD, and they can have an onsite recreation area. 1.7 hectares of cemetery expansion land could be reserved (more than twice Council's proposal). Cooroy Cemetery could be enhanced by addition of a bushland internment area within the Gympie Messmates. Local ecological values could be enhanced by the restoration of the spring fed ephemeral creek. The majority of the southern contaminated area can be left untouched and the contaminated material not disturbed. That area can be managed via a Site Management Plan which permits permanent retention of most (and potentially nearly all) of the pine forest.
After the above discussion residents were able to ask questions of Council attendees until 6:30pm.
Residents and Councillors on-site 28 October.
Residents met councillors Tom Wegener and Nicola Wilson on site, with apologies from Karen Finzel. Paul Noonan ran Tom and Nicola through the residents proposal powerpoint presentation as Tom was on leave on 30 September and so had not seen it before. Tom was particularly impressed. He was surprised to learn that council's contamination report for 62LMD identified contamination management options besides remediation for the 62LMD site, depending on the final site layout. This fundamental point appears not to have been communicated to the councillors by planning staff - in the same way planning staff attempted to convince residents that since the contamination has been identified it must be remediated at the first big residents and council meeting on 30 July. Planning staff had retreated from this position (with the residents) by 2 August.
The group then walked the site for local familiarisation.
Meeting with planners and some Councillors 11 November.
The Residents Steering Committee met with Mayor Frank Wilkie, councillors Amelia Lorentson and Tom Wegener (and Karen Finzel by voice link). In a significant victory for residents, Council planners have accepted several key aspects of the residents proposal including the retention of the Gympie Messmates, doubling the width of the buffer zones from Dianella Court, doubling the greenspace between the housing and significantly reducing the housing density!! Planning staff are still attempting to convince residents that the contamination must be remediated, full stop - in one noteworthy case even where the site is not contaminated!! On 2 August Planning staff had retreated from this position. Council are still paying little regard to cemetery expansion needs. While these initial gains are important, the fight will go on as we push hard to get the outcome that best balances the needs of all stakeholders.