Letters to the Editor.
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Sunday, December 16, 2007
Letters to the Editor - Leave your comments here.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
First of all, Congratulations! on providing a forum for local discussions on matters of interest. I think the general public of Bribie are tiring of the continual bickering illustrated in Letters to the Editor in our local papers concerning the dunes. Forums give everyone the chance to express their views and then hear the counter arguments.
I would like to reply to two recent comments made by FOWB members.
Merece Edwards in a recent letter to the editor feels that somehow, Council has been deceptive because she feels that they have commissioned the SEMP plan, accepted the advice in that study and then “blatantly go ahead with the original plan for the lowering of the dunes”. I guess deception can be in the eye of the beholder. And Merece is not alone with these views as it’s the standard from FOWB.
I see no deception whatsoever. SEMP clearly states that there are a number of ways to allow us to improve the dunal system so it is less prone to erosion. In the Exectuive Summary of the SEMP report it points out the dunes are in poor shape and in conjunction with the nourishment to supply sand to the beach, that the dunes need to be rehabilitated and reshaping the main dune to allow the establishment of more suitable native plants.
Rob Richards in his Editorial also mentions “dubious spin” by the Council and “dune lowering activitsts”. OK, let me give you a good example of spin. David Percival wrote to the Minister of Local Government on 12 January 2007 complaining about Council’s plans to carry out works on the main dune. He received a response from Senior Advisor Michael Dart. David then proclaimed in a letter to the editor under the title Not the Plan……”The Minister’s Office advises that lowering of the dune was not part of the Master Plan……” and then went on about the Qld governments complaints procedure.
The complete paragraph actually read: “While re-profiling the dune was not initially part of the Woorim Beach Master Plan (the WBMP), it was identified by the EPA during Council’s planning and development of the WBMP as a better way to retain the values of the coastal environment.” It continued later…..”I understand the EPA considers the impact of the Council’s works on coastal processes will be minimal and does not consider that the dune modification works will set a precedent to undertake similar works on other foreshore areas.” The complete letter should be on file with FOWB and it would be advisable for all members to read the entire letter.
So, please, don’t talk about dubious spin, you are the masters.
Have a Merry Christmas! See ya’ll in the New Year!
I recently discovered your website about Woorim Beach and was very pleased to read about what's going on there. We were residents of North Street in 2004 and still feel attached to the place. So it was a pleasure to see our fond place again, albeit online only and from a distance. We were reading with great happiness about your performance in the Clean Beach Challenge as this issue was always very important to us when we were staying there. During the year we were staying there we went to the beach daily (which wasn't too difficult as it simply was just across the road) and never came back with less than a carrier bag full of rubbish we found there. We seldom had to bring our own carrier bag as you usually could find one on the beach without too much effort. We literally collected heaps of scrap, mainly between the beach access Rickman Parade or 7th Avenue and the 4x4 access track, the area around the bunkers being the worst. When we drove onto the beach we found lots of rubbish around the lagoons, after one occasion half our truck was filled with scrap so that I had to drive to the rubbish plant at Ningi as it was simply too much for our bin at home. Sometimes there were even rather dangerous or disgusting objects to be found, such as glass splinters, fishing hooks and used condoms, which was a bit of a worry since our children got in the habit as well and were keen beach waste removers. You don't want to have them grabbing a fishing hook, do you? It is disgusting how such a nice area can be spoilt by careless visitors. Therefore it is good to see someone is carrying on our work after we have left. Good on ya', mates!
Well, thanks for your website, keep up the good work and we are looking forward to read more about Woorim Beach! Best wishes and, before I forget, a Happy New Year to you on Bribie!
2 comments:
First of all, Congratulations! on providing a forum for local discussions on matters of interest. I think the general public of Bribie are tiring of the continual bickering illustrated in Letters to the Editor in our local papers concerning the dunes. Forums give everyone the chance to express their views and then hear the counter arguments.
I would like to reply to two recent comments made by FOWB members.
Merece Edwards in a recent letter to the editor feels that somehow, Council has been deceptive because she feels that they have commissioned the SEMP plan, accepted the advice in that study and then “blatantly go ahead with the original plan for the lowering of the dunes”. I guess deception can be in the eye of the beholder. And Merece is not alone with these views as it’s the standard from FOWB.
I see no deception whatsoever. SEMP clearly states that there are a number of ways to allow us to improve the dunal system so it is less prone to erosion. In the Exectuive Summary of the SEMP report it points out the dunes are in poor shape and in conjunction with the nourishment to supply sand to the beach, that the dunes need to be rehabilitated and reshaping the main dune to allow the establishment of more suitable native plants.
Rob Richards in his Editorial also mentions “dubious spin” by the Council and “dune lowering activitsts”. OK, let me give you a good example of spin. David Percival wrote to the Minister of Local Government on 12 January 2007 complaining about Council’s plans to carry out works on the main dune. He received a response from Senior Advisor Michael Dart. David then proclaimed in a letter to the editor under the title Not the Plan……”The Minister’s Office advises that lowering of the dune was not part of the Master Plan……” and then went on about the Qld governments complaints procedure.
The complete paragraph actually read:
“While re-profiling the dune was not initially part of the Woorim Beach Master Plan (the WBMP), it was identified by the EPA during Council’s planning and development of the WBMP as a better way to retain the values of the coastal environment.” It continued later…..”I understand the EPA considers the impact of the Council’s works on coastal processes will be minimal and does not consider that the dune modification works will set a precedent to undertake similar works on other foreshore areas.” The complete letter should be on file with FOWB and it would be advisable for all members to read the entire letter.
So, please, don’t talk about dubious spin, you are the masters.
Have a Merry Christmas! See ya’ll in the New Year!
Bob Thompson
I recently discovered your website about Woorim Beach and was very pleased to read about what's going on there. We were residents of North Street in 2004 and still feel attached to the place. So it was a pleasure to see our fond place again, albeit online only and from a distance.
We were reading with great happiness about your performance in the Clean Beach Challenge as this issue was always very important to us when we were staying there. During the year we were staying there we went to the beach daily (which wasn't too difficult as it simply was just across the road) and never came back with less than a carrier bag full of rubbish we found there. We seldom had to bring our own carrier bag as you usually could find one on the beach without too much effort. We literally collected heaps of scrap, mainly between the beach access Rickman Parade or 7th Avenue and the 4x4 access track, the area around the bunkers being the worst. When we drove onto the beach we found lots of rubbish around the lagoons, after one occasion half our truck was filled with scrap so that I had to drive to the rubbish plant at Ningi as it was simply too much for our bin at home. Sometimes there were even rather dangerous or disgusting objects to be found, such as glass splinters, fishing hooks and used condoms, which was a bit of a worry since our children got in the habit as well and were keen beach waste removers. You don't want to have them grabbing a fishing hook, do you? It is disgusting how such a nice area can be spoilt by careless visitors. Therefore it is good to see someone is carrying on our work after we have left. Good on ya', mates!
Well, thanks for your website, keep up the good work and we are looking forward to read more about Woorim Beach! Best wishes and, before I forget, a Happy New Year to you on Bribie!
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