MARCOOLA ESPLANADE -
HISTORY
THE FACTS:
The land on the eastern side of this section of Marcoola
Esplanade is designated as ROAD RESERVE and extends all the way down to the High
Water Mark, and as such, falls under the jurisdiction of the
Maroochy Shire Council.
When Council sealed this section of road in 1984, they
saved money by making it narrower (only 5.8m instead of the normal 8.0m) as it
only serviced four houses.
Council then erected the Present Fence along the eastern
side of this road, replacing the old Tea-Tree Fence which was riddled with white
ants. It was actually erected a couple of metres inside the old
fence line, supposedly also to save money by not having to place extra fill on a
footpath. - So its present location is entirely
arbitrary.
But now Council maintain they can NOT move this fence
back into the dune area without the explicit permission of the E.P.A. and they have
been waiting for a letter from E.P.A. to this effect.
But even though the E.P.A. told us that they'd have no
objection to the fence relocation, they've had no correspondence from
Council concerning this matter and they refuse to issue a permit until they
receive an official request from Council.
(Like two Bureaucracies playing the CHICKEN and the
EGG game - eh?)
Now Council say they will have to RE-apply for
permission to move the fence, which will take time, and this is why they've had
to resort to the TEMPORARY measure of putting the
bikeway along our roadway.
(So- How do you re-apply without having
applied in the first place?)
Now we are being told that this Temporary situation
will continue until funding becomes available, sometime next year, provided our
new Division 6 Councilor Fahey can be persuaded to divert them from other
important works in his Yandina Area.
Everybody agrees that this Temporary (but DANGEROUS)
situation is UNACCEPTABLE.
FURTHERMORE;
At the time of sealing this section of roadway, the
owner of No.3 (The then M.S.C. Plumbing Inspector, Mr. Don
McDonald) had already constructed a concrete kerb in front of his
house, and graded it away in each direction from the centre of his
driveway.
So, even though the Master Plan indicated all
the drainage should flow north into a stormwater drain, Council saved the cost
of 1.8m of kerbing by changing the road and kerbing grade to flow south
from the centre of this driveway to drain into the dunes, thereby creating the
drainage problem which still persists today.
THE SOLUTION:
Modify the Bikeway/Roadway interface to stop cyclists
from spilling onto the road.
Put the Bikeway back onto the Footpath in front of the
existing fence as originally proposed by Wayne.
Place Bollards (Mudjimba Style - see below) along the
edge of the road to restrict access of vehicles, and plant shrubs between them
to provide at least a vestige of privacy for the residents.
Paint a YELLOW Line along the length of the eastern side
of the Street to indicate NO PARKING, and place NO PARKING Signs at each
end.
BOLLARDS - Mudjimba
Style
MORE COST SAVING MEASURES to appeal to
M.S.C.
1. Forget about fixing the Drainage Problem at the
end of the street.
We've lived with it for the past 23 years now and
don't give a rats anymore.
2. Replace the NO THROUGH ROAD Sign at the Ramona
Street corner to reduce the number of cars turning in our
driveways.
3. Use the money saved by NOT; Moving the fence and
Widening the road or Providing parking bays etc.
towards resuming the land which would be in the
Runway End Safety Zone for RWY.11/29
MEANWHILE - SAFETY ISSUES RAISED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS ARE IGNORED.
Council has a DUTY OF CARE towards both
Residents and Users of the Bikeway, but they choose to IGNORE this
issue when they are in PENNY-PINCHING Mode.
Read All About It in this Newspaper Clipping from 20th. April 2007.
NB: the HIGHLIGHTED bits.
COOLUM NEWS 20/4/07
(Click to Enlarge)
With reference to the highlighted bits in the above story in the Coolum &
North Shore News on 20/4/07
"PATH TO NOWHERE" - we wish to make the
following comments;
In order for Council to
REAPPLY for permission from the E.P.A. would it not have to APPLY in the first
place?
I don't know how many times I have said this over
the past 6 months, but the answer from Council is ALWAYS the same
"It's the EPA's Fault we
can't move the fence back" , but as at Noon last Wednesday
(18-4-07) there had still been NO Application lodged by the Council to
move the bikeway back into the Road Reserve
(er...sorry...Dunes)
And an E.P.A. spokesman (Paul Michaels) is quoted
as saying;
"If chopping down trees
in order to expand the path caused erosion they may not allow the bikeway to go
ahead"
Well HELLO!!! Guess What? NO TREES!!!
Paul obviously has not yet made a site inspection
- And why should he when Council has not yet made an APPLICATION
(Let alone a
RE-APPLICATION.)
In fact - The ONLY Trees under threat have
already been chopped down by Council and they were the Banksias which our
"Community Conservation Group" planted on the footpath and in the dunes at the end
of the roadway which were cleared to make way for the Bikeway last week.
Gosh! - Didn't E.P.A. know about
that?
UPDATE - FRIDAY 27th. APRIL
QUOTE - Cr. Northey - from News Story above: ".....I have asked Council to look at putting 'Slow Down' Signs or
something in place so that cyclists have to slowdown before
coming onto the Esplanade"
Well TODAY (Thursday 26th.) that
'SOMETHING' was installed to satisfy Council's DUTY OF
CARE.
Here are PHOTOGRAPHs of the said
'something'
|
|
This is Tony's 'SOMETHING' ...
|
..It REALLY doesn't WORK ! |
|
|
HOW SAFE IS THIS?
The BANANA BENDS do NOTHING
to SLOW DOWN the Riders Mate!
|
|
CLICK the PICs for Enlarged View.
And as for the E.P.A.'s grave concerns about chopping down the trees......... Take a look below.
.
RETURN TO HOME PAGE
No.1 
No.2 
No.3