Development & Infrastructure

What Strategy?

Where are the plans?

That’s a good question. Where are all the plans to support the future growth of this electorate? Where is the documented evidence that all the levels of government in our electorate are working together and creating plans for our area? Plans that take into account every aspect of community growth. A growth that is so rapid that if the ball doesn’t start rolling on these projects within this election cycle, our quality of life will significantly deteriorate.

Where is the strategy?

Where is the list of projects to support our growth? Our local member is a town planner by trade, yet nothing has been done to address the real issue of identifying the infrastructure necessary to support this level of growth/development. Talk about asleep at the wheel. The other two major parties offer nothing as well. One party player is looking to “change the government” so they can do projects everywhere BUT HERE! The other catch cries a couple of road upgrades and let’s have babies again at Yeppoon.

But to do that we need to assess the surrounding hospital land, along with the structure of the building that allows additional levels to be built. Thus turning the current hospital into a facility that can cope with more than 65 thousand people over the next decade, and into the future. Not only incorporate a birthing centre but add palliative care, which will be necessary to support the increasingly large coastal ageing population. Allow them the dignity and kindness to pass peacefully amongst family and friends. To do this a plan is needed, a strategy in place, and a State Member scull dragging every level of government through their treasury to pay for it.

Planned Road Infrastructure?

Certain roads need to be opened up to four lanes. Scenic, from Lammermoor to Tanby roundabout, then to the highway. This requires an additional bridge over Ross Creek. Imagine a bottle neck there, then emergency services needed to get through!

Tanby Road needs to be four lanes in preparation for all the housing estates that are opening up along Tanby and Kinka Road towards Emu Park. Tanby to Emu Park Road (Post Office Road turn off) needs a significant upgrade to filter off Rockhampton workers from local school traffic.

The road, roundabout and bridge in front of MacDonalds and Yeppoon Central need to be upgraded and open up the bottlenecks that occur every school morning. That space does not work now, cannot support the additional growth, and should have been addressed when the shopping centre was built.

These are just the obvious road works required.

Health services, education, housing, family and youth support plans?

Already mentioning the hospital, the additional services required to support massive growth have not been addressed. The biggest issue is aged care. Where are the plans for aged care facilities? Along with the allied health services that are required for a growing ageing population.
Where do the workers providing those essential services live? Where will their children go to school? Where will the teachers live? Where will the people servicing the needs of health workers and teachers live? The hairdressers, the retail workers, the cleaners, the gardeners, administration staff etc.

What support services are we going to have in place to support this community? What is projected to be a community of 62,000 people by 2031? What mental health, youth and family services? What medical clinics?

What about emergency services? Policing?

What about our cultural life? What kind of culture and recreation do we want to foster in our community to be a thriving, supportive, healthy community?

Where are the forums and the consultations?

Not pointless busy work like the recent council ‘Have your say on the 2030 plan’ which addressed nothing and omitted significant issues like accessibility.

Where are real community leaders?

We are going to need some and fast. All these projects (and more) need to be addressed this election cycle. And they need to be addressed at all levels of government. We can’t have party lines and petty politicking if we want to have a positive quality of life in this area. We need someone who can act now. Not someone who did nothing for a decade, not someone who bailed on their Councillor duties, not someone whose focus is on the business of politics and leading their party taking their focus away from this area.

We need a community member, committed to this electorate only.