Mitch Gaynor
MAYBE the Comiskey Group won’t get as easy a run as you might have thought with its proposal to build its 35,000-capacity festival site at Coochin Creek.
The site’s scale and location have always raised eyebrows among locals and planners alike. Expect scrutiny to intensify as details are tested publicly.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie called in the proposal after Sunshine Coast Council raised concerns about environmental impacts, traffic, safety and numerous other issues.
Ultimately, council objected to the type of development — and therefore the cost of infrastructure — that the proponent couldn’t abide. Last week we reveal today that the Deputy Premier sent an 11-page letter to Comiskey’s development arm, saying more detail is needed on environment, traffic, safety, economic claims, tourism and waste management.
It sounds like the information council was seeking, but let’s not split hairs.
The community remains divided over the proposal’s merits and risks. There is now a three-month window for the company to respond, followed by a period for public submissions
It sounds like a fair process, but if a call-in is meant to cut through red tape and ensure the timely delivery of these state-interest projects, it might be best not to book the first acts until at least 2026 (story p3).
While on the subject, we dug through Estimates to see whether these projects — or the Maleny Manor proposal, also called in by Mr Bleijie — received any airtime.
The Manor certainly did, with the opposition pressing director-general John Sosso on the whys and wherefores of the state becoming a party to a court appeal after council rejected the proposal.
It was a bit back and forth, but Mr Sosso came prepared for the question of whether any precedent existed for the state joining these types of appeals: 202 since 2016, as it happens.
And what is the cost of the Maleny Manor appeal to taxpayers so far? $85,199 was the answer.
A+ for planning, at least.
Off the hook
To keep readers posted on the latest shenanigans in my household, there’s good news: all the (pending) charges against my 12-year-old for using a stolen debit card to buy school lunch have been dropped.
It was, in fact, taken quite seriously despite my best efforts.
Police had wanted to speak to her regarding the alleged crime, but the friend who “found” the card took the fall and said my daughter was innocent of knowing it wasn’t theirs.
Who said there was no honour among thieves?
She told me she was innocent, but it’s not breaking news that kids fib. When I asked whether she’d learned anything from this nonsense, she just shrugged.
My two eldest told me I’m a naive fool for believing her. These are the same two who called — begging, and receiving — money from me while they were overseas because they were “scammed”.
Fool me once?
