By Mitch Gaynor
BEERBURRUM residents are urging Sunshine Coast Council to reject a proposed service station at the entrance to the township and instead consider transforming the site into a tourism, cultural and visitor hub.
With the controversial development now at decision stage, residents seized on a visit by the Mayor and councillors last week to directly raise their concerns about the proposal.
Long-term resident Kate Grealy said the community was not opposed to better local services, but questioned the need for another service station given existing facilities within a short drive of Beerburrum.
She said the proposed site, opposite Beerburrum State School and adjoining the Glass House Mountains National Park trailhead, presented a much bigger opportunity.
“The best outcome would be that council just squashes the development application,” she said.
“The site itself is just so sensitive, with its proximity to the trailhead.
“I believe that council should invest in acquisition of the property, and that they should clean it up to a very high environmental standard.”
Ms Grealy said the property could instead allow the existing trailhead to expand into “a visitor information centre, a cultural and historical hub”.
Council was investing significantly in the trailhead, which attracts large numbers of visitors accessing the mountains, with further investment planned as part of the Seven Peaks project.
Residents have also raised concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety near the school, bushfire and stormwater risks, noise, air quality and proposed operating hours from 4am to 10pm.
Ms Grealy said there were already several service stations within the wider Beerburrum and Glass House Mountains area.
Division 1 Councillor Jenny Broderick said community feedback on the proposal had been mixed, with some residents supporting improved access to fuel, food and local employment, while others questioned the scale and suitability of the development.
She said particular concern had been raised about the proposal for four bowsers and eight refuelling points, which would be substantially larger than the former service station on the site.
Council had sought further information from the applicant on matters including character, need, amenity, environmental impacts and bushfire risk.
Cr Broderick said council officers would now assess the applicant’s responses alongside community submissions before deciding whether further information was required and whether the application needed to come before councillors for a vote.