Outgoing mayor also delivers verdict on perceived hinterland-coast divide
By Sonia Isaacs
AS the 12-year tenure of Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson comes to an end, GC&M News spoke with the outgoing Mayor to reflect on key achievements and challenges, advice for his successor and the perceived Hinterland/Coastal divide.
He said, while he acknowledged the assumption that some residents of the Hinterland region felt neglected in comparison to their Coastal counterparts, he said often in the same breath people also tell him they wouldn’t want to live on the coast for love or money.
“Council spends more money in the Hinterland than it collects but that’s understandable given the spread out nature of population. I’m very happy to have the conversation with people about the significant and world class investments such as the Sunshine Coast Ecological Park and Dark Sky Project council have committed to in the Hinterland region. The Biosphere should also give great certainty to people in the Hinterland, particularly around areas like agriculture and tourism,” he said.
Mayor Jamieson said one of the achievements he was most proud of during his three successive terms in office was leading the Sunshine Coast back from economic underperformance and uncertainty following the Global Financial Crisis. He said he hoped people in the Hinterland would enjoy benefit from the income increase, while living in close proximity to areas of outstanding natural beauty.
He said he was proud of the way council had strategically created a strong and attractive economic environment where growth and new industries could see opportunity to expand and develop. He said a key achievement was bringing household incomes up from sitting 22% below state average, to par with the rest of the state.
“This has been a dividend for the community they’ve gotten out of supporting the initiatives of the councils I’ve led. Today families can stay and have good education and jobs, earn good money and participate in new industries. This has been a great outcome and I’m really proud of that,” Mayor Jamieson said.
When reflecting on the topic of challenges, Mayor Jamieson said the need to deliver on commitments, particularly in alignment with Council’s strong green agenda, had sometimes proven to be challenging – particularly around community agreement. The mayor also acknowledged transport and delivery of the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line were ongoing and critical issues, particularly for Hinterland residents.
“Without significant investment in existing roads and new transport corridors the future of our region is at risk. The rail line is absolutely a crucial piece of transport infrastructure,” he said.
Speaking of council’s opposition to extending development to Halls Creek, Mayor Jamieson said a key issue involved the lack of public transport planned for the area. He also said Council believed to push south into Halls Creek would put Pumicestone Passage and Ramar wetland at risk.
“In council’s mapping, a significant area south of Roys Road makes up the Inter-urban break. We think that is a really important point of arrival for the Sunshine Coast. We want an area that separates us from greater Brisbane. We don’t think sprawling growth is in the best long term interests of the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
“It’s logical that you would put the next large population wave onto Beerwah East because the CAMCOS corridor runs through there and provides the necessary public transport to move people around,” he said.
Mayor Jamieson said the initial challenge for the incoming mayor would be to build an effective team commitment to agreement and delivery.
“Leadership is incredibly important, and the mayors role goes well beyond cutting ribbons. It’s about engaging effectively with both the Federal and State government for a fair share for our region,” he said.
Mayor Jamieson also cited the increasing challenge of building community commitment and resilience for local disaster management, and the importance of having a clear and defined agenda. He urged voters to thoroughly analyse who they plan to vote for in the March 16 election.
“It is important our next mayor has the capacity and the experience to lead an organisation of 2000 people,” he said.
“They should be proudly independent and be able to represent the Sunshine Coast community at every level. It’s a $1bn budget, so having financial management capacity would also be worth considering.”
