Residents win in Safety Dispute (TBM)

Derilict building 'Midwaters' causes concern

After years of bitter battle, Main Beach residents saw their first victory over the Gold Coast City Council this week, after a derelict building was barricaded for safety.

The property ‘Midwaters’ has been of major contention since 2007, when Gold Coast developer Jim Raptis bought the property with the intention of building a 17 storey block of apartments.

Jean Turnball and other influential body corporate members of the neighbouring building argue that the intended development defies building regulations.

“Raptis applied for a building two and a half times what the council will allow and the council ended up letting him do that,” said Mrs Turnball.

But, a 700 million dollar debt has forced Jim Raptis to put the property on the market, causing the building to remain vacant for an unknown period of time.

“The empty building started drawing bad crowds. The police were coming two to three times a day some days which made us feel very unsafe,” said Mrs Turnball.

Mrs Turnball says it took months of written complaints and various attempts to draw the Councils attention to the issue.

But, Suzie Douglas, the divisional councilor for Main Beach said that although they had received numerous complaints, there is a long process involved before council can take action.

“When we were first asked to consider the building, we had to organize an inspection by Local Law to determine if Council can request removal of the graffiti etc to improve the look and safety of the site,” Mrs Douglas said.

Although appeased with the three week clean-up of the property from the Council, Mrs Turnball is worried it’s a sign the building is expected to remain vacant for an extended period.

“It looks like it’s going to be there for a long time, they wouldn’t spend all that money and time in putting up screens and things unless it was going to be there for a while,” said Mrs Turnball.

Australia Day Pride (TBM)

Indigenous NRL player Preston Campbell © 2008 Aaron Young

‘Reclaim Australia Day’ is what Michael Searle, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Gold Coast Titans believes the ‘Aboriginal Dream Team vs NRL All Stars’ clash will bring to the Gold Coast.

According to Searle, the historical clash would be played on or on the eve of Australia day on the Gold Coast, with its inaugural game in 2010.

“The Gold Coast needs family friendly events on and around Australia Day instead of the debacle we had this year,” said Searle.

According to Searle, the idea was inspired by Preston Campbell after he captained the Indigenous Dreamtime team to victory over the New Zealand Maori last year before the World Cup.

“He made an off-the-cut remark where he said representing your country is one thing, but representing your people, that’s special,” said Searle.

Preston Campbell, who plays fullback or five-eighth for the Titans, says that having the opportunity to represent his people is something worth cherishing.

“Winning a premiership is every players dream, but to represent your people is an honour that all the boys would be proud of,” said Campbell.

The Titans CEO has already broached the concept with the games highest-profile Indigenous players and it has their backing.

“We have talked to Jonathon Thurston, we have talked to Greg Inglis and we have talked to Preston Campbell- they will give it 100 percent support,” Searle said.

With the NRL Indigenous population growing to almost 10 percent, Searle believes we have to provide opportunities for players to show their pride in their heritage.

Campbell, an advocate of the clash believes that the game would be an ideal way to achieve this.

“It’s a matter of showing my pride really, if I do play, all I’ll be worrying about is the atmosphere and enjoying the game,” said Campbell.

But, the game will provide more than just pride- with profits expected to exceed 2 million dollars, the revenue will go towards Indigenous education programs and mentoring.

Temporary relief for S.T.O.P members (TBM)

After a year long battle, the Stop the Overhead Powerline group (S.T.O.P.) have finally received committed funding to ‘underground’ part of the Mudgeeraba to Tugun ENERGEX powerline.

But, the S.T.O.P. group, auspiced by Gecko – Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council (Gecko) continues to be concerned about possible impacts on the ‘remnant’ Endangered Regional Ecosystem at Reedy Creek.

Rose Adams, President of Gecko points out when vegetation is removed, it is a requirement to offset that loss by purchasing equivalent ecosystems within 20km- which she believes difficult in this circumstance.

“Our ecosystems belong down here- the fauna that uses it is epidemic to this area, so buying a bit of scrub in Coomera doesn’t really compensate for losing it down here.”

“If it went underground at reedy creek a lot of vegetation could be saved- but, we just hope for the best,” said Adams.

Youth Allowance deemed impossible! (TBM)

Youth Allowance is ‘too impossible to get, and too impossible to live off’, argued The Australian National University Student Union at a rally yesterday.

Emma Sutherland, a member of the Australian National University Student Union argued that assistance should be made more readily available to students.

“Students have to have earned $19, 532 in the first 18 months after leaving school to be eligible- which is almost impossible for a large majority of students,” said Sutherland.

Sutherland also points out that those who do manage to obtain the assistance are then restricted to how much they are allowed to earn- which she claims makes it impossible to live off.

Hospital planning final steps (TBM)

After years of planning, The Gold Coast University Hospital is well underway this week with the release of the final design details.

The developed design adds finer details to the basic outline proposed in the schematic design, in order to establish the guaranteed construction sum of the Hospital.

With this determined the Hospital will begin construction by mid-year and proposes to be finalized by 2012.

Gold Coast University Hospital’s Assistant Project Director, Don Glynn says to expect the area to be busy over the next few years.

“There will be a lot of activity, not just us but, the rapid transit link, roads being upgraded, Griffiths own building program- it will be a hectic environment but it needs to be managed,” said Glynn.

University students put government incentive towards their future. (TBM)

In a bid to overcome the hard task of balancing work and university life, students put Kevin Rudd’s stimulus package money towards paying off their degrees.

Amelia Cameron, Gold Coast Griffith University Student says that although she has a part time job to pay for university, it is often a challenge to balance both commitments.

“It’s hard because I need money to pay for university, but at the same time I need the time to be able to study for university. So it’s kind of a catch twenty-two,” said Ms Cameron.

Ms Cameron stated that by putting this money towards her payments, she hopes it will allow her to cut back a few hours at her part time job.

“Hopefully this money will take the stress off my up-coming payments so I can concentrate on my studies,” said Ms Cameron.

Consensus is good for on-line media (TBM)

Karl Van Moorsel, an everyday user of the internet, believes that the role technology plays in media production is inherently good.

Despite acknowledging the common negative preconceptions associated with on-line media production, Van Moorsel was quick to defend the trend on the basis of accessibility.

“On-line media production allows news to be accessible to a wider audience without leaving their front door; making it appealing to a busy society,” Van Moorsel said.

He further believes that information online is appealing to a younger generation who otherwise may not go out and buy a hard copy newspaper.

Coast rents hit the roof

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/03/22/61681_gold-coast-news.html

Diva of the decks returns

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/03/23/62125_gossip-news.html

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