The Property Council of Australia (PCA) has released a report, Sunshine Coast: New Initiatives, which sets out a vision for the future of the Sunshine Coast and establishes an agenda for action that the Property Council will be pursuing.
PCA Queensland executive director Steve Greenwood says the time is right to take a fresh look at the challenges and opportunities facing the Sunshine Coast and to identify a new set of initiatives to take the region forward.
"We have identified 15 initiatives across eight key areas that the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, industry and community must address if the Sunshine Coast is to have a sustainable and prosperous future.
"Many issues highlighted in the New Initiatives report have been sitting in the too hard basket for too long. We need to work together to ensure these issues are placed on the agenda for action," he says.
The report identifies a number of initiatives, including:
- the creation of a new Local Government administration centre and the relocation of State and Local Government offices to Maroochydore as the region's principal activity centre
- the completion of a review of the capacity of established towns located along with current rail corridor such as Beerburrum, Glasshouse Mountains, Beerwah, Landsborough, Woombye and Yandina to accommodate additional employment and housing
- the establishment of a Regional Infrastructure Board to identify and prioritise critical regional infrastructure such as the Kawana hospital, major public transport improvements, the construction of a convention-hotel centre and the upgrade of the Maroochy airport
- the implementation of a canelands development strategy that makes the most of the economic and environmental value of these currently derelict lands
- the establishment of a Regional Taskforce to drive improved collaboration and partnerships across all levels of government, business and community in the region
Author of the report and executive director of the Public Policy Institute at the Australian Catholic University, Professor Scott Prasser, says stakeholders in the region need to use this present window of opportunity wisely and 'catch-up' across a number of key areas like planning, infrastructure and skills development.
"Take the example of continuing community concern over population growth. The task ahead for the Sunshine Coast is not to reject population growth, but to manage it creatively and innovatively through planning policies, building designs, infrastructure investment, transport policies and land use," he says.
"Critical to the delivery of the initiatives for the Sunshine Coast is the willingness of all parties to work collaboratively for the benefit of the region as a whole," says Greenwood.
