Jean Harris was accepted as a new member of BeCA, welcome Jean.
Our Landscaping sub-committee will be meeting with the SCRC to discuss the landscaping situation within Bellvista. We are a bit disturbed about the amount of gardens being pulled out in the name of cost cutting. The following is a letter sent to Anna Grosskreutz on our behalf:
Dear Anna and Chris
Our three community associations - Kawana Island Residents’ Association (KIRA), Kawana Forest Residents’ Association (KaFRA) and Bellvista Community Association (BeCA) met recently to explore our common ground around landscaping and amenity in each of our communities.
As Stockland projects that have been handed over to Council in recent years, we continue to be concerned about the sustainability of our landscape and open spaces. It is generally accepted that the standard of landscaping approved by Council and applied by the developer, is not within the realms of the standard budget of Council’s maintenance services.
KIRA has had the most long-running discussions with Council. While gains have been made in terms of opening up dialogue, to date much relies on individual relationships rather than relationships built on some basic structures and protocols.
Individual committee members within KaFRA have developed linkages with operational staff in relation to landscaping. Progress and creativity are stymied due to the level of the relationship and the limitations of budget and formal process.
The community at Bellvista is on the cusp of realising the impacts of the changes in service levels.
Collectively, our focus is on keeping our communities clean and tidy - amenity that fosters lots of use, passive crime prevention and community pride. Clean and tidy parks with weed free grass, and key lawn areas that are routinely mowed are our priorities.
The creation of highly liveable communities is effected by the presentation of our key areas.
We see that there are some very clear opportunities that could foster positive relationships between our communities and Council to produce great, sustainable outcomes.
Also, there has been a degree of confusion as to Council’s intent in relation to the provision of community facilities in each of our communities. Council staff have indicated that the provision of facilities in both Kawana Island and Kawana Forest are priority issues. Following on that, our individual organisation inquiries have not resulted in any clarity. Bellvista is very unsure of the future facility that may emerge from the existing Stockland Sales Office.
Chris and Anna, as our issues are shared and collectively we represent the interests of 4000+ households in the community, we would like the opportunity to meet with you both to explore the issue of sustainable landscape and amenity outcomes for our communities. We are particularly focussed on developing solutions and working together to establish productive working relationships between our organisations and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
Organising diaries may take a little juggling! Can you please suggest 2 or 3 alternatives that are agreeable to yourselves and we will seek to co-ordinate ourselves to work in with one of those. We’d envisage that from each of our organisations we’ll aim to bring the Chairperson and Landscape Sub-Committee representative to the table. This will keep the meeting to a reasonable size and allow us to have an informed discussion.
We look forward to meeting with you soon
Regards
John Edds Michael Walsh Phil Williams
We hope you all agree with the above.
Bern Johnson will be representing BeCA at the Aviation forum on Wednesday 12 Aug 09. We will publish the results as they come to hand.
Don't forget the AGM on Monday the 7 Sep 09 at the Stocklands Sales Office.
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