Article: Brisbane commute times slashed

[Fares_Fair]

Article: Brisbane commute times slashed
by Megan Mackander
Sunshine Coast Daily
25th July 2012 at 9:26 AM

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/07/25/brisbane-commute-times-slashed/

THE Brisbane commute from Caloundra could be cut by 15 minutes with a new road link planned to start in 2014.

Kawana Way will be extended and will link to the Bruce Hwy as part of the Caloundra South master plan.

The new section of Kawana Way will extend from the southern side of the existing roundabout at the intersection of Caloundra Rd and Kawana Way, through to the future intersection at Bruce Hwy and Bells Creek Rd.

Motorists will be have the ability to travel north or south on the highway, giving Caloundra South, Pelican Waters and Bellvista residents convenient access to the highway.

Stockland Queensland residential project director Ben Simpson said Stockland had always been committed to delivering infrastructure for Caloundra South.

Stockland's capital expenditure in infrastructure for Caloundra South will be in excess of $700 million.

Mr Simpson said the new road link would shorten travel times to Caloundra CBD and Kawana by up to 15 minutes.

The extension to Kawana Way will also alleviate pressures on Bellvista Estate, which is currently gridlocked by a single entrance point.

"The new road will help ease traffic congestion on Bellvista Blvd as it will connect through to Bellvista Blvd via a future road connection. This will provide much needed alternative access to the Bruce Hwy and Caloundra Rd for residents that rely on Bellvista Blvd currently for their road access," Mr Simpson said.

Construction of the new road link will be staged, with the first stage connecting the northern development area of Caloundra South near Bells Reach to Caloundra Rd and the existing Bellvista Blvd.

This stage is set to start early 2014, pending the Federal Government approval of the environment report. The remaining sections of the new road will be delivered in a timely manner, to meet the needs of the development and to service, in particular, the development of the future town centre, that will rely on passing traffic exiting from the Bruce Hwy and using the road.

The approved master plan identifies another road connection from the existing Bellvista Blvd behind the Bunnings site at Caloundra, along an existing dedicated road reserve through to Caloundra Rd.

[Stillwater]

Stockland is not constructing this new road to relieve the plight of the hapless motorist on the Sunshine Coast.  Could it be that Stockland wants all roads to connect to its proposed Chermside-size shopping centre planned for Caloundra South?

Read this: http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/07/25/caloundra-shopping-centre-set-rival-chermside/

Yes, the road capacity will increase, but the extra capacity will become clogged with cars.  Caloundra South will be the size of Gladstone.

[Mr X]

I personally would prefer that we build the Caloundra and Maroochydore train line first. Not until 2047 it seems... 

[Stillwater]

Stockland is pumping out the manufactured news about its big new city at Caloundra South in response to an assessment by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council that it will incur an unfunded $600 million bill should Caloundra South proceed under the current terms and conditions.

Caloundra South was a creature of the state government, which promised 'affordable housing' opportunities on the estate.  In deciding costs for the new city, it agreed with Stockland that the developer would pay for sewers, parks, internal roads etc, which a developer normally must pay for.

While Stockland must pay for the sewers through the estate, the state government 'reduced development costs' by letting Stockland off the hook in respect of the required upgrade of the sewerage treatment plant.  All that waste from the Stockland sewer pipes goes to the overworked sewerage plant, the cost of which now has to be met by all Sunshine Coast ratepayers.

The same goes for the roads.  The people who buy houses at Caloundra South won't just drive endlessly around the suburb.  They will want to go to the beach, drive to and use the library, drive along council-owned roads which the council maintains, have their children play in the council parks.  All of these things are normally negotiated with council and developers, resulting in what is known as a 'headworks charge'.  The state government negotiated away that headworks charge for Caloundra South.

The council says it may have to charge Caloundra South residents an annual surcharge of $1500 for the next 40 years to cover the headworks charges, or the cost might have to be spread across all Sunshine Coast residents.

Worse, other developers are jacking up and say they want the same deal as the state government negotiated with Stockland.  They will have to set land prices to cover all their costs, including headworks charges.  Unsuspecting buyers will compare higher land costs with other developers and the cheaper land prices Stockland will charge (with all the marketing advantage that entails).  If people opt for the 'cheap land price', they may not realise they will be hit with a rates bill $1500 larger than their neighbours outside Caloundra South to meet the headworks charges that the government transferred from Stockland to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

And the state won't even come to the party on CAMCOS.

The state government and Stockland have created a mirage around land prices for marketing purposes only.  The so-called 'savings' don't exist.

[Fares_Fair]

Indeed, and all true.

Henzell's (developing Pelican Waters) are not happy with the advantage given to Stocklands.
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/07/05/rates-lift-to-cover-stockland-free-kick/

Palmview developers also won't be pleased.

Hard to be competitive in an uncompetitive environment.

And as SW eloquently put it (my paraphrase), in the end we all will pay whilst the developer pockets the profits.

[Stillwater]

And to think that all the pollies representing the Sunshine Coast (with the exception of Peter Wellington in Nicklin) are LNP.  We were down and being kicked in the guts by Labor, now the LNP boots are kicking our heads too.  Might be interesting to see what happens at the next election.  Pass me a sick bag if LNP promises duplication to Nambour by 2031.  [Can't see a barf icon.]

[mufreight]

And to think that all the pollies representing the Sunshine Coast (with the exception of Peter Wellington in Nicklin) are LNP.  We were down and being kicked in the guts by Labor, now the LNP boots are kicking our heads too.  Might be interesting to see what happens at the next election.  Pass me a sick bag if LNP promises duplication to Nambour by 2031.  [Can't see a barf icon.]

Fairly predictable what will happen at the next election not only with the Sunshine Coast voters but those further north on the NCL if duplication works have not commenced.
Odds on there will be more independents and an LNP wipe out in the region, years of hot air and a failure by both major parties to deliver will take its toll.