http://aspirecq.com/?p=53
What kind of future do we want? A quiet, relaxed environment sounds enticing, but how is it economically sustainable? Yeppoon/Capricorn Coast is a beautiful area, Queensland best kept secret as one politican called it. Without careful development though to encourage more people to live and invest in the area rates will arguably have to increase to sustain and upgrade just the services that currently exist, let alone any new ones. The next 2 months provide us a real opportunity to have a say in what future we want.
He had passed it numerous times, preferring to take the western bypass around Rockhampton heading south. What the hell is at Yeppoon? This time when seeing the signpost curiosity finally got the better of him. With a couple of hours to kill he thought why not, taking the old highway road through Parkhurst he turned left and headed to Yeppoon. Overtaking a few dump trucks along the way he got his first glimpse of blue water. This was in stark contrast to his next significant colour sighting, the brownness of a large barren dump. Turning left at the last roundabout he headed to the foreshore, passing what appeared to be a large garden area. He was surprised how relatively undeveloped the foreshore was. The accommodation ranged from budget to upmarket, each displaying their vacancy signs. Deciding not to continue going north to Byfield (maybe another time), he turned down what appeared to be the main street, lots of cars but where were all the people he wondered. Not able to find a handy car park and recalling the garden area he turned the car around to go back there to stretch the legs and have a bite to eat. The Rockhampton Regional Gardens, what a strange name for gardens in Yeppoon he thought. The sign post also acknowledged that it was a former hospital site and that with State and Local government funding it was now a native garden. Other than the council workers mowing, on the brush cutters, collecting litter and trimming the vegetation, the gardens were devoid of people (probably a popular place on weekends he thought). He found a table with a view of the ocean out to the islands. Great Keppel; now wasn’t that an island they were once going to build a new resort on he wondered, uncertain what was there now. This got him thinking how a prime piece of real estate that he was sitting in wasn’t developed into some tourist attraction. “That’s what is missing here”. Yeppoon has got the beach, islands but what did it have different from places like Airlie, Agnes, Hervey Bay to attract the tourists. A wave pool on this very site, now that could be a solution, a direct access from the highway that would help, in fact why did they build a western bypass of Rockhampton when an eastern one would have bought highway traffic closer to the coast, making it an easier decision to stop over, or even stay at Yeppoon. The natural scenic potential was definitely here he thought, but then again the quietness, lack of people and development did make it quite charming. A secret best kept he thought for maybe the next time he had a couple of hours to kill while travelling down the highway.
What aspirations do you have for Yeppoon? Over the next two months you get the chance to have a say. A South Bank 2 for Brisbane, but less than half the cost ($1.36m) towards the cost of a garden for Yeppoon! A Council that doesn’t list a Yeppoon foreshore development a high priority or a new broom that has a vision for a dynamic, vibrant coast. The elections are one way we create our future. Let’s ask and hear what the other aspiring politician’s plans for the Capricorn Coast are before we get out the silver shovels for the media shot to indicate the gardens will one day be built.