I grew up at the beach at Main Beach, near Surfers Paradise in Queensland. When we moved there in the 1950s the houses reallly were shacks made of fibro or timber.
Highrise buildings eventually made their way to Main Beach. A few were built on the beach side of the street, but at one point the local government decreed that nothing over 3 levels could be built, a good idea.
Recently the wife of a millionaire retail business man decided to build an 8 storey building on beside the beach. Local residents, including us, put up money to fight the request.
Needless to say, we lost and madam got to build her building. It is the big one on the right. The little white one is possibly one of the original shacks with a makeover.
I think it looks like an 8 storey toilet block.
Very few of the original buildings are left. This one is opposite where we used to live. It is a rejig of the one that was there then.
My father built the one below in 1968 for his friend George. My little brother used to go to work with Dad occasionally and mostly got into mischief. He was only 2.
I remember the timber house that was George’s old house. We had barbecues there every Sunday afternoon when Dad, George and their mates would return from fishing with a boatload of snapper and other local fish.
I also remember the cyclones in the 1960s when huge seas took away several metres of George’s backyard. As kids we thought it was great fun to watch a wave come in and crack a big chunk of land. The next few waves would carry it away.
That all seems to be forgotten now, even though big seas still threaten the coastline regularly.
This morning this was the front page of the local paper.
I can’t believe the council would be so stupid as to allow a 50 storey building to be built so close to the beach. It appears a precedent has been set by our retail millionaire. I won’t be stepping into one of their shops any time soon.
The 2 houses the 50 storey building may replace are old and tired and clearly need to be updated, but not by a monster that will cast a shadow over the beach by early afternoon.
At least the council can’t stuff up the beach…or can they? There are plans to develop the spit, which would be criminal. This is the last bit of relatively building free land on the coast…leave it alone.
We don’t want it all to look like this.
Fortunately some things stay the same. I ran into Col the wormer this morning. He has been collecting worms for bait for about 50 years. He must have been scouring the shore when I used to swim there as a 12 year old, but I don’t recall seeing him.
I see him regularly now and he has many tales to tell. I wonder if there will be a wormer to take his place when he finally gives up. (See more about Col here)
I hope the council sees sense and stops this ridiculous building from going up. What do you think?