A recent community survey has shown that Sunshine Coast residents really value our natural environment. The Environment Levy supports a lot of activities that help to preserve our environment. At the recent Ordinary Meeting of Council, we were presented with the Environment Levy annual report which has an overview of the past year’s activities including growing the land protected for conservation across our region; giving grants to landowners and community organisations so they can continue to tackle local environmental projects – which ultimately benefit us all; fighting invasive weeds; research and monitoring so we can adapt the way we manage our environment; and raising awareness about endangered species, such as the shorebirds. For more on the outcomes of the meeting, head to my Facebook page.
Over the past few weeks, our region has experienced heavy rainfall with falls between 100mm and 200mm recorded. The forecast has predicted more significant rainfall over the coming weeks. As we all know, prolonged wet weather makes for a lot of mowing. Right now, our teams are out and about caring for our 1,069 hectares of parklands and reserves across the Sunshine Coast region – that’s equivalent to 1,998 football fields. Our staff and contractors are working extremely hard to ensure we can service every site as soon as possible however, we are experiencing some delays. Even when the wet weather clears, our regular schedule may need to change to allow green spaces to dry out – otherwise we can risk significant damage to our parks and grounds. I appreciate your patience as we resume services back to normal once conditions improve.
Council’s customer contact counters and reception desks will be closed from 2pm December 24 and will reopen on January 4. From December 29 to 31 you can still contact council via phone, web chat, email and call back.
The Maroochydore Planning, Building, Plumbing and Development counter will also be closed during this time and any calls to 5475PLAN will be redirected to customer contact. Visit council’s website for more details.
Have you got your tickets to the Festive Garden at Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens from December 17 to 21? It’s set to be a pretty magical experience as the gardens are transformed into a magical wonderland where you’re greeted by elves, serenaded by carolers and the night is aglow with a forest of twinkling lights. Tickets are free and available at sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.
And finally, I’d like to wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season and hope you manage to spend some quality time with loved ones.