Did the number of objections to Rob Carr’s proposed Emu Park Apartments project tell the full story?

One councillor is not convinced the public consultation process provides an accurate gauge of the wider community’s sentiment. Read here to find out why.

Central Queensland developer Rob Carr.

Livingstone Shire’s deputy mayor is not convinced the public consultation process which saw objectors to a proposed high-rise unit complex at Emu Park “monster” those in favour of it, provides an accurate gauge of community sentiment.

Last week the council refused a development application for the six-storey Emu Park Apartments project - the brainchild of local developer Rob Carr - on a 4-2 councillor vote.

It was clear prior to councillors going to the vote, that some had put weight in the fact that more than 170 objections to Mr Carr’s proposed development were received from the public and only 10 came in supporting it - and rightly so as that is the official “measuring stick” the council has in place to get and gauge community feedback.

But just how well does the public consultation process record the wider community’s views? And is there a need for a better alternative?

Livingstone Shire councillor Adam Belot.

Those are the questions being asked by Livingstone’s deputy mayor Adam Belot - the councillor who supported (and unsuccessfully moved to accept) a recommendation from the council’s officers that Livingstone approve the development application, despite the proposed development not meeting some of the assessment benchmarks under the Planning Act 2016.

“It’s interesting that, on these contentious ones we hear that the community has spoken, that nobody wants it,” Cr Belot told fellow councillors during his address.

“I attended an on-site meeting out at Barmaryee recently for a transport depot where I heard exactly the same thing from 11 objectors of a neighbourhood of about 45 people.

“But not even just the 45 people is actually who I needed to be considering, it was the entire shire - 38,000 people - is where I needed to base my decision on.

“Not the 11 people, not the 45 people. And the situation at Emu Park is 180 objectors, well made and well founded.

“But that represents about .4 per cent of the population of Emu Park based on about 4000 people.

“It represents about .5 per cent of 38,000 people (in Livingstone Shire).

“But that’s not to diminish that the objectors have got good grounds for objecting to it.

“But if I look at the utility of that, and by utility I mean, when you make decisions you can do it in one or two ways.

The development proposed for the corner of Pattison, Granville and Archer Streets, Emu Park. Pictured (inset) is the public notification sign.

“And I don’t want to get all philosophical, but I think it warrants it because, there was a bloke called Jeremy Bentham who was an English philosopher, who said that the best way to make decisions was to do what causes the least amount of pain.

“So if you avoid the pain, then people are going to feel good.

“It’s clear that 180 people will express their discomfort at the decision (if DA is approved by the council) and let me know of that, and that could be felt as pain in a way.

“But I’ve got to look at what (do) the 37,000 people think of this application?

“Not just what the 180, who are extremely motivated and rightly so, think.

“What does the 37,000 people, what does the 4000 people think?

“Why has there only been 10 people or there so, put submissions in for (the development)?

“Maybe it’s got something to do with - it’s interesting that people will put twice as much effort into it if they feel they’re going to lose something, than the effort to gain something.

“So if you lose 50c, you’ll walk around for an hour trying to find it, as opposed to walking across the road for five minutes to pick one up - you won’t bother.

“Because you feel like you’re losing something and I get that.

“I get that the 180 submitters feel as if their lifestyle at Emu Park is going to be lost in a way that it’s not as good as it was when they first came there.

“However, not withstanding that, I feel that on behalf of the 4000 people of Emu Park, over the years I think this will be a positive thing for Emu Park.

“And for the 37,000 people, I think it is the right thing to do, given that we are a growing shire, we’ve got budget challenges, but that doesn’t mean you accept whatever comes along.

“And I’m not about accepting whatever comes along.

“So for those and other reasons which perhaps I can’t articulate well now, I know it’s not a popular decision in this chamber (to approve the DA), but it’s what I believe is the right decision to make, so I’ll leave it at that.”

What do you, our readers, think?