OPINION: How my coastal paradise became a warzone

THERE are beaches, fresh air, and the awesome community that smiles at each other when walking their dogs. But things change after dark in this Coast suburb.

I LIVE in Marcoola. The Mudjimba end... you know, the home of the lovely Old Woman Island and the tranquil life?

The stunning beaches and the awesome community that smiles at each other when walking their dogs or just getting the good air into the lungs after a hard day in the air conditioning.

After the sun goes down, our beautiful neighbourhood turns into something that sounds like a war zone.

You could be easily mistaken for thinking you had an afternoon nap and woke up somewhere in the middle of nightmare.

Yes - we did buy near an airport. Silly us, thinking that the planes that come and go don't bother our life too much.

After all, we can walk five minutes and we are at the beach.

What we didn't realise, and what we have absolutely no say in, is the relentless and invasive helicopter noise that infiltrates our home life like nothing you can imagine.

Remember the sound of a car alarm going off for half an hour, how it grates on your soul and you just want it stop?

Multiply that by four or five helicopters flying in tandem over your roof, hovering over your house, lights flashing in your bedroom and circulating around for hours and hours.

What you may not realise, is the activity of these mentally draining over-sized drones, is that their major flying time starts after 6pm.

Yes, when you are having a beer, chilling on the deck, chatting about your day and making dinner.

They are amping it up to the crescendo that peaks around 9pm and tends to start winding down about 11pm.

The last one I heard coming in to land the other night was at 1.30am. ONE-THIRTY AM! Are you allowed to use a power saw at 1.30am?

So, the mind boggles...
I've emailed my local member, I've posted on our community Facebook account and I'm really and honestly over it.

Marcoola is a booming surburb, everything is selling within a week of being on the market. Because its honestly like living in a war zone after 6pm.

If the Maryborough community could band together and get rid of the helicopters (thanks, by the way!), so can we.

Enough is enough. It's hooning laws, it's home invasion, it's disrupting our lives and it's completely unacceptable.

Get RID OF THE HELICOPTERS. We have had enough.

Originally published as OPINION: How my coastal paradise became a warzone