A CANNONVALE resident has called out the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services for misleading the public on their plans for a fire station on Banksia Court, off Macarthur Drive, Cannonvale.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services is proposing to construct the new Airlie Beach Fire and Rescue Station at 2-6 Banksia Court, Cannonvale.
It will involve a new, single-story Fire and Rescue Station to improve current and future response times.
Resident Phillip Smailes has contacted MP Amanda Camm regarding the issue and begun proceedings to hold a petition to the Queensland Government on the matter.
Mr Smailes, who lives right next to the proposed site, held a community meeting with many irate residents also surrounding the lot proposed for the station.
He claims few residents received any notification of the proposed fire station.
Notification for the fire station commenced on Wednesday, September 28, with a sign placed on the land advising how submissions can be made.
Letters were sent to adjacent neighbours and an advertisement was placed in last week’s edition of the Whitsunday News.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said not all residents in the area received a letter because the notification sign was intended to alert all residents to the development.
Mr Smailes has claimed that the diagram being used to inform the public of the proposed fire station development needs correction due to it being misleading and not covering the whole site.
He called it ‘very sloppy’.
“What are Queensland Fire and Rescue trying to hide?” he said.
Mr Smailes has contacted Whitsunday Mayor Julie Hall in a letter that reads: ‘We need to stop this madness by the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Department”.
“I have been forthright with my response to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services on their proposal, however, my response has mainly fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
In August, Mr Smailes sent a letter to The Hon. Mark Ryan MP, Minister for Fire and Emergency Services, where he identified the noise the fire station would contribute to the area as a serious concern for surrounding homes.
“The proposed location is at the bottom of a natural amphitheatre,” Mr Smails said.
“The terrain slopes upwards on both sides of Shute Harbour Road with noise, including traffic noise, being resonated to the tops of the valley.
“Your proposed fire station will increase this noise with sirens and vehicle movement from both fire appliances and employees’ vehicles, including delivery vehicles that supply firefighting equipment and consumables.”
“We all have a right to live peacefully in our homes, without the disruption of a proposed noisy and unsettling fire and rescue station.”
Mr Smailes has requested a correction to the ‘Have Your Say’ advertisement and for the deadline for submissions to be moved to November 4, after residents have been properly informed.
