Positives outweigh negative viewpoints

OVER recent weeks there has been significant conjecture about the Southport CBD.

Unfortunately there are some who choose to focus only on negatives. I’d rather speak about the positives.

When I first ran for Parliament I declared my No.1 priority to be the revitalisation of Southport. A lot has changed since then.

The completion of the light rail connection to Helensvale clears the path for greater growth and enhancement of our CBD as a centre for business, education and health services.

It’s fair to have robust discussions about Southport’s strengths and weaknesses, however ongoing public criticism of Southport’s image is counterintuitive. What some fail to see is that “Southport bashing’’ doesn’t inspire the confidence or investment that would resolve many of their concerns.

There is a danger in using reported crime stats as a measure of prosperity or potential, as the collection area so often referred to as “Southport” is vast and takes into account pretty much everywhere from Biggera Waters to Bundall, Southport to Molendinar, all those suburbs under the control and command of the Southport Police Station.

Comments about boardedup shops are not an accurate measure of prosperity but rather a statement about the changing face of retailing.

In the last revision of the Gold Coast City Plan, the council declared Southport to be our official CBD. The subsequent declaration of Southport as a PDA (Priority Development Area) recognises the vast opportunities for urban renewal.

Southport is not intended to be a tourism precinct but rather a cool, casual, affordable place for families, business people, retirees and students to live and work, away from the glitter strip.

The future for Southport is in the quality of our local schools and making sure they are not over capacity, in the development of the city’s legal

SOUTHPORT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A TOURISM PRECINCT

precinct located in the CBD, future connection of the light rail to the airport, further improvements to our road networks and ensuring we remain a hub for key services, education and business.

I remember fondly the Southport of the 1960s. My family home was on the hill in Queen St at the old hospital site, across from the maternity ward and my mum carried me across the gardens into our back yard to meet my older siblings.

But while those days are long gone, I still love the Southport of today as much as I ever did.