PEOPLE POWER HALTS DEVELOPER'S DESTRUCTION

Woolies the Bullies

By Terry Ryder

Residents in the Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Maleny often get a standard response from police to reports of burglaries, traffic accidents and shoplifting. There are no police available to attend.

So they were stunned to see 24 police vehicles and over 50 uniformed personnel assemble at a Maleny development site early last Wednesday.

The police knew something the residents did not. Property developer Cornerstone Properties intended to move on an environmentally contentious site in the town centre to eradicate all vegetation. The trees had to make way for a Woolworth's supermarket which, surveys show, almost nobody wants.

Residents rushed to the site, which fronts the river flowing through the town. Trees crashed down as police muscled citizens into the seven paddy wagons they'd brought along. But dozens got on to the land, climbed or surrounded trees and refused to budge, claiming the destruction of river-front trees was illegal.

Cornerstone, a division of developer F.A. Pidgeon and Son, had brought in destruction specialists the Deen Brothers, notorious for knocking over heritage-listed Queensland buildings in the dead of night.

As one newspaper observed, it was a return to the days of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who had used the Deen Brothers to eliminate historic buildings in Brisbane.

The demolition team erected a barrier fence while police refused media access to the site. I tried to join the early protesters but was forcibly removed by three policemen, under threat of arrest. I joined the hundreds of residents who lined the riverbank opposite, calling on the workmen to stop.

A police squad euphemistically named the Public Safety Response Team took no action as workmen chain sawed a tree with a resident perched in its branches.

Then came a stalemate which lasted two days as local politicians and protesters negotiated a stop to demolition work while claims of illegal tree-clearing were tested. Thirty residents were allowed on site to ensure no more trees were cut down. State Government officers were brought in. They found that the riverbank tree-clearing had broken state laws and those responsible could be liable for $185,000 in fines.

Woolworth's claimed they knew nothing of the early-morning site assault by the developer. Having earlier surveyed Maleny residents and found almost 100% opposed the project, Woolworth's is reviewing its intention to tenant the proposed building.

The land, in Maleny's main street, is contentious because of its trees, platypus habitats on the riverbank and development pollution of the river. The site would also generate traffic chaos in congested Maple Street if a supermarket was built.

Fears for the impact on local retail businesses and on the town's village atmosphere, which makes Maleny a popular destination for weekend visitors, add further to local concerns.

Maleny's opposition to the development, which has "We Won't Shop There" as its rallying cry, mirrors events in towns and suburbs around Australia.

Opposition to Woolworth's' expansion plans is widespread, with residents bemoaning their lack of power in planning processes which impact on their communities.

Maleny's experience, which has attracted national media attention, shows that People Power still matters. Had residents not acted quickly, all trees on the site would have been destroyed, many of them illegally.

Residents are still hopeful that Woolworth's will get the message and stay away. If they don't get the message, then they can look forward to receiving another message from the residents – When we say we won't shop there, we mean it. Destroy our trees and you'll not just create a barren landscape, but a barren supermarket.

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Terry Ryder is a freelance journalist and the author of three property books. His fourth book, Real Estate Without Agents, is due to be published shortly.

He can be contacted at ryder@pacific.net.au