Beenleigh Community Facing Recession

Today I will comment on how I feel the Beenleigh community will fare in the hard economic times we are facing? Considering that we are a comparatively poor community times will be tough. We have higher unemployment and under-employment than the state average. We have more people paying rent and rents have gone up considerably already. Do you know that we pay more for rent here than people do in cities of Australia such as Melbourne? You can still rent 3 bedroom houses in parts of Melbourne for around $250. Those same houses are worth more than ours on the real estate market, so how can our high rents be justified?

The community of Beenleigh and Eagleby has been passed from pillar to post. Our first amalgamation from Albert Shire to Gold Coast City Council in 1995 made us the poor country cousins to more affluent areas of Gold Coast in the south. They took our rates and gave us very little in return. Problems such as our traffic congestion in the centre of town were ignored. Instead they conned us into a ridiculous debate over the ring road through the Beenleigh Showgrounds. They allocated money to be spent on this superfluous route which supposedly will solve all of our town's traffic problems and then were able to use the unspent budget down south while the Beenleigh Show Society battled with them through the courts.

We have a high proportion of people in Beenleigh and Eagleby on disability pensions and many elderly people who are socially isolated and virtual prisoners in their homes. This is because we have a distinct lack of footpaths in areas that are off the main drag. Some of these suburban streets have been there for more than thirty years and still no footpaths. When people cannot even go for a short walk down their own street, and maybe have a conversation with someone over the fence, they become socially isolated and this can lead to depression.

Depression is steadily growing amongst socially isolated people and apart from anti-depressant medication there is very little else to help. I would like to start an arts group that would be an outlet for people to get together and forget their problems for awhile. Where could I hold this group? Certainly not at the Beenleigh Neighbourhood Centre. That depressing old building is not a suitable place. Which gets me to the point that we need more community facilities in this town. The Beenleigh Community Centre next to the Library is too expensive to rent to hold a group meeting. Particularly in the start-up phase without any funding.

It is outrageous that the Community Centre sits there visibly empty and community people have to pay through the nose to use it. Meanwhile the Council are making a tidy amount in renting it out for big functions. With the amalgamation into Logan and all the facilities now available in the Logan area, such as the Logan Entertainment Centre, surely the people of Beenleigh community should get cheaper access to this building?

It is hard to get a lobby group together that might address this and other issues for the community of Beenleigh without somewhere to meet. And that is obviously the way our Councillor likes things to remain. There are often letters to the editor in the Albert & Logan News complaining about council issues but until we have a Residents Association to lobby on behalf of the community they will never be addressed.

We have the second highest number of domestic violence cases in the state heard at the Beenleigh Court. We may have social services in the Beenleigh community that offer family relationship counselling but how many people know where to go to access them? Is there any group that draws attention to our problems by holding a publicised event during Domestic Violence Awareness Week? Not that I have noticed.

We also have a disproportionate number of cases heard through the Beenleigh Court in regards to excessive alcohol consumption. Binge drinking is not only a local problem but it is a highly publicised national problem with our youth. So what is the Council doing to help? Certainly nothing by closing the Sundowner Hotel and allowing a huge discount liquor outlet to be built on the site.

There are many other social issues in Beenleigh that I will have to save for another post. I welcome comments on my blog and would love to get some debate happening. Cheers for now.