There is an old fable about a scorpion asking a frog to carry it across a river. The frog hesitates, worried about being stung. The scorpion points out that if it stings the frog, they will both drown. Convinced by the logic, the frog agrees. Halfway across, the scorpion stings the frog anyway. As they both sink into the river, the frog asks why. The scorpion replies, “I could not help it. It’s my nature.”
The story carries a truth that applies to some community opposition to the continuing development of Hervey Bay. We immigrants to Hervey Bay made our bargain with the Hervey Bay scorpion when moved here.
Every year, people choose Hervey Bay because of its coastal lifestyle, beautiful beaches, temperate climate, comparative housing affordability, educational and medical facilities.
Those very qualities have transformed our city into one of Queensland’s most sought-after places to live, work, raise a family and retire.
Growth is Hervey Bay’s nature – the natural consequence of the lifestyle that makes Hervey Bay special.
Growth of course brings opposition, those who lament how busy the Bay has become, objecting to change.
The lamenters who have moved here from elsewhere have made the same bargain as the frog. They were attracted by the very characteristics that inevitably attract others. It is simply the nature of a successful, desirable coastal city.
That does not mean we should blindly accept the consequences of that success and be stung by the Scorpion’s nature. The growth requires planning that manages development to preserve and enhance the Hervey Bay lifestyle that we came here to enjoy.
That is the work of the Fraser Coast Property Industry Association. The people who contribute to the FCPIA live here—many of us have done so for decades. We are advocates for good development: development that is well planned, properly serviced and designed to preserve and enhance the qualities that make Hervey Bay special.
Our vision is in a way to prevent the sting brought by poor planning and inadequate infrastructure that harms the lifestyle and character that attracted us here in the first place.
Growth is inevitable, but bad planning is not. The FCPIA will continue to speak for the homes, infrastructure, services and investment our growing city needs, while protecting the coastal character and quality of life that make Hervey Bay worth coming to—and worth staying for.
