At one extreme master planned 'communities' can be soulless,sterile suburbs. The danger at the other extreme is social engineering. The question I have is can a city with character and soul be created without community input?

I went down to the Caloundra South display centre yesterday and spent a few hours with a friend discussing the possiblities and problems.

This 50,000 population masterplanned development is the first of it's kind on the Coast in many ways, not least its size, but also it's management by the State government and long timeframe for delivery and lack of solid commitment to the rail link. The development approvals are being fast-tracked at the expense of public input and this, I think, raises the liklihood that the place will be soulless and sterile. 

The first and only opportunity for community input closes on Friday 20 May... unless we are successful in changing their minds.  

Getting the balance right between a 'nice' place with social infrastructure ( parks and schools, perhaps a 'nice' community centre) and diversity in housing types and place with character and opportunities for the inhabitants to draw on it's natural attributes to grow, together, a great future for this new town evenly resting on all four pillars of sustainabilty will be a challenge.

If it is a success it will provide a whole new community with an immediate sense of belonging and mechanisms to achieve happiness at once. If it fails it could impact on all of us in different ways.

I think the balance could be found in the community already here but that would require more opportunities for contribution from the public not less.