What does TMPA Do??
The Tamborine Mountain Progress Association was formed over one hundred years ago in May, 1915. As always, it has been a community organization serving the broad interests of the local residents.
Today, TMPA is a registered Community Purpose organization. “Progress Association” is a very old fashioned term for “community organization”. There are several left in Australia, one is in a town on the Murray River. We have kept the name for historic reasons. In past years, this small isolated community fashioned its own evolvement and even though we have grown to nearly 7,000 people, the tradition of community involvement is still there. It explains why this area is so different from anywhere else. With such a large population now, the main way the TMPA can serve the community’s broad interests is by monitoring adherence to our Planning Schemes. This “map” of what goes where was developed with widespread resident input, topped up with input from Local and then State Government. As information was initially gathered by a questionnaire in everyone’s letter box, it is the best formal indicator of the aspirations of people on this mountain. An association’s activities depend largely on what volunteers are prepared to spend their time on. It has been generally understood, and with professional advice, that open slather results in a patchwork landscape minus an over-arching character. Tamborine Mountain residents have been arriving over the decades for a particular lifestyle, estimated at over 90% of the population. Accordingly. for nearly two decades, TMPA’s main function has been to alert residents of significant breaches of their Local Area Plan (previously called the DCP). This has been accompanied by provision in local papers of pro formas listing formal planning codes supporting the local lifestyle. Unlike a developer who pays experts to come up with codes which support his objective (mainly financial gain), this information (often from independent experts) is free to residents to make up their own minds. Currently, TMPA has been involved in the two commercial water extraction cases on Power Parade and Bateke Road. The Bateke Road Appeal was withdrawn and now the Power Parade (Gillion) Appeals have been dismissed by both the Planning and Environment Court and the Supreme Court, mainly on planning grounds. These are significant positive results for the whole community. The matters could easily have been different without the input of immediate neighbours and the widespread support of the whole population.. A win for the residents. Unlike the earlier often robust meetings in the Zamia Theatre, current small (friendly) ones are held in the Historical Society’s rooms in the Creative Arts Centre on Wongawallan Road – 7.30 pm, first Tuesday of the month except January. Current issues are discussed and our local Councillors attend to present matters concerning Council. As always, meetings are open and over the years many serious problems have been tackled simply by people coming along and expressing their concerns. |