There’s nothing like beer to suds a man up, and Gibsons councillor Silas White was in fine froth this week over Persephone Brewing Company’s treatment at the hands of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
In his report to council, White accused the SCRD of validating and promoting NIMBYism – Not In My Back Yardism.
White, who serves as SCRD director for Gibsons, said some of his fellow directors have been “passionately concerned with social/public activity at the Persephone Beer Farm in Area F, despite the fact that there are no reports of bylaw infractions.” And they’ve been doing this “at every opportunity.”
A handful of neighbours, he said, have complained about parking on Stewart Road and live music events on Saturday afternoons, though the parking is not illegal and the music events conform to the noise bylaw. One “relatively noiseless” daytime event had to be relocated “due to complaints from one director.”
Pointing out that Persephone is “a leading light and model for the new economy on the Sunshine Coast,” White describes NIMBYism as the SCRD’s “driving focus” and warns the issue could “explode and expose our regional board as being astoundingly hypocritical.” He concludes that he’s “bemused and saddened by how the perceived use of agricultural land on the Sunshine Coast, at least for some, has evolved into ‘do nothing.’”
Pretty pro-development sounding for a councillor who was recently called out for trying to stall the George’s rise to glory – but everything is relative, and White clearly reached the top of his growler with the Persephone farce.
And it is a farce. However, given Persephone CEO Brian Smith’s diplomatic approach and the public support for the company that this mini-crisis has triggered, the beer farm on Stewart Road is bound to come out smelling like roses in the end.
But the Persephone’s plight shows how difficult it’s getting these days to grow any business of substance on the Sunshine Coast – even if it’s a brilliant and benign job creator and economic generator.
With freshly minted elected officials in the tinkering seats, the NIMBYs seem to be having a field day. Taken to its extreme, nothing will happen in anyone’s backyard, because the neighbours always outnumber the enterprising property owner. Yet that enterprise might profit many people and benefit the community as a whole.
There’s some wising up to be done, and Silas White has given everyone a heads up.
