The ViVa Samford Futures Process

• Interviews conducted by community members with their friends and/or neighbours
• Surveys completed by school students
• Surveys completed by individuals
• Surveys completed by family groups

 Who said it could not be done??

The proposal for a large Woolies supermarket to be built in the middle of Samford has been withdrawn.  This is a major victory for the community and flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that large and well cashed-up Supermarket chains can not be beaten.

Letter to the Community by the Convenor of the ViVa Samford Working Group

Dear community member,

This letter is going to the people of Samford who participated in some way in the community action against the proposal to put a large box supermarket in the middle of the Village.  The ViVa Samford response to the withdrawal of the proposal by the Blair group and Woolies will be printed in the Village Pump this week (12 june) but it will not give full detail on all the contributions made by the community.  I think it is useful to be aware of the scale of contributions because there is a tendency at times to downplay that role in favour of other factors. 

There can be no doubt that the breadth and depth of participation by you and others in Samford provided a very strong foundation for the decision by the developers to withdraw.  That persistent and assertive participation enabled the ViVa Samford Working Group, acting for the Progress Association and the community generally, to keep government decision makers on the straight and narrow…. thus making it very difficult for the Main Roads Department and the Council to do anything other than stick to their guns on the regulations that made life difficult for the Blair Group and Woolies.

Make no mistake, there were times when some of those decision makers seemed to be on the wavering line and it was the clear and present support of the community that enabled ViVa and the Association to make the expectations of the community super clear. This usually happened through face-to-face meetings with these decision makers.

Indeed, face-to-face advocacy was a core strategy and we initiated meetings with people ranging across the spectrum of :

·         Minister for Planning

·         Local State Member

·         Council Mayor

·         Local Councillor Bob Millar and three other key Councillors

·         Main Roads Dept senior executives and planning officers

·         Senior Council staff

·         Owners of three separate properties adjoining the ‘Woolies’ site, which, had they been sold, would likely have enabled the developers to meet the traffic requirements which were a sticking point for them in their application

·         The developers themselves on a number of occasions

·         Other community advocacy groups in the Council region who became clear on our need for support

·         Businesses in the Samford Village

You and others in the Valley may have contributed in one or more of:

·         Participating in the three public meetings associated with the proposal

·         Participating in and facilitating group sessions at the Neighbourhood Meetings that were a prime source of the core opposition to the proposal

·         Contributing funds to the ViVa Fund which helped finance necessary professional reports on traffic and economic issues, and also funded printing and other advocacy costs

·         Being part of the task groups that focused on planning the five or six main points of action from the outset

·         Putting forward a formal objection to the proposed supermarket development

·         Being prepared to put your opinions on the line via an advocacy video which starred a dozen or so community members (we ended up not needing to use this but perhaps we should have a screening one day soon!)

·         Being a member of the ViVa Samford Working Group

·         Being a part of the Progress Association Executive and general meetings which provided consistent and steely support from go to whoa

·         Volunteering to put together very professional design and advocacy reports which affected decision makers

·         Designing and managing the ViVa Samford website

·         Conducting the dozens of interviews with residents and visitors which provided necessary data re community and visitor needs re local retail for our advocacy

·         Volunteering to provide office based resources and printed materials on a continuous basis

·         Being part of the advocacy teams which met with the individuals and groups we targeted

·         Helping run the ViVa Stalls at various event in the Valley

·         Designing, printing and placing public notices in shop windows in the Village

·         Providing expert help with our various media campaigns

I have doubtless left some important items off the list so please excuse any omissions but one other very significant thing virtually everybody did was to have the grit and determination to have a go at doing something that many said was impossible….beat Woolies. 

There were quite a few people around the place who said it was all just a waste of time… why bother…. the big end of town always wins.  Hope, optimism, assertiveness  and sound arguments make a good mix and the way in which you and others in the community spoke positively about the need to take action was extremely significant.  That you modelled this talk by taking action yourself was doubly significant.

 I have no doubt that, despite there being very good regulations in place with the Council and Main Roads, had we as a community laid down on this issue there would by now be a large Woolies supermarket in the middle of our Village. We know, from the horses mouth of a senior Woolies executive that “the community is making life difficult for us out in Samford”.

So, heartfelt thanks to all who fought the good fight.  Now, just in case you thought it was safe to relax….  we need to make sure that the owners do something wise with the property!

That’s the next challenge …. and you can help yet again by calling in to the ViVa Samford stall at the Samford on Show event that is being held at John Scott Park this Sunday 14 June.  We’re canvassing specific ideas on what a wise developer might do with the property and I can’t think of a better group than the people of Samford to come up with something brilliant!

Howard Nielsen

Convenor

ViVa Samford Working Group

The scenic and historic Village of Samford near Brisbane is a place to be visited by all for its beauty, tranquility, rural feel and sense of community.

Situated just 20km outside Brisbane CBD and surrounded by mountains and State Forest, the valley in which the village is nestled is one of outstanding beauty.

For a major city to have this Village on its doorstep is rare in this shrinking world of natural wonder and sense of place.

The Viva Samford working group was formed by community nomination in March 2007 with the simple aim of promoting and protecting a legacy for future generations to enjoy.... particularly in the face of a Main Street development application that does not meet ViVa Samford planning principles.