In reply to two articles in the latest Echo. First, the dreaded van overnight parking – why can we not offer what Qld does… some beautiful places to stay overnight or longer, for free, with a decent toilet.
Some enterprising person could start a permanent coffee and morning tea van, as I’ve seen done in Qld. As the article notes, there are vacant areas in our Shire where this could easily be done.
Until very recently, I had a Mazda 6 and sometimes, I enjoyed sleeping in the back, somewhere near the beach, just for a change of scenery. At the very least, cars with a ‘local’ sticker, parking somewhere different for one or two nights really should be within our rights… y’know, seeing as we pay rates and all.
Secondly, Mandy’s column where she begins, ‘If you want to destroy someone without lifting a finger, make them wait.’ I’ll add to this… make them wait for NDIS (and anything else government-related – including our homeless after the floods).
Six years I’ve been waiting, and NDIS agrees my conditions are permanent and acceptable to them, but pencil-pushers within the system insist on combing through my inch-thick file looking for even one word from specialists that is not acceptable, and so still I wait… and… as Mandy states, ‘if the flood didn’t crush you, waiting might’.
Yep, I’ve been crushed by the NDIS system and now have CPTSD and increased anxiety to the point I’ve been unable to leave home for the past six years unless absolutely necessary, and often this involves a public meltdown… all because the pencil-pushers seem to think it is their pocket the funding is coming from, and they are happy to continue telling me to ‘just wait’.
Perhaps I should park near the beach to soothe my brain? Oh wait, no – I’ll have a panic attack from the ranger bashing on my window and invading my private space at 2am with a very bright torch and an angry demeanour. As the ditty says: ‘Why are we waiting?’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
