I have to admit, I never saw it coming.

I lived in Sydney for the first years of my life. The child years.

The teenage years. The student years. The young married, then parent years.

And I liked it, it was good.

But Sydney changed. Maybe I changed too.

The city got too busy for me, too cloistered, too polluted, too ... just too much.

And so I sought to live in another place, a quieter, cleaner, better way to live.

I came to Berry for a few years and then, back to my beloved coast, and Kiama. A place I had loved all my life.

And for nearly five years, Hubby and I have called it home. Divine, beautiful, green rolling hills, a home, a haven by the sea.

And it was good.

But, as Bob Dylan sang, the times, they are a changin’.

And it's not good now. It's not good at all.

Of course I'm referring to the appalling onset of a soon- to-be, supposed "progress" being inflicted on our beautiful town, and so many others up and down our coast. High-rise Gotham cities.

Blatant, ugly overdevelopment, with absolutely no class, no artistry in design or architectural feature.

And almost sure to be out of the financial reach of those young families and older people for whom they're supposedly being built.

This is inflicted on us by bureaucrats and politicians who seemingly have no regard for the consequences on village life, or on the daily life of so many people.

Residents and business owners alike. Ironically, people who may have voted for them in the first place.

I know that many in the Kiama community are hurting. Many are afraid.

There was little consultation. Little time for our community to look at what is coming, to assess it, to navigate the smoke and mirrors.

And I am one of them. I'm a newbie. I've only lived here a short while. But I love this town and its people.

So I'm doing what I can in terms of petitions and committees and meetings.

Like many other concerned, Kiama residents.

But I fear the damage has already been done, the horse has bolted...

And I didn't see it coming.