Gold Coast transport corridor preserved despite light rail scrapping
The Gold Coast's southern light rail link in dead, but leaked documents reveal the state government is keeping its options open for the future through central Palm Beach and beyond.
Developers have been told by state government bureaucrats that the public transport corridor on the southern Gold Coast is being preserved, despite the trams being dumped.
Leaked documents obtained by this masthead confirm the advice from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR).
The Crisafulli Government last month announced it was scrapping light rail stage four for an improved bus system and would not be resuming properties, in a decision applauded by anti-tram protesters.
The expectation was up to 235 property owners, facing either full or partial resumptions, would get letters saying their homes were safe.
But developers who wanted to determine the status of their prime sites in Palm Beach and along the corridor reached out to MPs and later sought advice from the Department.
Officers advised that two lots of government mapping – providing for both a light rail overlay and public transport in general tracking along the Gold Coast Highway from Burleigh to the border – remained in place.
A TMR senior staffer, in an email to a developer, said “this corridor protection was implemented in response to Strategic Planning documents”.
The mapping for more than two decades has been part of the South East Queensland Regional Transport Plan and Shaping SEQ 2023 planning.
“These two documents identify part of the Queensland Government’s plans for the future and
how transport can respond to the increasing transport demands from a growing population,” the TMR officer wrote.
The mapping shows other than both sides of the Highway, there are large sections off Currumbin Creek and at Bilinga around the Gold Coast Airport which remain protected.
“TMR has been protecting the Gold Coast Highway Corridor for future transport demands
since the early 2000s and these protections are independent of the extension of the light rail
network,” the TMR officer added.
Deputy Mayor and planning committee chair Mark Hammel welcomed the certainty.
He said he was aware of department correspondence which ensure the corridor, including Palm Beach, remains protected for future transport use independent of the recent decision not to proceed with stage four of light rail.
“Council’s planning work, under the current City Plan, continues on that basis,” he said.
“These protections have been in place for more than two decades and form a key part of how both the State and Council plan for how our city builds housing, travels, and grows – now and into the future.
“Having clarity is critical for everyone – for the community, developers, and the city.
“A protected corridor gives landowners and developers certainty about where future public transport will go, helping people decide where they want to live, while guiding important planning and investment decisions.
“I know there are developers along the southern Gold Coast Highway corridor in particular who are seeking certainty so they can get on with delivering more of the homes our community urgently needs.”
Mr Hammel said it made no sense to have a protected corridor stopping at Burleigh Heads.
“If we lose those protections, we can never get them back,” he said.
“We need to make sure that land remains available for future transport – whether that’s road widening, a rapid bus system, light rail or another form of public transport that comes into play in the future.
“Buses sitting in general traffic simply won’t cut it. We need a dedicated corridor to keep our city moving as our population heads towards one million people by the 2040s.
“I’m calling on the LNP Government to guarantee these protections – applied by its own transport department over two decades ago – will stay. It’s vital that the LNP clearly communicates its position and gives our community and industry confidence that these protections will remain.
“We’ve got the fastest-growing city in the country, and we need a clear, consistent message about the future of our transport corridors.”
Developers who own property along the highway at Palm Beach say they are keeping an eye on the situation.
“It’s good news if the corridor is being kept because it will mean we might get something along there in the future, which will be needed given the strength of the population growth,” one told the Bulletin.
“There’s not a lot of certainty right now, which is worrying for buyers, but if this means there is the potential for improvements in the future then that is something which I’m interested to see.”
Burleigh MP Hermann Vorster said it was “time for council to accept that stage four of the Gold Coast light rail will not proceed and to work with the state government on the next chapter of our city’s transport future”.
“The best way to restore confidence to the community and for the sector is for council to stop stoking fears of a dystopian eight-lane highway through Palm Beach,” he said.
“Those drawings – and the idea of a bus depot in the heart of Burleigh – are pure fantasy and will never happen. Council don’t even own the road.
“It’s time to end the megaphone diplomacy and misinformation campaign. The focus should be on collaboration – council, local MPs and residents – to deliver a transport system that actually works for the southern Gold Coast.
“The Gold Coast Highway is central to that opportunity and I will keep the community updated as that plan takes shape.”
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Originally published as Gold Coast transport corridor preserved despite light rail scrapping
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