Gold Coast light rail protesters call in Shine Lawyers

Residents opposed to the Gold Coast’s light rail extension have engaged a top law firm – but their resistance could be futile.

Southern Gold Coast residents fearful the push of the light rail to Coolangatta airport will destroy their idyllic beachside suburbs have called in top litigation lawyers as the fight against the tram extension plan ramps up.

Shine Lawyers will address a meeting of concerned residents at Palm Beach later this month to advise property owners facing resumptions of their legal rights.

But the lawyers say the controversial light-rail route down the Gold Coast Highway from Burleigh Heads to Coolangatta appears to be a fait accompli, and residents’ only hope may be a massive protest campaign.

Stage 3 of the Coast’s multibillion-dollar tram system, which opened in 2014, is under way from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads, and planning is well advanced for Stage 4 to Coolangatta.

The State Government and Coast Mayor Tom Tate have been pushing the highway route, claiming it has majority business and resident support, and a glossy brochure sent recently to locals shows a completed corridor study map of stations from Tallebudgera to Tugun.

But many residents and local politicians strongly oppose the route, fearing traffic chaos, increased crime and impacts on the scenic Burleigh Heads National Park and Tallebudgera Creek.

Light rail protesters brandish signs at a recent rally at Tallebudgera Community Centre.

Protest groups have been formed and “Trams outta Palmy” and “Trams outta Tugun” signs have sprung up in the streets.

Shine lawyers senior associate Glen Martin, who will address a residents’ meeting on July 22 at the Palm Beach Share and Care Centre, said there was widespread concern, with many locals feeling confused and bullied.

Mr Martin, who worked with affected property owners on the light rail first stage, which caused major disruption and business closures, said hundreds of southern Gold Coast residents and landlords had received government letters indicating that their land could be impacted.

He said many properties could be entirely or partly resumed for the tram extension.

“The vast majority will have a number of metres taken from them so you could have motels, unit blocks and businesses losing car parks and houses 3 to 5m closer to the road,” he said.

“There’s not any silver bullet to challenge a resumption or compulsory acquisition, unfortunately. It’s not like (classic Aussie David-versus-Goliath film) The Castle where you can call in (fictional lawyer) Dennis Dennuto – objections rarely, if ever, succeed.”

Mr Martin said that despite the Government embarking on more community consultation from this month, “my feeling is that it (the highway route) is effectively a fait accompli”.

He said a legal challenge was not an option, and the only tactic for worried residents may be to protest and lobby the government.

“There have been examples where governments have been brought down by unpopular projects,” he said, citing the fall of the Goss government over its plan to build a second Brisbane-Gold Coast highway through koala habitat in the 1990s.

A council transport plan showing future of light rail on the Gold Coast