Options considered for $4M boardwalk on headlands

For the thousands of Great Keppel Island snorkelling enthusiasts who make the arduous trek over a headland to reach a fabulous coral reef beach each year, salvation is coming.

Snorkeling off a reef near Great Keppel Island. Picture: Tourism and Events Queensland

For the thousands of Great Keppel island snorkelling enthusiasts who make the arduous trek over a headland to reach Shelving Beach each year, salvation is coming.

Livingstone Shire Council has about $4 million in state funding to build a number of coast-hugging elevated boardwalks on the island, including connecting Fisherman’s Beach to Shelving Beach and then Shelving Beach to Monkey Beach.

Mayor Adam Belot said council took a consulting team to GKI last week to show businesses and residents concept options for the boardwalk locations and seek feedback from them about preferences and issues arising from the proposals.

Map shows three options for new access paths to Shelving and Monkey beaches on Great Keppel Island.

The team included staff from NewScape Design who were awarded the contract for the Great Keppel Island Boardwalks project.

Cr Belot said they were an experienced landscape architecture studio specialising in natural area designs in remote locations and very experienced in public infrastructure in remote coastal areas such as boardwalks and jetties.

An image of of Terrigal Boardwalk at night. It’s an example of what the proposed GKI boardwalks might look like.

“What we recognise is along those rocky headlands (to Shelving and Monkey beaches), the premier experience has been people going around that rocky headland and snorkelling along that section of the reef there,” he said.

“That’s the signature experiences that people identify (with GKI visits).”

Cr Belot said feedback from tourism providers such as the Hideaway, Tropical Vibes, Freedom Fast Cats was that “one the most popular activities for people when they get there is to be able to do snorkelling over some coral”.

Putney Beach and Fisherman Beach, Great Keppel Island. Picture: Liam Kidston

He said anecdotal evidence from those businesses indicated 2000 people a day travel to the island on busy days, with 400 to 500 of them expressing a keen interest in snorkelling at Shelving and Monkey beaches.

Cr Belot said one of the biggest challenges council now faced was working out how much boardwalk they could deliver with the funding considering various levels of access available.

“To what extent do you provide all accessible access throughout the start and the finish while recognizing with that comes significant increase in price which potentially reduces the amount you can deliver,” he said.

“So it’s really understanding the constraints that come with that.”

Keppel Konnection ferry parked at Great Keppel Island.

One of the proposed boardwalks is an extension of the pathway which runs halfway along Fisherman’s Beach (which is the island’s main beach where the ferry and supply boats arrive).

He said the options were to run it along the esplanade to where the boardwalk to Shelving Beach would start or go inland behind the nine residential priorities.

Cr Belot said the freehold owners at last week’s consultation made it “loud and clear” was their preference was it not go in front of their properties.

He said he respected their views but it might pose some challenge in regard to wider community support as to run behind their properties would add about 200 metres to that boardwalk distance.

“It is going away from the feature you are there for which is basically walking along the (beachfront) esplanade.”

The three proposed boardwalk sites under investigation for design are:

Extension Along Fisherman’s Beach: Enhancing the existing pathway to improve connectivity and accessibility for visitors arriving at the Island and exploring the main beach area (approximately 600 metres).

Fisherman’s Beach to Shelving Beach Headland: A new boardwalk that offers a scenic route along the coastline, providing opportunities to enjoy the island’s natural beauty while connecting key locations (approximately 500 metres).

Shelving Beach to Monkey Beach Headland: A boardwalk designed to link two popular beaches, enabling visitors to navigate the island safely and with minimal environmental impact along the nearby reefs (approximately 800 metres).

Class 1 - Opportunity for large numbers of visitors, including those with reduced mobility, to undertake walks which are provided with a high level of interpretation and facilities.

Class 3 - Opportunity for visitors to walk in slightly modified natural environments requiring a moderate level of fitness and where the provision of interpretation and facilities is not common.

Class 4 - Opportunity for visitors to explore and discover relatively undisturbed natural environments along defined and distinct tracks with minimal (if any) facilities.

Community consultation via the council’s website finishes at the end of the month.