Gold Coast development: Political leaders call for masterplan of Norwell Valley

Plans to build a giant city in the northern Gold Coast have sparked urgent calls for a masterplan to determine how the area will change in the future.

NORTHERN Gold Coast political leaders say they want to see a masterplan developed for the Norwell Valley to determine its future.

The proposal by the Norwell Valley Consortium to transform the area into Pacific City is the latest in a long line of visions for the area, which is struggling with the increased decline of the cane industry.

New city councillor Mark Hammel is a resident in the area and his family have farmed the region for many generations.

An artist impression of the proposed city development.

Cr Hammel said many proposals had been put forward in recent decades but none had stuck.

“I fully recognise that in the Rocky Point area there are land owners who are keen to sell and there are others who are keen to stay,” he said.

“It is a difficult thing which will have to be worked out in the future.

“However, we have an incredibly unique opportunity and we could do something amazing not just for the city but for southeast Queensland.

Cr Mark Hammel Picture: Mike Batterham

“In my eyes, a masterplan for the area makes sense because it is an environmentally sensitive place which borders the Logan River and Moreton Bay.

“There are flood issues but I would support a masterplan to see what that would look like before it is put to the market.”

The proposal comes three months after veteran developer Norm Rix called for governments to release agricultural land so the city was not locked into purely tower developments as it braced for an extra 350,000 residents by 2041.

The project has been pitch as part of a proposed sale of the land.

Billionaire developer Bob Ell, of Leda Group, disagreed, at the time saying there was no chance the area would be developed despite a shortage of greenfield sites. He was pressing ahead with his own $1 billion Cobakai Lakes and Kings Forrest projects across the border in Tweed.

In 2017, Chinese developer Songcheng, the same company behind a proposal to build a theme park at Carrara, said it would spend more than $1 billion to buy up 6117ha of farmland in the Norwell Valley.

Norwell Valley as it appears today.

It had earmarked a giant, masterplanned city but the sale never progressed after Chinese investors largely withdrew from the global market.

Coomera MP Michael Crandon was not aware of the Pacific City plan but said he supported a masterplan for the region.

“For as long as I have been the MP for Coomera I have been trying to get a commitment for future planning around the cane fields community,” he said.

The proposed city.

“Early on I put forward the idea of a 10-year plan but here we are 11 years after and there is still no plan.

“None of the plans have gone anywhere and it is frustrating for the people who live there because they do not have a plan for the next generation.

“We have no idea what could be sustainable there nor what would be developed.”