Southern Oceanway to be revived as Gold Coast council revisits Tugun to Bilinga walking track
THE southern Oceanway is about to make a shock comeback after being dumped by the previous council on what its supporters claim was a dodgy resident survey.
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THE southern Gold Coast is set to become a battleground as lobby group Friends of Currumbin prepares to ramp up its fight for a pedestrian Oceanway from Bilinga to Tugun.
The Gold Coast Bulletin has learned that community group leaders lobbying for the oceanfront pathway plan to meet with the new council’s infrastructure chairman Dawn Crichlow early next week.
Since a petition signed by almost 9000 residents was lodged with the council late last year, officers have been working on a new Oceanway report for the committee to debate next month.
Newly elected Division 14 councillor Gail O’Neill supports the project and Mayor Tom Tate during the recent election campaign signalled he would back the stand by the area representative.
Given other councillors are likely to support the area councillor, the next big hurdle will be funding the 1.7km walking area.
Previous estimates revealed the pathway may cost more than $4 million, forcing the bill to be split between the council and the State Government.
After the recent council poll where the Oceanway was the number one issue in the southern divisions, Friends of Currumbin have posted “progress inexorable progress” on their Facebook page.
FOC secretary Gloria Baker said residents would begin an intense month of lobbying before the infrastructure committee met to discuss the new Oceanway report on May 26.
“We are planning to have a meeting with everyone on the committee,” Ms Baker said.
“The CEO’s office has our independent review but they’ve done nothing so far.
“For me, the bottom line is they are going to say, ‘How much money?’.
“We are hoping this will be a legacy for the Commonwealth Games, especially for disabled people.
“If it could be done, you can get quite close to the beach and enjoy that emotional, beautiful atmosphere.”
The project was rejected by the council in 2012 after a report found 64 per cent of respondents were opposed to the path.
But the 12-page review by environmental consultants prepared for the FOC group maintained the method of community sampling and engagement was “neither random or representative”.
They said the findings appeared to be “overwhelmingly biased” due to selective mail-outs which favoured Golden Four Drive residents, who largely opposed the Oceanway.
The council report had found almost 70 per cent of residents outside of Tugun and Bilinga supported the project which the FOC consultants believed was more representative.
FOC, in a recent post on its Facebook page, put pressure on Cr O’Neill after she and her volunteers at polling booths last month kept repeating their support for the Oceanway.
The Oceanway community “will not accept excuses at the end of her term if she fails to deliver” and they wanted to see her “action plan”.
Cr O’Neill told the Bulletin she was “looking forward” to seeing the council report which she hoped would move the project forward in terms of planning.
“I believe there should be an Oceanway but there are several considerations, not the least the residents who have boundaries so close to the beach,” she said.
“We have to look at the funding, who will fund it.”
The issue has been divisive, with several ugly incidents involving more than 100 Oceanway supporters in late 2013 after clashes with residents as they marched in front of their homes.
Cr O’Neill described the Oceanway as “complex” with some parts of a walking path that had been cleared close to the A-line seawall.
“I’m cautious about the way forward,” she said.
“There are a lot of people who want this hell or high water.
“We have to be careful with the A-line and we have to get the funding right.”