The Spit Environment report: Gold Coast landmark has a lot of natural surprises
A NEW environment and ecology report of The Spit has revealed some surprises as the State Government builds its master plan for the northern Gold Coast landmark.
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THE Spit will need more than a masterplan to get rid of environmental nasties such as weeds, snakes and stormwater run-off, warns a new report.
The Bulletin has obtained the Background Study: Environment and Ecology, prepared for The Spit masterplan which for the first time provides an extensive audit of its natural assets.
In an important warning to the State Government, consultants said: “The Broadwater and coast line of The Spit are highly valued by visitors and support a high diversity of marine fauna including threatened species.
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“Protecting marine species and maintaining water quality required a co-ordinated approach.
“The masterplan will not be able to manage all potential environmental risks and impacts.”
The consultants have offered up to 14 solutions to manage The Spit. They include a local on-site sewerage treatment plant to provide irrigated water and improvements to stormwater run-off at car parks.
They are urging authorities to continue frequent monitoring of water quality at the Marine Stadium where boats are moored at Bums Bay.
Policing of jet skis and boaties around Wavebreak Island are encouraged, as is the management of weeds.
Risks associated with a brown snake colony on The Spit need to addressed.
The report found the area, which is part of the masterplan, had habitat and species of national significance.
Consultants were leading planners John Gaskell Planning Consultants who, along with Deicke Richards, are part of the consortium preparing the masterplan for the Government.
“The Broadwater is one of the top 10 dugong habitats in Queensland, as well as supporting several endangered shorebirds,” the report said.
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“The waters and sandy beach nesting grounds around South Stradbroke Island and The Spit are home to two species of vulnerable turtles as well as the endangered loggerhead turtle.”
The consultants found the Seaway provided “one of the foremost dive locations on the east coast of Australia”.
The recently named Curlew Island south of Wavebreak Island was providing a high-tide refuge for shorebirds including the endangered beach stone curlew.
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Consultants working for the John Gaskell Planning Consultants have produced a 45-page report which found:
● More than 500 records of shorebirds located on Wavebreak Island, including the vulnerable beach stone-curlew.
● The eastern side of The Spit provides nesting sites for threatened sea turtles.
● 48 fauna species of which 34 were listed under federal law as vulnerable or endangered.
● 122 different flora species of which a quarter were exotic.
● The work of volunteers from groups like Federation Walk had restored threatened coastal saltmarsh and endangered littoral rainforest.
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The study found that the northern part of The Spit, unlike the south repaired by Federation Walk, had vegetation in much poorer condition.
“There have been several fires in the northern area, the most recent in 2015, and the burning of vegetation is a likely contributing factor to the current condition,” the report said.
The trees were not currently watered in the north despite the infrastructure being in place to enable this in the future.
“It will take several decades of assisted regeneration before a mixed aged community is established,” the report said.
The southern littoral woodland had been irrigated by recycled water and volunteers had controlled weed growth.
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Consultants regarded Wavebreak Island as showing “greater signs of ecological maturity” than The Spit despite outbreaks of weeds.
“There is potential for the vegetation to provide good habitat if weed control occurred, especially given its isolation and immediate location next to Curlew Island,” the report said.
The consultants confirmed the importance of sea grasses.
A field survey north of the Sheraton Grand Mirage to the sand-pumping jetty found 47 fauna species and 44 different birds.
Field surveyors spotted the threatened grey-headed flying fox and flowering trees which provide a food source for the vulnerable glossy black cockatoo.
“There have been anecdotal reports of large populations of brown snake and reductions in the number of red-bellied black snakes. Fauna surveys have not detected the presence of either of these snakes within Federation Walk,” the report said.
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Using the latest work of renowned Coast bird photographer and author Bob Westerman, three species of shorebirds were identified — the Eastern Curlew, Little Tern and Beach Stone-Curlew — and remain protected under State and federal laws.
“Bird counts taken at Curlew Island over the past three years show that it has a permanent population of between 40 and 80 eastern curlews,” the report said.
But those shorebirds are threatened by dogs, jet skis and boaties, and the wildlife is not being protected, falling outside the Moreton Bay Marine Park.
The overall condition of the Broadwater remains “excellent” but monitoring shows varying bacteria around the Marine Stadium known as Bums Bay and higher concentration of nutrients in the Seaway due to council’s recycled water release program.
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Gold Coast Waterways Authority CEO Hal Morris expects the study will soon be discussed as part of the masterplan sessions.
“I’m told by people like Ian Banks, the diver, that the walk-in dive opportunity in the Seaway is if not the best, one of the best on the east coast of Australia,” Mr Morris said.
“You don’t have to get into a boat. The migratory birds are bringing people to this country just to see the diversity of birds.”
State Development Minister Cameron Dick told the Bulletin: “The Spit boasts a unique natural environment which is treasured by Gold Coasters and tourists alike.
“This was confirmed through our community consultation earlier this year, in which an overwhelming majority of respondents who visited our pop-up stalls supported protecting The Spit’s natural environment.
“Our focus through the masterplanning process for The Spit has always been to get the balance right — to protect environmental and community values and to ensure any future development in this iconic area is sustainable.”