Gold Coast cableway: Gecko vows to fight plans for a cableway in the Gold Coast Hinterland

The Gold Coast’s leading environmental group has vowed to fight revived plans to built a cableway in the Hinterland.

THE Gold Coast’s leading environmental group has vowed to fight revived plans to built a cableway in the Hinterland.

Mayor Tom Tate yesterday told the Bulletin he wants to spend $1 million on a study of the controversial project in this year’s council budget, providing he is re-elected in March.

If approved by the state and federal governments, it could operational by 2023. Frontrunners for the gondola are Springbrook and Tamborine Mountain.

COUNCIL GREEN-LIGHTS CABLEWAY STUDY

Conservationists and Springbrook residents opposed the cableway project in the 1990s.

PRESSURE ON STATE TO BACK CABLEWAY

The State Government says the project must stack up environmentally while business and tourism leaders have welcomed the renewed push for the cableway after 22 years of false starts.

Gecko’s Lois Levy, who was instrumental in the campaign which helped shoot down the 1998 Naturelink proposal, said she was opposed to the project going through Springbrook National Park.

Tourism leaders back plans for a cableway Picture: Tom Lee

“Rather than waste ratepayers’ money on an environmental impact assessment, we recommend the Mayor read the nine volumes of the study which was done in 1998 for Naturelink,” she said. “Springbrook has not got town water or sewerage – it cannot cope with mass tourism.”

Broadwater MP and Opposition frontbencher David Crisafulli said “Queensland needs to refresh its tourism offering”.

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Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan

Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan said the project was critical to boosting the city’s tourism fortunes in the face of increasing competition.

“You just have to look at places like Queenstown or Cairns to see what a success a cableway has been,” he said.

“The Hinterland is one of the jewels of the Gold Coast and we want to take care of it and this will help do that.”