Gold Coast City Council to spend $1.8B by 2066 to upgrade city’s water and sewerage network

GET ready for a big spend — the Gold Coast City Council will spend $1.8 billion on an upgrade which city leaders say is ‘long overdue’ as our population moves rapidly towards hitting 1 million people.

Coombabah water treatment plant Picture Mike Batterham

MORE than $1.8 billion will be spent on a drastic upgrade of the Gold Coast’s water and sewerage network to cope with the city’s booming population.

The city’s treatment plans will been upgraded and the capacity of the city’s existing pipes will be boosted under long-term projections, city plan documents reveal.

The infrastructure upgrades are planned over a period of 48 years through until 2066.

The city’s water treatment facilities will be upgraded as the city’s population increases.

In just the first decade of works, council is planning:

* Delivery of the Long Term Recycled Water Release project.

* A major expansion of the City’s recycled water networks.

* Growth-related expansion and upgrades to the Pimpama, Coombabah and Merrimac sewage treatment plants.

* Major water and sewerage network upgrades in the north of the city to meet growth.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Mayor Tom Tate said the long-term plans were in place ahead of the city’s expected population increase.

“Ratepayers expect us to plan and fund long-term future infrastructure, whether it is roads, park assets or water and sewerage,” he said.

“With the (Commonwealth) Games behind us and fully funded, we can now direct our attention to these city-changing projects.

“Our city’s population growth is on a strong trajectory so we need to stay ahead of the curve.”

Generic Gold Coast. Photo of the Seaway. Pic by Richard Gosling

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The long-term recycled water release project is a pipeline which will run across the Broadwater to South Stradbroke Island.

Expected to cost around $400 million, it set to be the Gold Coast’s single most expensive piece of infrastructure.

Stage 2 of the offshore release is expected to cost $60 million and is targeted for a 2021 completion.

The third stage, also with a $60 million price tag is tipped to be finished by 2026.

At least a further $117 million worth of work and expansions on the network are planned through to 2066.

One of the city’s sewage treatment facilities.

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At one point it was mooted to go to The Spit but council officers ruled it out as a location in 2016.

The planned upgrades to the city’s north come amid the city’s population continuing to increase.

In June, the Gold Coast Bulletin revealed the Gold Coast’s population was expected to reach one million people by 2034, many years earlier than projected.

Deputy Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates. Photo: Jerad Williams

Deputy Mayor and Yatala councillor Donna Gates said many of the upgrades were ‘long overdue’.

“We have been sending our waste (from the city’s most northern suburbs) to Beenleigh under an agreement with the Logan City Council.

“It is well past time that our network was expanded and the work is long overdue, especially for the Yatala enterprise area.”

The Council is also planning to spend $705 million between this year and 2031 to upgrade the city’s road network and build a new network of streets in the city’s north.