Gold Coast population boom: Residents don’t want to be ‘the next’ Pimpama or Coomera
Residents on rural acreage west of the Pacific Motorway are vowing to defend a green wall to stop their suburbs becoming another Pimpama or Coomera.
Council
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RESIDENTS on rural acreage west of the Pacific Motorway are vowing to defend a green wall to stop their suburbs becoming another Pimpama or Coomera.
Theodore MP Mark Boothman has spoken to families at Guanaba, Maudsland, Wongawallan and Clagiraba after numerous complaints about businessmen buying up lots in rural streets for future subdivisions.
HINTERLAND RESIDENTS DON’T WANT DEVELOPMENT
Coomera Valley property owners admit the population boom in the city’s north will bring more houses in what has been “the green behind the gold”, but they support only a “slight relaxation” in rural zonings.
“I’m not a Greenie, as I believe they do more harm that good but I do appreciate the care and welfare of animals local to this area,” a resident said in a letter to Mr Boothman.
“We are encroaching on their habitat and their needs have to be addressed when planning and zoning new projects.”
NEW ECO RESORT PROPOSED FOR HINTERLAND PROPERTY
The Coast’s population has tipped 600,000 and by 2041 it is expected to reach 943,686 with the Gold Coast City Council and State Government required to plan for annual growth of 14,670 people.
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Mr Boothman said the vast majority of residents expressed their love affair with the lifestyle of the Coomera River Valley and their concerns about further urban development.
“Some residents did look favourably to slight changes to zoning where appropriate, but were vehemently opposed to the idea of 600 square metre or smaller lots,” he said
Maudsland residents revealed that businessmen were buying several blocks in some streets and approaching neighbours about selling up.
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“Families have bought for the natural beauty and serenity of our area which would be largely destroyed if we backed on to a big housing estate,” the resident wrote to the MP.
Another property owner supported “5-10 acre blocks being able to covert to smaller 1 to 1.5 acre blocks for additional housing”.
“It seems inevitable if not logical that Maudsland would be tied into the back of Pacific Pines as the need for growth continues in the northern corridor,” a resident said.
“We strongly believe that development of this region is necessary in order to support the growing population of the Gold Coast.
“Many rural land owners would have purchased their property knowing that inevitably one day these kind of changes were coming. This is simply the future coming to us.”
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After speaking to residents, Mr Boothman said he wrote to Mayor Tom Tate informing him that the majority of property owners want their valleys, which were a major tourist attraction, to remain the same.
“Our survey results also showed that residents could be open to smaller acreage parcels — where appropriate — if the rural zoning and feel to the area was maintained,” Mr Boothman said.
Cr Tate said city planning officers had advised that there were no plans to rezone rural lots to low-density residential in areas outside the urban footprint of the city.
The City Plan acknowledged it was important to “maintain a green frame to the urban areas” particularly in the Hinterland ranges.
The Coomera River Valley response is similar to council’s own recent findings for the Mudgeeraba investigation area where 76 per cent of rural property owners were not supportive at all or had reservations about low-medium density development.
Councillors at a planning committee meeting today are expected to get feedback on an Oxenford Investigation Area.
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