Human waste washes up at Couran Cove on South Stradbroke Island infuriating residents and Gold Coast councillor

Gold Coast city leaders and residents of a popular holiday resort have been left horrified after something ‘disgusting’ washed up just meters from where children play.

COURAN Cove residents and a city councillor are filthy over a dirty mess allegedly left by revellers after New Year’s celebrations.

Human excrement, bits of toilet paper and other waste have washed up on the shores near the South Stradbroke Island resort in recent days, just metres from where children play.

Dirty water with sewerage at Couran Cove Resort following New Year's Eve celebrations on South Stradbroke Island.

Boaties dumping the holding tanks of their vessels before sailing away have been blamed for the mess.

Images taken on January 1 and obtained by the Gold Coast Bulletin show sewage pooling around the edges of a lagoon.

Multiple complaints have been made to the council and Maritime Safety Queensland, which are understood to be investigating.

Couran Cove. Photo: Supplied.

“It is disgusting and on New Year’s Day kids over here went to go swimming and found toilet paper and this mess washed up,” a resident told the Bulletin.

“We tried calling the council but on the public holiday they said they could not help.”

But area councillor Cameron Caldwell is furious, slamming the situation and calling for a crackdown on offending boaties.

Couran Cove residents are furious.

“We have zero tolerance for those who do the wrong thing on our waterways,” he said.

“We urge the Gold Coast Waterways Authority to take strong action against any individual who is found to be responsible for this.

“The overwhelming majority of boaties are responsible and care for our environment and its recreational value.

“It is a shame this is spoiled by the stupidity of a few.”

Council is taking a hard line against the dumping of human waste into the waterways.

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Couran Cove’s management did not respond to Gold Coast Bulletin requests for comment yesterday.

The Bulletin understands limited resources over the holiday period and the death of a 54-year-old man on South Stradbroke Island on January 2 delayed an investigation into the waste dumping.

Illegal disposal of waste into the Gold Coast’s waterways has been an ongoing issue in recent years, with MPs David Crisafulli and Sam O’Connor last year calling a meeting.

Waste being dumped into the water has been an ongoing issue.

Couran Cove was the brainchild of former mayor Ron Clarke, who conceived the idea in the late 1990s.

Pitched as an environmentally friendly resort, it opened at the turn-of-the-Millennium and became a training ground for the UK team ahead of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

But the resort struggled in recent years, closing in 2011 before later reopening.

Gold Coast-based retirement village operator Eureka Holdings, which took over management of Couran Cove in December 2017, has planned a $100 million overhaul to breathe new life into the resort and residential lifestyle village.