Council faces legal threat over Gold Coast Oceanway bike path

THREATS of legal action could halt construction of the controversial Gold Coast Oceanway, with locals claiming they have a smoking gun which would prevent the concrete path from going ahead.

Flashback: Barry Robinson, President of Friends of Currumbin speaks to a gathering of nearby residents for a meeting to discuss the Tugun to Bilinga Oceanway. Picture: Regi Varghese

THE council is facing legal action unless it stops work on an oceanway bike path on the southern Gold Coast and agrees to conduct an aboriginal heritage study.

Lawyers of two women have sent letters to both the council and State Government outlining their “native title rights” along the Tugun-Bilinga foreshore.

BEACHFRONT OWNERS AT WAR WITH COUNCIL

A section of the Gold Coast Oceanway.

Beachfront owners last week claimed they were yet to receive a detailed brief as planning finishes on a concrete pathway to be built in front of their homes after the Commonwealth Games.

Lawyers for the women told the Government that the foreshore was “the last piece of natural landscape (on the Gold Coast) for unhindered aboriginal access to the ocean”.

“The women assert that if a path is built it would be like there is a snake along the whole of the foreshore barring their path, which their ancestors roamed for hundreds of thousands of years.”

Rostron Carlyle Lawyers have asked Mayor Tom Tate, CEO Dale Dickson and city solicitor David Montgomery to give an undertaking that no work will occur until an aboriginal cultural study is completed.

OCEANWAY GETS TICK FROM COUNCIL

Lawyers have written to Mayor Tom Tate. Photo by Richard Gosling

The critical part of the works include the removing, relocating and destroying old pandanus trees growing along the foreshore.

Lawyers have given council a deadline of 4pm tomorrow to give the undertaking otherwise they will pursue a “stop order” under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.

The lawyers have also sought urgent talks with Deputy Premier Jackie Trad.

The two women, from Elanora and Tweed Heads, became aware from a council letter that work to remove the pandanus trees would start in May to allow construction of the path from Tugun to Bilinga.

PLANS DRAWN UP FOR GOLD COAST OCEANWAY

Flashback: A rally against the Oceanway. Picture: Regi Varghese

The women alleged that under the provisions of the Act that council had failed to exercise a duty of care, caused unlawful harm to aboriginal cultural heritage and by removing the trees would be in breach of current laws.

They claim descendants of the original ancestors have a right to access to the land, can camp there, build shelters, holding meetings and fish.

“They assert that council well knows for hundreds of years, one of the largest aboriginal camp sites along the east coast of Australia was situated immediately to the west of the Tugun-Bilinga foreshore, and that access to the sea along the whole length of that foreshore was integral to their ancestors’ existences.”

A council spokesman said: “Council is aware of the correspondence from the law firm and the matters has been referred to the City solicitor for consideration.”

New section of the Oceanway completed at Burleigh Heads where cyclists use it often.

A departmental spokesman said the council had been conducted and it was a matter for its officers to address native title concerns.

“There are no grounds for any intervention by the department in relation to the management of cultural heritage for this project,” the spokesman said.

Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey after talking to residents fears council has not conducted comprehensive community consultations.

Jann Stuckey. Photo by Richard Gosling

Ms Stuckey believes residents were confused after the project started as an oceanway and evolved into a 3.5m-wide sealed pathway from the Bilinga Surf Life Saving Club to Gibson Park at Tugun.

Area councillor Gail O’Neill has received emails from residents complaining that they had yet to be given detailed plans and approvals for the path.

Beachfront landowners also voiced their concerns about several issues being ignored including the safety of the sea wall on which the pathway will be built.

They say there are “stories circulating that it is intended to poison some pandanus to facilitate their removal” raising concerns about environmental issues.