Where two new car parks and a boardwalk will be built in middle of The Spit
Plans to grow a seaside rainforest at a popular Gold Coast beach and develop a boardwalk and more car parks is expected to cause community outrage.
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Plans to create a seaside rainforest on The Spit include an internal boardwalk and two car parks, and is set to spark a community backlash.
The Bulletin has obtained documents viewed by city councillors in a closed session which includes a map showing a boardwalk, likely to be raised above an existing wetland area, on the northeast side of The Spit opposite the Marine Stadium.
Both car parks are proposed east of Seaworld Drive with one at the northern tip of the area known as Bums Bay and the other about midway, which would add to the existing Philip Park and Seaway paved parking areas.
The plans are certain to be divisive with some residents wanting the boardwalk not to interfere with existing palustrine wetland and limited to walkers, while others will see this as an opportunity push for a concrete oceanway along the dunal system.
The council report updating the $8m, 10-year plan to restore 37ha of forest through the planting and maintenance of 350,000 littoral (seaside) rainforest plants shows documents are being completed so the city can go to tender next month.
A landscape plan is to be finalised by April, showing first a southern section then northern section will receive the plants and irrigation systems with the project to be completed by July 2026.
Federation Walk leader Lyn Wright, who with a team of volunteers has looked after native bushland in Federation Walk, said the Coastal Reserve under the Land Act was gazetted in 2003 as an area for park, environmental and coastal management community purposes because of its ecological qualities.
It does not include “carparking or picnic areas”.
Ms Wright said there was broad support for the irrigation project but structural plans had included only an amphitheatre for education purposes called The Learning Place.
“The two proposed car parks are in an area marked as an ecological restoration area which should never include carparking because of its environmentally sensitive qualities,” she said.
“One of these car parks is in the vicinity of, and should be nowhere near what is referred to as a freshwater wetland or palustrine wetland. We conceded for council to build a recycled water pump station in the northern section as the importance for fire reduction was a most important benefit.
“We oppose the intrusion of these car park-picnic areas as bus transport will be the most popular form of transport in the coming years and the amphitheatre will accommodate area for those who picnic — we have never had a request for an area to picnic.”
Area councillor Darren Taylor has yet to see much of the details of the plans but confirmed they included a boardwalk above the wetland and car parks.
“It is something we are going to be raising with all our groups, what their thoughts are. I’m open to all the options,” he said.
“We just have to make sure that obviously we protect the area but make sure residents and tourists can actually enjoy it. What that forms and looks like is open to debate.
“I don’t have a concern with it being a proper path through there, as a proper ocean walk as long as we are protecting everything around it. Look that’s definitely a debate that needs to be had, to get a final answer.”
Cr Taylor said the area had become increasingly busy and a designated path would keep visitors including cyclists in that section, protecting the environment.
“The parking side obviously we are doing up the big car park, the Muriel Henchman park, that’s all being done up, we have really got to maintain what we’ve got there now and get the best parking we’ve got,” Cr Taylor said.
“I think the whole idea for this walkway will be how people can actually walk from Main Beach and down that area and walk back. Otherwise that road is going to become a main highway.”
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