Division 1 candidate Mark Hammel calls on council to stop infrastructure catch-up ahead of 2020 Gold Coast election

A Gold Coast election candidate has revealed his plan for council to stop the northern Gold Coast being forced to play infrastructure "catch-up".

A COUNCIL candidate wants City Hall to take out low interest loans and put immediate charges on developers buying land, so the “catch-up” infrastructure pain in the northern corridor is never repeated.

Blocked transport arteries as roadworks continue on Foxwell Road. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Division 1 candidate Mark Hammel is calling on the council to underwrite the funding for suburban infrastructure, fast-track delivery of new roads and shift the cost of these projects away from taxpayers and home buyers.

The Bulletin has previously highlighted the failure to develop infrastructure like bridge links and railway stations in boom suburbs such as Pimpama, where residents have complained about taking 23 minutes to travel just 150 metres.

Mr Hammel said infrastructure should be built upfront with funding totally reimbursed through charges to developers.

“We need to turn the current model on its head,” he said. “Right now, we wait for developers to acquire land and then we fund major roads and other services through infrastructure charges which are then built into rates and the cost of buying a property.

“These charges are paid at the end of a development, so council is always playing catch up. This system has so many flaws, not the least of which is the fact that it pushes out the timeline for a project to go from shovel-ready to complete.”

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Gold Coast City Council Division One candidate Mark Hammel (standing in the middle) with locals Geoff Rossman and Dave Collard discussing the maps for the Coomera Connector.

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Yawalpah Road at Pimpama was an example of a “work in progress” for many years, he said.

“The other glaring fault is that developers are not forced to pay to connect infrastructure to neighbouring projects to provide seamless thoroughfares for cars or pedestrians, so we end up with a patchwork approach that benefits nobody,” Mr Hammel said.

The council had to take more of a lead on infrastructure development in suburbs and deliver missing connecting roads in residential areas to alleviate the major delays people were experiencing as they tried to access local schools, shops and the motorway, he said.

“Council is able to access funding at a much cheaper rate than developers, who would fully reimburse council by paying a fee per hectare, which includes capital and interest costs, when acquiring land,” Mr Hamel added.

“The best part of this solution is that it would significantly reduce the overall cost of infrastructure and would mitigate, or at the very least minimise, the contribution required from ratepayers, and could potentially make buying a new home cheaper.”

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Division One Gold Coast City Council candidate Mark Hammel on the busy Eastern Service Road at Ormeau.

Mr Hammel said he had discussed his proposal with urban planners.

“I think most people accept that our population is growing and there is change and development happening, but they want more certainty around how change will be managed and controlled to preserve their lifestyle,” Mr Hammel said.

“I’d like to see council working to designate certain areas for residential development and create a plan attached to each of those areas for the completion of external connecting infrastructure works before any residential development takes place.”