Inside story: What will happen next with a Gold Coast cableway in the hinterland
It remains one of the hottest topics on the Gold Coast and not even Bulletin readers can agree on what should happen next. JOIN THE DEBATE
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A GOLD Coast cableway would travel from Mudgeeraba to Springbrook and could cover a route that does not require an expensive buy-up of private land, according to a report to council.
But the city’s next biggest mooted tourist attraction, above a heritage-listed rainforest, is guaranteed to be divisive, and will create debate about funding models with no new proponent on the horizon.
A prefeasibility report to council by a private consultant will consider the social and environmental costs of a cableway compared to the economic benefit.
Bulletin readers have been quick to have their say.
Cathy wrote: "You have obviously not been to Springbrook in the last 10 years or so. There are lots of very busy Airbnb’s, the cafes can’t cope with the numbers and parking is a nightmare. Springbrook needs a park and ride from a fantastic interpretive centre not a nature hating cableway."
Lowe wrote:"I live at Mudgeeraba. Yes, please build it. It will be a fantastic for out here. Just what we need. Don't listen to all the greenies and lefties."
Jon and Lou were right behind the idea, using another example to give the project their approval.
"The Kuranda railway & cable way are a huge success, it has very limited disruption to the vegetation but a huge upside is the millions who can get a better idea about the rainforest canopy, there is no better way for the multitudes to see and get this knowledge," they wrote.
"Also the information centers along the route are excellent, thousands of school kids get there GREEN education. All the knockers should do the Kuranda experience, it is a wake up of how conservation and populations can work together."
Klaus Brauer said: “Just build it the greens have got their heads that far in the sand they won’t even see it being built.”
“Who cares about a crappy cart being lifted over a bunch of trees which is covered with cloud have the time and is filled with people burping farting coughing and spluttering all over the place in a confined space,” Luke wrote.
Caroline added: “If you really must...send the thing to Tamborine, it’s already overcrowded!”
Sally S posted: “There are better options for Gold Coast, blessed with remarkable gifts of nature, attractions and a range of accommodation, than spending on unlikely projects.”
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The Bulletin understands there is no doubt a positive economic impact was “achievable” for the project from a tourism viewpoint.
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The cost is likely to be as much as $130 million but a super majority of councillors are unlikely to have the appetite for ratepayer money to be used in a joint private-public ownership model.
Council sources suggest there are no new proponents other than the previous consortiums — Naturelink’s proposal for Springbrook that sparked green protests two decades ago and a rival group’s plan for Tamborine Mountain.
Some councillors are being backgrounded on the report, which should be debated on return to the cycle of committee meetings next month.
“A consultant was engaged and has completed their work,” Mudgeeraba-based councillor Glenn Tozer said. “Officers will compile a report based on the consultant’s report. It is a pre-feasibility report and intended to be provided to possible proponents.”
The consultants had considered potential routes for the cableway and specifically looked at Mudgeeraba to Springbrook.
Cr Tozer acknowledged it was possible for a cableway to be built across terrain that was not privately owned preventing the need for a costly buy-up of land.
The hinterland attraction was “indeed possible with government support”.
Cr Tozer suggested that, like with most major projects, it could be made economically feasible with the right compromises.
“Important questions remain regarding the impact of a cableway on the existing Springbrook economy and its small businesses, the environmental and disaster preparedness impact should remain front of mind, and there is a social impact reality that must be considered as we count the cost of advancing the project,” he said.
“I remain focused on other achievable and deliverable projects at this time but I have no doubt 2021 will see the cableway issue openly, and hotly, debated. Are the necessary compromises too much? We will see.”
Early community feedback to council refloating the project suggests strong opposition remains to the cableway in Springbrook but support builds further away from the mountain.
“I think the Gold Coast community is generally supportive of ‘big’ ideas — that’s part of our culture as a city,” Cr Tozer said.
“But as more information becomes available regarding the financial, social and environmental cost of a project, Gold Coasters are intelligent enough to scrutinise those ideas that are most suitable for our city.”
A council source said the biggest challenge would be dealing with extra waste issues on the mountain, making the project’s feasibility much different to the Kuranda skyrail.
“There’s the toilets. You have to bring all that stuff down from the mountain,” the source said.
“It’s an extremely fragile ecosystem. It’s world-heritage listed. World-heritage listed is more valuable than a cablecar.”
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