Paul Weston: Trams head-on collision will divide southern Gold Coast suburbs

A business case is being built for light rail to head south from Broadbeach to Burleigh. The longer plan will see the trams at Coolangatta. A collision with the community could happen.

LIGHT rail is rumbling towards a political head-on crash as it heads south. High profile protesters are said to be preparing to run for council.

After councillors last month approved a 20-storey tower on a slender 1261sq m block in Main Beach Pde – three and half times the density for the area – Main Beach Association spokesman David Hutley warned it was the beginning of a link between trams and high rise.

“The council took more notice of light rail than the density zoning. That could impact for the people down south, all the way down. For those suburbs it will be a real problem,” he said before storming out of the council chambers in disgust.

Light rail outside Gold Coast University Hospital. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mr Hutley is a regular on the council’s doorstep with RTI requests if he fails to get answers, and along with Sue Donovan has built a new lobby group.

Before them were the Friends of Currumbin and GECKO. The younger guns at Save Our Spit, effective across social media platforms, followed.

Save Our Broadwater with former pollies Judy Spence and Alan Rickard are solid lobbyists welcome at George Street. But many other one-issue groups just pop up and fade away.

On light rail, the protest has been mostly on Facebook, with residents urging others to sign petitions and take pot shots at their perceived enemies.

But some trambusters are about to appear.

“There is now a coalition of concerned residents and business people forming and we are looking at strategies to stop this lunacy,” Burleigh resident Terry Goldsworthy told me.

The light rail path along the Gold Coast Highway as originally proposed by GCC in 2015. Photo: Supplied.

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“We are exploring the option of campaigning against those members at local, state and federal level who support the light rail – especially at the local level.”

Their concern is the trams will stop at Burleigh because it is too costly to build two new rail bridges across Tallebudgera and Currumbin creeks to reach the airport.

Given there is little room for a park and ride, Mr Goldsworthy predicts the suburban streets will become a parking lot.

Who are the area councillors? Burleigh’s Pauline Young is a strong advocate of public transport. Palm Beach veteran Daphne McDonald opposes high rise.

Gail O’Neill at Coolangatta, before being elected to the council, was member of a light and heavy rail lobbying committee on the Southern Chamber of Commerce.

She met with transport ministers in both the Bligh and Newman governments, putting forward submissions for both tram and train to the border.

“We believed that a major tourism centre that is the Gold Coast requires an efficient transport system that connects one end of the Coast to the other,’’ she says.

“This would enable tourists and residents to visit other areas of the Coast and this would only benefit business in those areas.”

A tram along the Main Beach stretch of the Gold Coast Highway. Picture by Scott Fletcher

Like Cr Young, Cr O’Neill believes residents should be encouraged to leave their cars at home to help prevent traffic gridlock. Like Burleigh, Coolangatta would see less local traffic by welcoming the trams.

“During my election campaign in 2016 I spoke to numerous residents who wholeheartedly support light and heavy rail servicing the southern Gold Coast,” Cr O’Neill says.

A new group, Bilinga to the Border Inc, was formed this week. When asked about its aim, its secretary, Gloria Baker, said: “We’re concerned about overdevelopment.’’

Could these groups link up over the light rail route? Will public opinion on transport options split these suburbs like a tram track?

So if there’s something strange – like a new tram – in your neighbourhood, who you gonna call? Who you gonna vote for?