Ann Wason Moore: Fight over Gold Coast Oceanway between residents and MP Ray Stevens

When thinking of contentious Gold Coast issues, the Oceanway wasn’t something that sprang to Ann Wason Moore’s mind - but the battle over it, she says, is exactly why we can’t have nice things.

THIS is why we can’t have nice things.

From trees to trains to walking tracks, it seems the Gold Coast can’t agree on a single thing.

Not that we should expect unanimity in a city of more than 600,000, but a broad consensus sure would be nice.

But silly me for expecting just that when the State Government this week allocated funding to extend the Oceanway along Mermaid Beach over the next three years.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey this week announced the extension as part of a broader $10 million fund for the Gold Coast Oceanway.

Now, when I think of contentious issues for this city … I do not think of the Oceanway.

Again, more fool me, but a smooth path that runs alongside our city’s most brilliant asset (aka the beach), that offers equal opportunity for all residents - no matter their home address or ability - to enjoy the fresh air and sea view seems like a great idea.

Not only is it a tourist attraction (think California’s Huntington Beach, Venice Beach and San Diego boardwalks) but an amenity for residents and a fantastic incentive to exercise or safely walk/ride to work.

It’s a no-brainer, right?

Well, apparently I’m the one with no brain.

Because, just like planting trees in public parks, apparently this is an explosive issue.

Now, I can understand complaints against the Oceanway coming from those on Hedges Ave. Perhaps it’s a stereotype, but the wealthy are notoriously private - so I’m not surprised that residents along Millionaire’s Row don’t welcome the idea of a public pathway fronting their backyard.

To be honest, I wouldn’t love that either - and I’m no millionaire. But hey, if it bothers them that much I’m happy to swap. I’ll even wave from my new back deck on the beach.

I can even understand - and certainly expect - opposition from, well, the Opposition.

In fact, veteran Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens embarked on an anti-Oceanway rant in parliament on Thursday:

“I hear the cries of many who would like this infrastructure to ride their bike on, push their pram on, or generally not get their Nike shoes dirty on the beach sand,” he said.

“However it is a responsible government who should resist these Christmas wish calls to Santa … the beach is a beautiful place to walk and other pathways that aren’t sacrificial are better placed to provide mobility access.”

The Gold Coast Oceanway.

While it’s true that Oceanway construction along Mermaid and Palm Beach would be beyond the A-line seawall, meaning it could be damaged in a massive weather event, I had to laugh that Mr Stevens basically said he’s heard how much people want the Oceanway … but they’re wrong. Thanks for nothing, Ray.

But what really surprised me was the Oceanway pushback from green groups. And I’m sure Mr Bailey was taken aback too.

After all, as one commenter keenly observed, the Oceanway funding announcement was wedged in right alongside that of the light rail extension - it doesn’t take a QAnon conspiracist to interpret this as something of a sweetener.

Alas, that sweetness turned decidedly sour for some.

“There goes what’s left of the dunes and the wildlife that are trying to hang on in there. More concrete,” wrote one commenter on social media.

Another was even more detailed in his argument:

“Through studying the relationships between coastal ecology, dune dynamics and the social amenity of such spaces I find it illogical and abhorrent that the Gold Coast seems so blindly obsessed with concreting and/or developing almost the entire coastal strip with paths and infrastructure based purely on some concocted fantasy that a select few people need to ride their bikes from one end to the other in one continuous movement.”

But wait … there’s more:

“It’s all part of the toxic capitalistic mantra which consumes and changes everything in its vacinity.” (Sic)

In the words of my 1989 junior high self: take a chill pill, y’all.

Queensland LNP member for Mermaid Beach, Ray Stevens. (AAP Image/Dan Peled)

A sentiment echoed in meaning, if not exact verbiage, by council officers.

“Land holders and residents along the proposed pathway may have some objection due to perceived loss of privacy or property value,” the report says. “However, recent experience with the Tugun to Bilinga Oceanway ... indicates that these concerns may not fully eventuate and that residents are likely to find benefit in the pathway due to improved access to the seafront.”

Meanwhile, Oceanway proponents argue that the path offers an opportunity to ‘establish diverse dunal vegetation where currently only marram grass and pigface currently grow’.

To which I’m sure opponents will simply reply: what did you just call me?

So we wait until Tuesday, when councillors will be asked at a transport committee meeting to back the officers’ recommendation to support a petition to build the Oceanway on the beachside of beachfront mansions from Hedges to Albatross Ave.

And, thanks to the State Government, they now have ten million reasons to support it.

Look, certainly the Oceanway - like literally any and every change and development on the Gold Coast - is not perfect.

But in this case, as in so many others (looking at you, light rail), I believe the benefits to the whole community outweigh the negatives suggested by the affected few.

Please, Gold Coast. Can’t we just agree this is a nice thing?