End is nigh for lake
Turf Club set to begin earthworks
GOLD Coast Turf Club says it will start earthworks this week to fill in Black Swan Lake to create horse-training facilities and a car park.
About 40 residents staged a protest yesterday after discovering construction fencing had been placed around the 2.7ha body of water in Gold Market Dr at Bundall.
Gold Coast Turf Club CEO Steve Lines said the fencing was recommended as part of Occupational Health and Safety guidelines to protect pedestrians and prevent unauthorised access to the area.
“The site is private property and the Gold Coast Turf Club is simply following procedures to ensure we are fully compliant with both workplace safety authorities and the local police in keeping the public safe from construction zone areas,” he said.
Mr Lines said in a statement the earthworks would “commence this week”.
“The Gold Coast Turf Club has been compliant with council regulations and environmental considerations, and a clear majority of the community agree that this area needs to be filled in,” he said.
“The lake is fed by stormwater run-off from the surrounding 5.7ha catchment and property used exclusively for equestrian purposes.”
Mr Lines said the club had spent $150,000 on flora and fauna studies and species management so the environment was considered.
“The Gold Coast Turf Club respects the expert environmental findings and also council’s decision to greenlight excavation works which will see this swamp transformed into much needed horse-training amenities and potential day yards for horse training teams,” he said.
“It will ultimately become an equine green space. It may also provide an additional revenue stream for the Gold Coast Show and other major events at the Gold Coast Turf Club by becoming an overflow carparking facility.”
Residents yesterday placed 52 red discs on a fence line in part to identify the bird species that use the waterway and to embarrass the council, which staged a much criticised red dot promotional campaign five years ago.
“It sounds like they are ready to make a move. The fencing is on the northern and western side. There’s several hundred metres of it. It’s like the birds have been penned in,” a resident said.
Wildlife Queensland Gold Coast president Sally Spain was buoyed by the turnout at the protest.
“We had about 40 people at the meeting, which was good at short notice.’’
The council in late 2016 voted to fill in what area councillor Gary Baildon branded a “borrow pit” to provide an overflow parking area for the turf club and the Gold Coast Show Society.
“We have people watching all the time, every hour of the day. These are decent elderly people, they’re ordinary people,” Ms Spain said.
Protesters earlier this month threatened to put on their wetsuits to stage a blockade after learning work could occur “any day now”.
Ms Spain said a recent count found more than 100 birds using the lake.