LNP taken to task over The Spit planning
THE LNP has been accused in State Parliament of wanting to carve up the Broadwater area into a canal estate rather than applaud and support the community-backed new master plan options.
State Development Minister Cameron Dick launched a tirade on the Opposition during Question Time yesterday when asked about The Spit master plan.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington, in a report in the Bulletin when master plan options were revealed, had vented about some of the options, accusing Labor of delaying projects and jobs after ruling out a cruise ship terminal at the Seaway and an integrated casino-tourism resort.
Mr Dick said The Spit master planning process was setting a new benchmark when it came to community consultation gaining enthusiastic support across the Coast.
Mayor Tom Tate was “on board” and Save Our Spit Alliance president Dr Steve Gration had remarked that it was “the first time in 15 years that any level of government has engaged with our group in a meaningful way”.
“The whole community is on The Spit master planning superyacht, sailing off into a bright future while the LNP are on the SS Misery, the row boat, trying to work out who’s got the captain’s hat on,” Mr Dick told Parliament.
“We’ve heard one vision from the LNP on The Spit – that was sell Wavebreak Island and turn the Broadwater into a canal estate.”
The options for Wavebreak Island range from a day use area to managed glamping or camping at the northern end, along with the possibility of a dive site.
Mr Dick accused Broadwater LNP MP David Crisafulli of making a “seismic contribution”, saying he wanted a cruise ship terminal but could not nominate where.
Mr Dick said Surfers Paradise LNP MP John-Paul Langbroek had opposed development on The Spit, then supported it, then supported a master plan and was now complaining about it.
“I appeal to the consciences of the members of the LNP to support the master plan – well, actually, I can’t ask them to express their conscience because if they do, they’ll be disendorsed by their own party,” Mr Dick said.
“There is one constant in this whole process around The Spit and that is the non-stop consistent negativity of the LNP. They talk down Queensland, they talk down the Gold Coast and they talk down The Spit.”