End of the line for lake
Council rejects plan to salvage final section
THE remaining section of Black Swan Lake will not be saved after the council rejected a solution from the Gold Coast Turf Club.
In an email to Mayor Tom Tate, council CEO Dale Dickson said the proposal was cost prohibitive, leading to a potential bill of between $600,000 to $1.5 million.
The CEO’s report effectively ends council debate on the city’s longest-running environmental drama with Cr Tate noting that the resolution was “not to spend further ratepayer fund and resources”.
The Bulletin has previously reported lake supporters and the turf club had considered a compromise deal which was put to council.
About 80 per cent of the Bundall “borrow pit” was filled and due to be top soiled for a grassed area, leaving about 3500sq m of water in the southwestern corner.
“The proposal is at no cost to the turf club,” Mr Dickson told the Mayor. “Council would be responsible for capital costs and the ongoing maintenance of the remaining water body.”
The turf club would seek financial support to change its operational permit, amend the existing licence to occupy and beautify the entire area.
“Based on an internal assessment of the proposal, I do not consider that it should be accepted,” Mr Dickson wrote.
The turf club advised council in late February that if it rejected the proposal, it would continue to finalise the filling as originally planned.
“It is estimated that it would cost between $600k to $1.5m – excluding contingency – to undertake the necessary works and planning to ensure the smaller water body is established in such a way to try to improve water quality and provide long-term sustainability,” Mr Dickson said.
“The cost range is due to the unknown level of treatment required to appropriately dispose of sediment.”
Council would have to address stormwater discharge issues, sediment removal and any required treatment, weed clearing, building an access ramp for maintenance purposes and developing of a long-term water management strategy.
“The same issues that the water body has experienced in the past are still considered likely due to the smaller size of the water body, shallow water depth, lack of flow and the nutrient load derived from the equestrian precinct,” Mr Dickson said.
Wildlife Queensland Gold Coast branch president Sally Spain has questioned the costings in the council report, circulated to councillors yesterday. A protest is to be staged at today’s full council meeting.
“This is still subject to a legal investigation that is ongoing,” she said. “It is still home to an extraordinary number of birds. They are still clustering there.”