Coolie tram resumptions
RESUMPTIONS for the final stage of light rail to the border will extend beyond a police station and courthouse at Coolangatta – it will include nearby properties.
The Bulletin can reveal the Transport Department has sent letters out to some impacted residents as planning continues for Light Rail Stage 4, which runs from Burleigh Heads to the border via Gold Coast Airport.
But the number of properties and their location is being kept secret.
Currumbin MP Laura Gerber is seeking more information for property owners, reigniting a feud with Transport Minister Mark Bailey who previously accused her of leaking in-confidence information.
The Bulletin asked the Minister and the Department if the Coolangatta Police Station and courthouse will be removed for light rail to the border, whether those facilities would be replaced and to provide detail other future acquired properties.
A Transport spokesman said the Tugun to Coolangatta Multi-modal Corridor Study had identified the preferred route for this section of Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 4.
“Consultation has started with impacted property owners, including Queensland Police Service, on potential land requirements,” the spokesman said.
“This consultation is in accordance with our Approved Planning Policy. It provides assurance of known land requirements and is an important step before broader community consultation can start later this year.
“There is currently no committed funding or time frame for the stage-four extension.”
Ms Gerber said Mr Bailey need to be more “upfront with our community”.
“For Mark Bailey to provide no certainty for our community is absolutely disgraceful. Not only is he dodging accountability, he is refusing to tell residents what is happening,” she said.
“Instead of doing his job, he is playing cheap politics to cover the fact he isn’t being upfront with our community. I will always stand up for my community and ask the questions they want answered. If Mark Bailey doesn’t like that, he clearly has no idea how important this is to our community.”
Mr Bailey in a response said: “It is more than disappointing to see Laura Gerber continue her vile scare campaign on the southern Gold Coast and undermine the expansion of light rail.
“Ms Gerber abused the confidence in-trusted in her by my department when she was briefed on sensitive, potential land impacts as part of Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 4 planning and then played petty party politics with the information.
“My department will continue to work closely with impacted property owners as this planning continues, including the potential relocation of any important community assets. Any low grade suggestion by Ms Gerber there would be any reduction in police presence on the Gold Coast is a disgrace and deliberately misleading.”