Light rail key
As populations move up instead of out, getting transport to those hubs is vital
Revelations of the scale of development sweeping the surfside village of Kirra strengthen the social and economic case for the fourth stage of the Gold Coast Light Rail.
The southern surfing hotspot is set to house thousands of new residents in at least 10 new residential towers that will transform the low-density area into its own mini-suburb.
Some, including the $380m, four-tower Kirra Point are under construction or are partially completed, while others are due to be completed or begin construction this year.
The latest tower fronting Churchill, Miles and Winston streets will have 14 levels and 97 units.
Real estate figures say they will be just the beginning of a raft of big changes coming ahead of the light rail’s extension to the border.
More than 10,000 people a year are moving to the Gold Coast, and the population is set to hit 742,000 this year and surge to one million by 2050 and – like it or not – change is coming for suburbs like Kirra.
The liveability of our city hinges on how that change is managed.
There is no doubt efficient public transport must remain top priority for politicians and planners as we face this challenge.
In areas where the light rail has already reached, proof of its success is irrefutable.
The system operates with the highest efficiency of any public transport network in Australia, and has hosted close to 80 million paid trips since it was launched.
It gives thousands of locals and visitors the opportunity to travel for work, school or leisure without relying on overburdened roads.
While some people – many of them from the comfortable position of already having somewhere to live – object to new high-rises in the city, they are a necessary part of adapting to the unavoidable population surge that is under way.
By “going up instead of out”, populations can be concentrated where there is infrastructure to support them, without sprawling into undeveloped parts of the region, requiring more roads, cars and traffic.
Progress on Stage 4 of the light rail must remain a priority for all levels of government in 2024.
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