Stay on track

The future of public transport is a key issue facing the southern Gold Coast

It’s not easy to be the lone voice in a debate. Incumbent Coolangatta councillor Gail O’Neill, who is running for a third term at the March 16 election, appeared at a Southern Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce candidate debate on Wednesday.

Predictably, the issue that dominated the discussion was the light rail extension to the border.

It’s a matter that divides the community and that is set to be a key election issue, both in March and the upcoming state election.

It has universal political support from the council, state and federal governments which have all tipped funding in the previous stages.

All have previously made it clear that it is a key plank in the future of the city, in terms of moving people around, taking pressure off the roads and laying the groundwork for future public transport connections.

Getting back to Wednesday’s debate, Ms O’Neill was the sole candidate to endorse the council’s transport plan and the light rail extension.

This was hardly a surprise given two of the other candidates – Nikki Archer and Kath Down – had both spent much of the past four years loudly campaigning against the public transport extension on social media.

Ms Down, who leads the antitram Save Our Southern Gold Coast group, said her priority was heavy rail and zero emission buses.

Division 13 candidate Josh Martin called for the “pause button” to be pushed on light rail.

None of the four mayoral candidates was prepared to back the trams.

Mayoral candidate Lavinia Rampino said she would scrap the current City transport plan.

“There is no point in putting transport in an area where there is not going to be growth,” she said.

The reality is that our population is growing rapidly, right across the city.

Infrastructure Australia says this project is a priority and development is booming in the southern regions.

It’s very well for candidates to grandstand, but it is very much another thing if they have no plan for how to both manage the development needed for this population growth with the necessary transport infrastructure.