Ecopark plan defended
Critics say housing needed
State Development Minister Grace Grace has defended the decision to resume a large parcel of potential prime housing land on the Gold Coast for one of Australia’s largest ecoparks, saying it had “incredibly significant ecological values” and needed to be preserved.
Ms Grace on Saturday unveiled the master plan for the $46m Currumbin Eco-Parkland which will include a koala rehabilitation centre and eucalypt plantation as well as boardwalks, wetlands, walking trails and picnic facilities.
The state government compulsorily acquired the 148ha site in the Currumbin Valley from wealthy pioneering family the Neumanns, who were planning to develop housing and parklands on the property.
The $15m acquisition, which was announced during the 2020 election campaign as Labor tried unsuccessfully to wrest back the marginal seat of Currumbin from the LNP, angered the powerful Neumann clan.
But Ms Grace said the acquisition fulfilled an election commitment and the Neumanns would, in years to come, “acknowledge it was the best way forward”.
Despite Queensland’s chronic housing shortage, she did not believe the floodprone property would have been suitable for residential development.
“There are much better sites on the Gold Coast for housing and we’re advancing those with the mayor and council,” she said.
“I think if you look at developing those areas compared to this, it’s a no-brainer.”
Ms Grace said it was difficult to strike a balance between conserving green space and providing enough housing as South East Queensland’s population boomed.
She said the government’s $3.1bn “Homes for Queensland” plan would result in 53,000 new homes being built which was “an incredible investment”.
“This was an election commitment that we made – it has incredibly significant ecological values on this site,” she said. “Obviously we compulsorily acquired that. In years to come they’ll acknowledge it was the best way forward.”
Friends of Currumbin president Peter Kershaw, whose group has been championing the preservation of the former Marist Brothers farm site for decades, said creation of the Currumbin Eco-Parkland would help preserve 14 threatened flora and fauna species including a 46ha blackbutt forest. The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary also backed the plan and will run the koala rehabilitation facility.