Master plan to include island
NEW mapping shows the State Government’s master plan for the Broadwater will include the southern end of South Stradbroke Island.
Documents provided at briefing sessions for the plan reveal it will cover an expanded area which includes the island’s southern tip to south at Main Beach and west of Wavebreak Island.
The inclusion of South Stradbroke’s southern tip in the master plan, which will maintain a three-storey height limit on The Spit, is seen as a critical move by campaigners who fear developers see the area as having potential for future high rise sites.
Save Our Spit vice-president Darren Crawford said it was “heartening” for surfers to see South Stradbroke Island being included in a footprint for the master plan.
“The eastern side of this area of the island is home to one of the greatest break waves in the world,” he said.
“South Straddie attracts tens of thousands of surfers annually which pumps tens of millions of dollars into the local economy.”
The latest council reports suggest the Coast surf industry contributes $3.3 billion to the city’s economy annually and employs an estimated 21,000 people.
“This area is one of the most important recreational areas on the northern end of the Gold Coast and is the spiritual home of surfing on the north end,” Mr Crawford said.
Council is confident the inclusion of South Stradbroke in the master plan will not prevent it from continuing with one of the city’s biggest infrastructure projects, which involves building a $400 million wastewater pipeline offshore from the island.
The Government will face opposition in the master planning process to South Stradbroke Island being the location for the pipeline.
“This ocean outfall proposal will potentially destroy the main break at South Straddie, resulting in millions of dollars of loss to our local economy and destroying a vital social and recreational hub for local residents,” Mr Crawford said.