KICKING GOALS FOR OUR CITY
OUR city has a good story to tell in staying on track to achieve a wonderful destiny.
With no shortage of leaders across the city spectrum willing to be part of creating an exciting future, collaboration is the key. Recognising this, the Bulletin set out this year to pull the threads together, galvanising the Gold Coast community in setting a course for prosperity.
In September we mounted our Future Gold Coast campaign, using – as an example of the hurdles that have to be overcome – the political game of football being played with funding stage 3A of the light rail. As we said at the time, the siren should have sounded on that tussle long before. Finally the whistle blew this week to end that bothersome game of political pointscoring and denial of funding responsibility – and as a result, everyone wins.
With Canberra boosting its contribution to the funding pool, light rail will be extended from Broadbeach to Burleigh. After that, it must continue down a route to be finalised to the airport in a project seen by Infrastructure Australia as a priority in getting the machinery of the nation’s transport system humming.
At the conclusion of the campaign, the Bulletin published a 20-point action plan of what the Gold Coast needs in establishing itself as a world-class city. Two months on, many goals have been kicked already or progress is under way.
So with light rail stage 3A happening, getting the trams or heavy rail to the airport remains a battle to be won but all sides of politics concede it has to go through. Heavy rail services between here and Brisbane meanwhile remain mired in bureaucracy and penny-pinching as the Government pours $5.4 billion into the controversial Cross River Rail project in the state capital. It drags its feet on speeding up provision of important infrastructure at the Gold Coast end, such as building the extra stations in the northern suburbs.
As for fast rail, that was almost consigned to the Never Never – except the Government is keen for the southeast to host the 2032 Olympics. A faster rail network and a second M1 are crucial to the bid.
The Future Gold Coast series found the alternative to the M1, the Coomera Connector, was a priority to avoid gridlock. The wheels of government turn slowly, but a start is in sight as public consultation proceeds and officials finalise the route.
The convention and exhibition centre desperately needs an upgrade if the city is to snare major conventions and shows. It missed out in the State Budget, but The Star has pledged $100 million for the project as part of its much bigger $2 billion development of its Broadbeach hotel and casino precinct, if the State Government grants “exclusivity’’ for gaming operations. The jury is out while Cabinet weighs that up, alongside interest in its proposed global tourism hub.
Other elements of the 20-point plan, including the Spit masterplan and Village Roadshow’s $145 million Ocean Park development at Sea World, a city commitment to funding culture at the popular HOTA, a ferry service, expansion of superyacht facilities, the Oceanway, expansion of the Gold Coast Airport terminal and a boost to education facilities, are under way. It’s a great start but much remains to be done.