OCEANWAY ON THE WAY
THERE’LL be dancing in the streets – or rather the Tugun -Bilinga Oceanway – after the announcement that the project will be funded in the Gold Coast City Council’s 2018-19 budget.
The project, which at times caused divisions among residents of the southern Gold Coast suburb affected by it , will finally become a reality. Work is now under way.
Division 14 Councillor Gail O’Neill said it was fantastic news for the southern Gold Coast that the council had allocated $2 million towards the project with a further $2 million coming from the State Government.
“Letters have been sent to residents along the foreshore advising them of the work and how it will progress,” Cr O’Neill said.
“The project will provide the missing 1.7km link between Tugun and Bilinga.”
THERE’LL be dancing in the streets – or rather the Tugun -Bilinga Oceanway – after the announcement that the project will be funded in the Gold Coast City Council’s 2018-19 budget.
The project, which at times caused divisions among residents of the southern Gold Coast suburb affected by it , will finally become a reality. Work is now under way.
Division 14 Councillor Gail O’Neill said it was fantastic news for the southern Gold Coast that council had allocated $2 million towards the project with a further $2 million coming from the State Government.
“Letters have been sent to residents along the foreshore advising them of the work and how it will progress,” Cr O’Neill said.
“The project will provide the missing 1.7km link between Tugun and Bilinga and will start from Bilinga working north a block at a time.”
Cr O’Neill said the sealed path will be 3.5m wide and that work will include landscaping, compaction and improvement to the existing rock wall, lighting and facilities such as seating and showers at the end of streets.
“This will be a great asset for the southern Gold Coast and will provide a safe pedestrians and cycling path from Currumbin to Snapper Rocks,” she said.
“It has been a long coming but now with the funding in place and weather permitting, we hope to have it completed by December.”
Tugun Progress Association president Anthony Steinfort said the news came as a welcome relief.
“Up until the conformation of the funding from both the State government and the council, I was still a little nervous and feared it might not go ahead this year,” he said.
“I hope that it can progress quickly — it would be fantastic to have it open before Christmas and in time for Tugun Lights Up.
“This will give us a worldclass cycleway along the southern foreshore.”
For the Friends of Currumbin group, the go ahead brings to a close a torrid time which put those for and against the project at loggerheads.
Friends secretary Gloria Baker said she believed that once completed, the Oceanway would add to the sense of community in the area.
“It will be a vibrant link for residents between Currumbin and Rainbow Bay,” Ms Baker said.
“We have it going past our place and it provides an opportunity for plenty of social engagement and a sense of community.
“Not only will it encourage people to get out and use it but it will also stretch the length of our World Surfing Reserve, allowing locals and visitors to appreciate our wonderful stretch of coast.”