Fears over accidents for boaties

GOLD Coast Waterways Authority is worried reinstalling a navigational marker at Currumbin Creek would give boaties the wrong impression and lead to accidents.

There is no plan to replace the groyne marker at the bar entrance.

Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) Currumbin president Mike Brooks said Gold Coast City Council took away the marker three years ago. He said his team had since watched on as boaties battled to get their bearings tackling the bar. Mr Brooks was concerned a craft could crash or collide with another water user, such as a surfer.

Gold Coast Waterways Authority (GCWA) chief executive Hal Morris said GCWA already had “several discussions” with VMR.

“The rock wall is a City of Gold Coast asset so it would need to consider where the warning sign should be placed and we’d encourage VMR to talk to council about that,” Mr Morris said.

“The coastal bar at Currumbin Creek is a continually changing environment because of sand movements and, at times, is not always navigable to boaties.”

Mr Morris said GCWA was worried a marker would give boaties the wrong impression.

“GCWA is concerned that establishing an aid to navigation at a dynamic coastal bar like the entrance to Currumbin Creek could give boaties and other waterways users a false impression that the bar is navigable in all conditions, which could lead to marine incidents,” he said.

Mr Morris said the former “pile beacon” was taken down in 2017 because “the structure was unsafe”. “It had not had been operational with a working light on it since 2010,” he said. He suggested landmarks that boaties could use included Currumbin Headland, the Gold Coast Hwy bridge and the light-coloured buildings of the VMR base.