Surf haven U-turn Protection lobbyists slam government
THE Palaszczuk Government will not strengthen beach protection legislation despite publicly supporting a push to declare Gold Coast beaches as world surfing reserves while in Opposition.
The lack of action has been slammed by the Gold Coast surfing community, which has been lobbying for changes to beach protection legislation for years.
National Surfing Reserve founder Brad Farmer said future generations of surfers would be forced to continually fight developments such as the Broadwater Marine Project if there were no changes to legislation.
“It is not a good look for a new government to be ruling out changes this early into a term,” he said.
“We want to see strengthened beach protection and they knew we wanted that before they ran for office.
“We told people to vote for them, so I feel that it is a bit unfair.”
A spokeswoman for Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad said: “Limitations already exist that restrict development on beaches due to environmental issues.
“The current planning framework also includes coastal planning policies which are being delivered through the State Planning Policy and State Development Assessment Provisions.
“The SPP and the SDAP are being reviewed.
“As promised before the election, our coastal planning laws will be based on the best available science, make allowances for expected sea level rise and protect ecologically important areas.”
The spokeswoman said the government still supported the push for beaches from South Stradbroke Island south to Snapper Rocks to be declared surfing reserves.