HIGHER DENSITY GIVEN GREEN
Albert Shire traded for open space by dangling a carrot for developers in 1993
DEVELOPMENT is one of the Gold Coast’s biggest industries.
Alongside tourism, it is the lifeblood of the city’s economy and the two have gone hand in hand with financial prosperity.
This week the Bulletin revealed there was good news ahead for tradies as developer Ralan Group announced plans to fast-track the construction of three towers on its $1.4 billion Ruby Collection after successfully opening its first highrise.
This came just days after Southport councillor Dawn Crichlow had called for the halting of approvals on new development applications in a bid for developers to proceed with projects which have already been given the tick.
These two issues come against the backdrop of concerns from some locals about increasing density and the City Plan.
But 25 years ago it was a different story.
In late November 1993 one of the city’s councils announced a deal which would allow developers to ramp up the density of their projects.
Albert Shire Council, which was at the time only a year away from being amalgamated with Gold Coast City Council, wanted to reward developers who donated public open space.
Those who surrendered environmentally sensitive land or parks to the council were allocated permits for higher-density developments.
The reward system, which had existed informally for several years, by that point was incorporated into the shire’s town planning scheme, which was unveiled at Nerang.
Planning committee chairman Merv Craig told the Gold Coast Bulletin at the time that despite a population boom, the council hoped to have 60 per cent of the shire set aside as open space by the year 2000.
The remainder would house the extra 1200 people who flocked to the shire each year.
Cr Craig said urban sprawl would be directed into the north of the shire, leaving 6000ha in the south for the sugar cane industry and the Hinterland for eco-tourism.
The plan also catered for higher density housing along the Brisbane to Gold Coast railway route to give motorists an incentive to use the rail system.
The growth was small compared to that of 2018 but even in 1993 there was concern about the pressure it was putting on the Pacific Hwy between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
It had become so bad at the time that a Coast politician dubbed the weekly Sunday afternoon gridlock ‘The Creep Club”.
“Every Sunday afternoon we see an 80km-long Creep Club between Brisbane and the Gold Coast,” Nerang MP Ray Connor told State Parliament. “This must be affecting our economy. It has effectively isolated the Gold Coast by land.”
Mr Connor said the highway was jam-packed with traffic and suffered long delays nearly every morning and afternoon.
“One minor accident on the Pacific Hwy creates havoc,” he said.
Experienced police and traffic experts agreed, and blamed “mug drivers” for creating the gridlock.
Police Sgt Ian Birkbeck, who patrolled sections of the highway regularly from Coomera in the early 1990s, told media at the time that traffic flow could be increased considerably if drivers lifted their skill levels.
“People have to learn to drive to conditions,” he said.
“We often see them doing 100km/h on straight stretches and slowing down to about 70km/h every time they come to a bend in the road.
“This has a cumulative effect down the line until the vehicles at the end of the line often come to a halt.”