REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Wednesday, February 5, 2014

GOLD Coast City Council pushed the Newman government to dredge a navigation channel through the sandbank that generates one of Australia’s greatest surfing waves at Currumbin Alley.

The council wrote to the government asking for its Coast Waterways Authority to take over Currumbin and Tallebudgera creeks and reclassify them as navigational channels, allowing for a regular dredging program.

The introduction of a designated boating channel was championed by Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey.

The revived push shocked surf industry leaders who warned the famed wave could be destroyed.

Gold Coast Surfrider Foundation director Dan Ware warned that the Currumbin Alley break could be left devastated for up to a decade.

“A permanent channel will increase vessel activity, which creates a greater hazard of collision between boats and surfers, as well as continuous dredging,” he said.

“Past experience with the state in managing surf breaks on the Gold Coast is not positive and this could mean we may lose the alley as a break for 10 years, forcing us to campaign hard for it to be returned – just like Kirra.

“Currumbin Alley is a break known around the world and to do such a thing shows that these politicians do not appreciate surfing on the Gold Coast.”

Gold Coast Surf Industry Taskforce chairman John Nielsen said he was “utterly opposed” to the proposal.

“I have been surfing these breaks for most of my life and this is an absolute no-go on any terms,” he said.