OCEANWAY DRAWS A LINE IN THE SAND
Whether you live on the beachfront at Hedges or the back of Nerang, your entitlement to the sand is equal … no matter what Oceanway opponents might
IF you are a Gold Coaster, the beach is yours.
Not just part of the beach, but all of the beach. And that is a big distinction.
Whether you live on the beachfront at Hedges Ave or out the back of Nerang, your entitlement to and enjoyment of the sand should be equal.
For those who have earned a personal beach view, congratulations.
But that does not mean you can rule over the ocean access of others.
Yet that point seems to be a stumbling block for those residents opposing the Oceanway.
The city’s planned 36km Oceanway – which council sees as the city’s next biggest tourist attraction – has missing chunks, including a planned 1.6km Surfers South section linking the tourism heart and Broadbeach with a four-metre wide path in front of beach-edge properties.
The Surfers Beachfront Protection Association (SBPA) – a group of residents along the planned pathway including Garfield Terrace – this week lost the first round of a legal battle to block the Oceanway. While the path is back on track, the issue is far from over.
The SBPA filed an application in the Planning and Environment Court to overturn the approval of the operational permit for a pathway between Laycock St
What does seem unreasonable is purchasing property along public land … and then being upset when the public use it
in Surfers Paradise and First Ave, Broadbeach.
However, Judge Rackemann found SBPA had failed to show council’s approval of the path was not compliant with its planning scheme. He ruled that SBPA had also failed to show council was being legally unreasonable.
What does seem unreasonable is purchasing property along public land … and then being upset when the public use it.
It’s no different to purchasing a house that backs on to a park and then complaining when children play on it.
The onus is ultimately on every owner to do their due diligence and consider all possible permitted land uses when purchasing a property. Besides, the Oceanway has been in the pipeline for more than 15 years … it’s not like this is brand new information.
Beachfront residents are absolutely entitled to love their home and to love their view, but that is where the entitlement should end.
Instead there are comments such as this:
“Some judge gets to decide that my lifetime’s work to afford my home will be devalued and will be no longer safe for my kids to live in with prying eyes from a footpath in my backyard. All so what, Logan people can come down for the day and use the asset I pay thousands of dollars a year in rates for?
“Think about that when
you’re enjoying walking on the footpath. Too lazy to walk on the sand? Glad I could pay for your stroll with my life’s work and family’s safety.” Yikes.
First of all, the footpath is not in your backyard. It’s in ours. The Gold Coast’s. Queensland’s. Australia’s.
And yes, we are building this Oceanway precisely so people from all walks of life can enjoy our beautiful beachfront – even people from Logan.
It’s part of the reason that I support the light rail, so that people from landlocked suburbs like Parkwood can enjoy a day on the sand without worrying about finding a carpark. Anti-light rail activists may not believe it, but public transportation provides a public service to our public lands.
Also, it’s not just lazy people who would prefer a path to the sand. It’s people with physical disabilities, senior citizens, recreational cyclists and more.
And they are all literally entitled to enjoy it.
This issue is no different to those residents in Miami furious that trees were planted along the beachfront. While you may own property near the beach, you do not technically own the view.
You certainly do not own the public land or get to decide how it is used. The trees are planted to provide shade and amenity not just for those living on Marine Parade but for anyone and everyone who chooses to walk beside the beach … even those from Logan.
Allowing every single person access to enjoy our coastline benefits the whole of the city precisely because it creates that feeling of shared ownership.
And with that ownership comes a sense of responsibility, the desire to truly look after and care for our own backyard beach.