More than 400 people from all over the Gold Coast rallied in Tally Valley on Sunday in a strong show of solidarity we care deeply about about our river valleys. These are special parts of our ‘Green behind the Gold’ which is vital to the image and amenity of the entire city. The City Plan designates a clear urban footprint, and the southern valleys – Tallebudgera, Currumbin, Bonogin and Numinbah are not within that. They should never be suburbanised.
The proposed canal-style tourism and wellness retreat is a big threat. It is entirely out of character with the green, rural and natural landscape of this valley. That alone is a strong enough reason to refuse the development application. This is the antithesis of sustainable development. And sadly, not an isolated threat to the many greenspaces that we cherish.
We shouldn’t have to fight to save areas like this and other natural assets like wildlife habitat, floodplains and The Spit. Our city is at a tipping point. I sense a sea-change in community expectations of our city’s leadership. It’s time to reset our city on a new path of sustainable growth and development.
- This must include better neighbourhood and building design within the designated urban footprint, and resistance of urban sprawl outside it.
- Instead of projects that will harm our environment and community like a Cruise Ship Terminal, a second casino, a cableway to Springbrook or the Ridong Group tourism retreat in Tally Valley, we could be supporting a whole ecosystem of niche tourism enterprises in health and fitness, adventure, sports and nature-based tourism which enhance and build on our natural assets rather than destroy them.
- We need faster growth and investment in digital infrastructure that enables us to innovate and generate new employment opportunities in creative and sustainable industries.
- And it’s about time we start pursuing opportunities for local food production on land at the periphery of the urban footprint.
Let’s be smarter about local economic development. There are so many things we can do better.