Queensland Environment Minister approves concrete path to be bulldozed through primary sand dunes and protected wetlands at Federation Walk.

On June 17, 2022, Save Our Spit Association (SOSA) was alerted to a post on the Gold Coast Oceanway Facebook page that stated that the Queensland Environment Minister and Member for Gaven, Meaghan Scanlon had “…confirmed the Oceanway will be extended between Phillip (sic) Park and the Seaway as an accessible concrete path via the existing eastern pathway through the Federation Walk Coastal Reserve” (see pic above).

Or did she?

The Gold Coast Oceanway is a controversial pathway proposal (partly finished) to run a concrete ‘shared’ path the length of the Gold Coast beachfront, from Duranbah in the south to the top of the Seaway wall in the north. The Oceanway section for the Spit is a City of Gold Coast (COGC) led project that is being funded by the Department of State Development (DSD), through the Spit Masterplan (SMP) process. One proposal is to run a 3-kilometre concrete section from north of the Philip Park Car Park that will traverse the littoral rainforest, protected wildlife habitat, and primary dunes of Federation Walk, paths that are currently made of crushed compacted gravel on a compacted sand base.

The statement from the Minister as featured above is at complete odds with the information provided to SOSA and other community representatives who have been engaged with the DSD, Gold Coast Waterways Authority (GCWA), and COGC teams that are facilitating this section of the Spit Master Plan, over the past 12 months. There has been much debate in these meetings about the detriment to the natural environment that concrete paths will cause in the Federation Walk area, along with the potential damage to the primary sand dunes (you can read about that here) and concerns for the safety of pedestrians being protected from electric bikes and scooters, and high-speed cyclists that can reach dangerous speeds on concrete paths.

A quick search of Minister Scanlon’s social media, her webpage, and the Department of Environment site shows no information, media releases, or quotes to support the comment in the post. Similarly, nothing appears on the GCWA site or social media pages, or on the DSD website (the DSD site has a picture of a raised wooden boardwalk in reference to the Oceanway traversing the dunes — see picture below) to support that quote. Lastly, nothing appears on the COGC social media or websites to confirm this statement (we had a supporter confirm this as SOSA has been blocked from all COGC social media).

So where has this absurd, incorrect statement come from, if not from the Minister?

A quick scan of the “Gold Coast Oceanway” Facebook page reveals plenty. With 74 odd followers and first posting in 2011, the page appears to lie dormant for 8 years, before posting again in 2019, and then ramping up in late 2021 as the segments of the Oceanway start coming together (from 2012 to 2019 Gold Coast Mayor Tate had blocked the continuation of the Oceanway through Mermaid Beach and Surfers Paradise).

The phone number used as a contact on the Gold Coast Oceanway Facebook page is disconnected, but a basic search reveals that prior to disconnection, it was the contact number for the former Gold Coast Tourism/Visitors Bureau (now known as Destination Gold Coast {DGC} the COGC/industry-funded Destination Management Organisation for the Gold Coast region). The number appears on a variety of sites related to one address — goldcoastqld.com.au — which appears to be a tourism site for various listings state-wide, and links to verygc.com (a former failed marketing campaign of Gold Coast Tourism) and other Destination Gold Coast sites*. The site address is also very similar to the official site of the COGC and its related emails e.g. goldcoast.qld.gov.au.

The email address on the Gold Coast Oceanway Facebook page — [email protected] — links directly to the current Destination Gold Coast page.

Finally, the Gold Coast Oceanway Facebook page’s website links directly to the City of Gold Coast Oceanway web page.

So just who is running the “Gold Coast Oceanway” Facebook page?

Is it just a random member of society that loves the Oceanway?

Is it the City of Gold Coast?

Is it Destination Gold Coast and they just haven’t declared it?

Or is it another “fake community group” created by anonymous suits in council to support environmentally unsustainable projects as they did with Lindsay Jackson’s failed “Future Jobs for Our Kids” group (Jackson was the group’s only member) in 2016 that was bankrolled by the Mayoral Office (using ratepayers’ money) to support a Cruise Ship Terminal being built at the Spit?

Or how about Simone Holzapfel’s fake “Better Our Spit” community group which she formed with ASF China Casino consortium through her failed SHAC Communications group to support ASF’s potential takeover and destruction of the Broadwater in 2016–2017 using Sunland’s cash for her to lobby for highrise towers on The Spit in the 3 storey maximum height zone?

Regardless of who is running the Gold Coast Oceanway Facebook page, those blatantly lying in a public forum by attributing a false statement to a State Member of Parliament, a statement that deals with government processes outside the Minister’s scope (the Department of Environment has limited control over aspects of the Spit Masterplan and its implementation) should be held to further scrutiny, and a formal investigation.

And if it is someone linked to Destination Gold Coast (DGC), then surely deliberately undermining the integrity of a state minister is something that the Local Government Ombudsman and/or the Qld Crime and Corruption Commission should be looking into, as DGC is a COGC controlled and funded entity.

This is about community.

The bulldozing and removal of coastal vegetation and wildlife habitat in order to construct a concrete ‘Oceanway’ path through Federation Walk Coastal Reserve (gazetted by the State as “reserve for park, environment, coastal management, and beach preservation purposes”) is a contentious issue. Out of respect for the local community, it shouldn’t be trivialised by returning to the long out of date, shady social media tactics of former members of the mayor’s staff so as to undermine the state government and its agencies, or to subvert the community engagement process.

SOSA will continue to push for environmentally sustainable and responsible options (no concrete) for all paths traversing through Federation Walk, whether they are part of the Oceanway or not.

*Postscript — since becoming aware of the ‘Oceanway’ post on (17/06/22), SOSA reps made discreet enquiries with State Government authorities regarding the nature of the information contained, and these authorities have confirmed that there was no statement from the Environment Minister on any forum regarding a concrete path as part of the ‘Oceanway Extension’ through the Spit.

Just before publishing this article, SOSA became aware that the original post has been altered and all references to the Minister deleted (see pic below).

Similarly, during that time the website www.goldcoastqld.com.au and related sites appear to have disappeared completely from the internet.

Make of that, what you will.

More to come.

DC, 2022.

Darren Crawford is the Vice President of Save Our Spit Alliance, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, a volunteer member-based organisation dedicated to preserving the natural marine and coastal environment of the Southport Spit.

For more information about this and other issues of coastal (mis)management on the Gold Coast check out www.saveourspit.com