The Gold Coast Bulletin Thursday May 22 2014 carried a grand front-page, full-page image of a green coloured cable car hanging
over bushland with hills disappearing into the distance. The headline was bold:
SKYWAY TO HEAVEN. For some unknown reason, ‘TO’ was printed on a red square
overlaying the photograph, while the other letters were white on the green haze
of the illustration. Everything was green but for the ‘TO.’ Was this some
subliminal message promoting the concept as a ‘green’ idea? Did the red square
represent the past resistance to this proposal that the text below seemed to
want to boast about: ‘back on the agenda for the seventh time in 16 years.’
Gosh, was it sixteen years ago that we first fought the cableway?
Inside, on page 4, the article by Andrew Potts declared:
MOMENTUM ON SKYRAIL in black ink on off-white newsprint, with a positive,
suggestive subtext: ‘Plans for green tourism gather speed.’
NEWS
A skyrail is planned for the Gold Coast Hinterland
in a 2020 tourism plan
ANDREW POTTS
COUNCIL REPORTER
GOLD COAST
BULLETIN
MAY 22, 2014
A RENEWED focus on green tourism in the Hinterland could
generate economic Gold for the Coast, with a cable-car attraction set to rise
above the tree line by 2020.
The newly released Gold Coast tourism management plan reveals a
“skyrail” and “skywalk’’ are both earmarked as a “key tourism infrastructure
product” that would deliver “accessible and diverse tourism experiences” in
Springbrook and the Hinterland.
A multi-million cableway has been featured in seven major tourism
proposals in the past 16 years but despite the failure of all to advance beyond
the planning stage, city and tourism leaders are confident that the time is
right to make their dreams a reality.
Would you use a sky rail? Tell us in the comments section below
The plan, which has been developed in the past year, provides a
tourism road map for the city up to 2020 and the skyrail is listed as being
deliverable in the medium to long term.
It is expected to be delivered by private enterprise with a cost
of more than $50 million, although no proponent or funding has been named.
Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan said the Hinterland had
much to offer for tourism.
“A cableway is achievable and a way to put the Gold Coast on the
map for its green tourism,” he said.
“The Hinterland is the Gold Coast’s secret gem and we need to
explore the possibilities of how we market the area and how we can explore
mixing tourism with the environment.
“Whatever is done must be environmentally sensible and sustainable
but this report is food for thought for a lot of people and we are excited
about the possibilities.”
Mayor Tom Tate backed the concept and it could give the Hinterland
a much-needed shot in the arm.
“If someone wants to bring a cableway forward, I say bring it on,”
he said.
The tourism plan was created by a collaboration between the Gold
Coast City Council, Gold Coast Tourism and the State Government.
It is hoped the Gold Coast will double overnight visitor
expenditure to $7 billion a year by 2020.
Nature tourism is worth more than $25 billion to the state
economy.
The renewed interest in cable car infrastructure comes just five
months after the Bulletin revealed a $220 million proposal to create a
beachfront link connecting Southport to Sanctuary Cove via The Spit and South
Stradbroke Island.
Previous attempts to create a large-scale cable car attraction
have followed the example of the Cairns Skyrail rainforest cableway.
Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens led the push to create a Naturelink
attraction in 1998 that did not progress after a lack of support from the
Beattie government.
Mr Stevens yesterday said the Newman Government was open to new
tourism opportunities.
Springbrook residents have previously been divided over support
for a cableway.
Community leaders yesterday were reluctant to discuss future plans
for cablecars.
Mudgeeraba councillor Glenn Tozer confirmed several
Hinterland-based tourism proposals were under discussion but said there were
mixed feelings in the community about what form it should take.
“Capitalising on the features of the beautiful Hinterland to
encourage repeat stays from past visitors is a great way to increase our
tourism expenditure and economy,” he said.
“I am most interested in exploring options which preserve the
Hinterland and world heritage areas in their current form (rather) than
invasive infrastructure which may detract from the natural beauty.”
The above is the text that appeared on line. What is interesting is that the two quoted comments made by
Councillor Tozer that conclude this text were not published in the paper. The
article that was printed finished with ‘. . . mixed feelings in the community
about what form it should take.’ Was it the mention of World Heritage that
caused problems? The remainder of the text seems to ignore this fact.
Maybe, but, one is left wondering if it was because of their ambiguity and uncertainty that Tozer's statements were kept out. Was it
because one can interpret them as being anti-cableway? - ‘preserve the
Hinterland and world heritage areas in their current form.’ Of course it must
be preserved without the addition of silly ‘attractions’ that interest tourists
who seek only more and more extreme delights that have nothing to do with World
Heritage values. These are so important and must be remembered: these standards
recognise the unique biodiversity of the region, its flora and fauna. Anything
that might jeopardise this rich complexity must never be a part of any plan for
Springbrook. World Heritage must be the core reference for everything. A
cableway fails the test!
Councillor Tozer knows the strong feelings that are held by
many at Springbrook on the idea of a cableway. That any objection might be
expressed at this time when the idea is being pushed with the hope that someone
might take the bait, is apparently unacceptable to the Gold Coast Council, the
Tourist Board and the Bulletin. The Mayor says it clearly: “If someone
wants to bring a cableway forward I say bring it on.”
And so will the residents of Springbrook who know the place
and care for it and its qualities. So yet again, the hope that a cableway might
be built surfaces, in spite of the past. But the past will rise again too;
World Heritage must be protected, or the area will, like the Great Barrier
Reef, risk being delisted. Would this look good on the tourist brochures? -
Come, visit our delisted World Heritage region that once was great.
Why should one fear a cableway? The article makes it clear:
it is only for tourism. This has nothing to do with World Heritage, nothing at
all, other than that this listing can become part of the attractive commercial
promotional material used to drag in more and more tourists, even at the risk of
damaging the qualities of the place that are recognised in this listing. There
is a problem with tourists – see http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/who-or-what-is-tourist.html
The text confirms this position that seeks to see something
as an attraction to make money:
the Hinterland could generate economic Gold for the Coast,
To achieve this,
different experiences are structured , unusual matters that attract those
seeking thrills:
would deliver “accessible and diverse tourism
experiences” in Springbrook and the Hinterland
World Heritage alone is never enough. The ‘secret gem’ needs more
and more for it to attract:
“The Hinterland is the Gold Coast’s secret gem and we
need to explore the possibilities of how we market the area and how we can
explore mixing tourism with the environment."
Of course, anything will be allowed and everything will be
green, happy and environmental - world’s best practice: no problems:
“Whatever is done must be environmentally sensible and
sustainable but this report is food for thought for a lot of people and we are
excited about the possibilities.”
This beautiful place that is currently open to all to visit,
needs something else – a shot in the arm: it needs its heroin boost to hype up
everything for tourists seeking the next high:
Mayor Tom Tate backed the concept and it could give the
Hinterland a much-needed shot in the arm.
Growth is critical to this ambition, but its impact on World
Heritage values is never questioned. It is always the money, the gold, that
draws the attention and drives the ambitions:
It is hoped the Gold Coast will double overnight visitor
expenditure to $7 billion a year by 2020.
Nature tourism is worth more than $25 billion to the
state economy.
Roger Scruton pointed out that beauty has a moral content.
We need to remember this. It makes one able to say that the thrust for the
cableway has the taint of the immoral.
But will this make any difference? No. We are dealing with
politicians.
Ian Rankin, in the frontispiece to his novel, Strip Jack,
quotes from Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara:
He knows nothing: and he thinks he knows everything. That
points clearly to a political career.
For details on Springbrook see www.springbrookrescue.org.au
P.S. 1 June 2014
Jane Goodall speaking in Sydney to promote her Roots & Shoots programme:
"It's when money becomes a god that we see the loss of wisdom."
Find out more about Roots & Shoots at janegoodall.org.au"It's when money becomes a god that we see the loss of wisdom."
