BY BILL MASON
BRISBANE — The controversial Naturelink cableway on the Gold Coast will not go ahead. The Queensland state government on November 8 rejected the proposal in line with its ban on commercial activity in national parks.
The Gold Coast hinterland community of Springbrook celebrated its victory that night. Stop the Cableway president Lynne Walsh said the Labor state government's rejection of the proposal was "a victory for common sense." It showed a commitment to conservation of the Gold Coast's most precious environmental asset. "Springbrook National Park is not for sale — not at any price", Walsh said.
The National Party state opposition, project developer and former Gold Coast mayor Ray Stevens, and local business organisations condemned the decision. They have threatened to campaign in the next state election against local ALP member Merri Rose.
The Naturelink cableway, modelled on the Cairns-Kuranda cableway, was planned as a tourist attraction by a group of local businesspeople, led by Stevens. The cableway would have threatened the region's last remaining area of rainforest and provoked vigorous opposition from environmentalists and the local community.