Funding storm is brewing

THE Gold Coast’s golden beaches are celebrated and cherished all over the world, bringing in billions of dollars to the Australian economy.

They’ve helped produce sporting champions like Fanning, Parkinson, Gilmore, Hendy and Eckstein – to name a few – and are the lure for 12 million visitors every year.

But there is a recurring theme when those natural assets are damaged by storms or erosion. The state and federal governments, happy to be on the take when the sun is shining, turn their backs and leave Gold Coast ratepayers to battle the dark days on their own.

Findings published today by Associate Professor Ian Goodwin show the city’s beaches are in danger of severe erosion, property damage and terrible surf if predicted weather changes ring true in coming decades.

His study finds sand flow will slow from the south because the Coast will be battered by more northeasterly storms like the east coast low that hit this year.

Up to a third of the 500,000 cubic metres of sand the Coast currently receives will be lost.

If correct, it will present a much worse scenario than any one erosion event and we need to be ready for it.

The Gold Coast City Council was forced to fend for itself in 2013 after the lashings of Cyclone Oswald.

Lifesaver towers fell on to the beach and property owners lost some of their backyards.

Ratepayers had to cough up millions of dollars to replenish and protect the beaches when no one else would.

However, if Prof Goodwin is right, at some point the damage to the beaches will be beyond the means of the council.

State and Commonwealth governments need to stop the take and get on board with a solution.

The city’s beaches are natural assets of national significance. Surely it is reasonable for the top tiers of government to be proactive and be part of the answer rather than again leaving it to the ratepayers of the Gold Coast.