Damming rivers can also have negative environmental effects, such as soil erosion and destruction of ecosystems that support various fish and marine mammals. When concentrated in small, confined, and overcrowded areas such as coastal zones, pollution and other problems pose greater threats to human health.
Worldwide, sewage is the largest source of environmental contamination, and discharges have increased dramatically in the past three decades. Eighty percent of marine pollution comes from land-based sources; the remaining 20 percent comes from atmospheric sources, including acid rain and marine-based sources such as oil spills.
Bathing in or ingesting sewage-contaminated water can cause infections and transmit diseases such as cholera, particularly among children under 5. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that South Asian waters are at the highest risk of pollution: million people in the region do not have basic sanitation services. Chemicals and heavy metals found in pesticide runoff and industrial effluents also damage human and marine health. The most serious concerns worldwide involve persistent organic pollutants POPs , which can be transported in the atmosphere and have become common in the oceans.
POPs tend to linger in living tissue and become more concentrated as they move up the food chain, so they are sometimes found even in people who live in remote, undeveloped regions. Evidence links long-term, low-level exposure to certain POPs with reproductive, immunological, neurological, and other problems in marine organisms and humans.
Contaminants and activities that destroy coastal habitats and ecosystems also contribute to the loss of the marine fauna on which many people rely for food and income. Breaking the marine food chain reduces vital supplies of protein for about 1 billion people, most of whom live in developing countries. Yet restricting fishing rights and access to coastal waters in order to project marine fauna may harm vulnerable groups of people. Poor women depend especially heavily on fish and fishing.
They tend to fish close to the shore and use the catch to feed their families, whereas men typically engage in large-scale commercial fishing offshore or in major inland water bodies. The situation is similar in rural Honduras, where women earn about half of what men do.
Being less visible in their work, women are also less likely to have access to decisionmakers or to be consulted about the management of natural resources. In the early s, community leaders in El Salvador informally banned fishing in estuaries due to concerns about the overfishing of shrimp and other sea life in the estuary. Women were not consulted in this process and lost a vital source of household protein and income. Managing population pressures in coastal zones is difficult because those regions encompass many physical, social, and regulatory divisions.
In addition, multiple competing economic sectors, including tourism, fishing, agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, manufacturing, oil and gas extraction, waste disposal, marine transportation, and real estate development have interests in coastal zones. Governments usually manage each sector separately, if at all. Consequently, many coastal nations have experienced rapid uncontrolled development along their coastlines. In a growing number of countries, coastal zone managers are adopting integrated, multidisciplinary approaches to resource management that incorporate the perspectives of all stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations NGOs , and individuals.
ICM attempts to forge a balance between users of water and natural resources while ensuring that long-term environmental health and productivity are not compromised. Managing coastal areas requires concerted multisectoral efforts by government institutions at all levels, the private sector, and community groups, as well as sustained political support.
Achieving a balance between top-down legislative authorities and bottom-up community involvement requires understanding issues and maintaining strong links with stakeholders in the area.
Efforts to balance local interests with national legislation need to consider the socioeconomic context of coastal populations and what role demographic patterns play in the region.
Policymakers and program managers can take several steps to address and integrate population concerns into their coastal management efforts. These studies can be conducted using either exhaustive research or rapid assessment techniques. Data can then be applied with simple participatory tools to quickly assess coastal and marine resources and identify critical threats, such as the extent of fishing and any destructive fishing practices see Box 2.
Coastal resource managers and policymakers need to integrate health, population, gender, and nutrition considerations into ICM by determining the characteristics of beneficiaries and stakeholders, NGO capacity, and opportunities in specific areas. For example, women in coastal areas may have unmet need for family planning — that is, they may want to limit or space their future births but may not be using contraceptives.
Several strategies can be used to incorporate population and gender dynamics in planning project activities:. In the Philippines, for example, projects have used a combination of these models to build links across sectors. ICM projects developed out of separate single-sector programs, such as those introducing ecologically sound fishing practices and improving the quality and availability of couples counseling on family planning, and later evolved into integrated programs in which project staff worked with local communities and external experts to coordinate integrated population, health, and environment programs see Box 2.
Integrated management of the marine environment and its natural resources requires greater emphasis on acquiring, analyzing, and using environmental data from a variety of disciplines. It also involves improving the exchange of data between the science and management communities and focusing more on demographic and socioeconomic factors that contribute to marine pollution and coastal degradation.
Population estimates for coastal watersheds could provide useful information for coastal managers, especially if the data describe population dynamics on a larger scale.
In the United States, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has developed the Coastal Assessment Framework, which uses census data and mapping programs to provide managers and analysts with a watershed-based system for collecting and organizing resource-use data and developing coastal management strategies.
The Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Programme CARICOMP , a regional network of marine laboratories, parks, and reserves that studies land-sea interactions, strives to identify which changes in coastal systems are caused by human disturbances and which are simply long-term natural variations. The program focuses on understanding the structure and function of mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs, the primary coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean.
CARICOMP is one example of a functioning international program for monitoring the coastal marine environment and can be used as a model for other countries or regions. Demographic factors, especially migration, are major considerations in how people use coastal regions.
Liz Creel prepared this policy brief with assistance from PRB staff and other colleagues. This work has been funded by the U. Dunes are susceptible to weed invasions from coastal development and estuarine and other coastal ecosystems can be threatened by the invasion of exotic species. Species can spread by vessels associated with increased coastal use and land development and the exchanging of ballast water, boat hull encrustations, and transport of equipment from one coastal area to another.
Climate change can mean that new species occur in areas where they were previously absent and may impact on the coastal environment and indigenous biodiversity and other related coastal values. The increase in sediment and nutrient discharges to the coastal marine area from coastal development has been identified as contributing to the accelerated growth of mangroves in many northern New Zealand harbours.
Mangroves play an important role in coastal ecosystems by enhancing water quality, protecting coastal margins from erosion, and providing habitat for coastal flora and fauna. But the expansion of mangroves can lead to:.
The impacts of coastal land development on indigenous biodiversity can be a significant issue for tangata whenua. Protecting biodiversity can help ensure the health and abundance of coastal resources such as kaimoana seafood and cultural materials such as taonga raranga eg, pingao, a native sand sedge used in traditional cloaks and tukutuku , and helps to protect the mauri life principle of the coast.
Some coastal environments and associated biodiversity, such as particular dune systems, will have special significance to tangata whenua. It is important that the biodiversity of significance to tangata whenua is considered as well as general biodiversity value when managing the impacts from coastal development. Tangata whenua may also advocate that particular areas of indigenous biodiversity require enhancement to restore areas already degraded.
New Zealanders have a strong affinity for the natural character of our coast. Natural character comprises the living and non-living elements and patterns and processes that are natural to our coast. Preserving the natural character of the coastal environment and protecting it from inappropriate subdivision, use and development is a matter of national importance under s6 a of the RMA.
Preserving indicates the need to maintain in the existing state. This presents a challenge for practitioners as subdivision, use and development can significantly change the character of the coast. Natural character always exists to some degree in coastal areas and can vary on a spectrum from pristine and natural to highly modified environments.
Some inappropriate coastal developments can adversely affect natural character even on a highly modified coast. Particular consideration needs to be given to protecting areas of unmodified natural character and avoiding cumulative effects on natural character arising from sprawling or sporadic subdivision.
Policy 13 of the NZCPS directs the preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment and its protection from inappropriate subdivision, use and development.
This requires the natural character of the coastal environment to be assessed, at least areas of high natural character to be mapped or otherwise identified, and provisions to be included in statutory plans where necessary to preserve natural character. Policy 13 2 recognises that natural character occurs on a continuum and provides a list of matters that may be included, including biophysical and geological aspects, natural landforms and wild and scenic areas.
The policy distinguishes between natural character, natural features and landscapes and amenity values. Policy 14 of the NZCPS promotes the restoration of the natural character of the coastal environment through improved information and statutory provisions including consent conditions. One of the challenges of preserving the natural character of the coast is defining what it means in a particular location.
The meaning of words in s6 a of the RMA, such as 'preservation', 'protection' and 'inappropriate', require consideration and judgement in relation to the circumstances of the case and consideration of the sustainable management purpose of the RMA. Natural character is the term used to describe the natural elements of all coastal environments. The degree or level of natural character depends on:. This definition of natural character was endorsed by a workshop of practitioners hosted by the Department of Conservation on 2 August and was sourced from the Ministry for the Environment Environmental Performance Indicators Natural Character Workshop held in with slight modifications.
Further discussion on natural character is provided in the Department of Conservation August report on natural character. The natural character of the coastal environment can be adversely affected through the effects of coastal subdivision, use and development. In the Community Guide to Coastal Development under the RMA , the Environmental Defence Society outlines the following impacts that development can have on the natural character of the coast:.
The extent to which development impacts on natural character will depend on how modified the environment currently is, and how well the development has been designed to accommodate elements of natural character including coastal processes and mitigate adverse impacts.
The risk of incremental loss of natural character as a result of coastal land development and other activities in the coast is high. Managing the cumulative effects of coastal development can be a significant issue once the precedent for development has been set.
Where coastal development has resulted in a reduction in the degree of natural character this may result in that area being considered more appropriate for future concentration of development. It is important that plans have clear policies in place to avoid adverse cumulative effects.
Some coastal areas will be identified as having outstanding natural character. These areas will require the greatest level of protection compared with areas where coastal natural character is already compromised, such as areas that are already highly dominated by structures, buildings or infrastructure.
While there is general agreement on the core elements of natural character, there is a high variability in the descriptive and evaluative methods used to manage it. Natural character may be mapped or identified and provided for in RPSs, plans and consents.
There is a need for good information gathering and integrated and strategic thinking. Practitioners will need to consider restoration and rehabilitation of natural character of areas, as required by Policy 14 of the NZCPS Practitioners will determine whether the adverse effects on natural character of the coastal environment from new and existing development can be remedied, mitigated or offset by restoration or rehabilitation.
In already developed areas, restoration efforts will generally require the cooperation of landowners. Coastal landscapes are important to New Zealanders. In some places natural features and coastal landscapes have been degraded and there has been incremental loss of them. Protecting outstanding natural features and landscapes from inappropriate subdivision, use or development is a matter of national importance under s6 b of the RMA.
Coastal landscapes often have features which make them outstanding. Many coastal landscapes are significant to tangata whenua. Coastal development may modify coastal landscapes through the construction of roads, tracks, buildings and structures and associated earthworks and vegetation clearance.
Coastal landscapes can be particularly vulnerable to impacts from coastal development due to the high visibility of these landscapes from the sea, foreshore and skylines. Policy 15 of the NZCPS directs the protection of natural features and natural landscapes including seascapes of the coastal environment from inappropriate subdivision, use and development.
Policy 15 promotes the identification of natural features and natural landscapes by local authorities as a basis for provisions in policy statements and plans. Landscape characterisation is identified as the preferred assessment method. The Policy sets out matters to have regard to when doing such landscape assessments.
The challenge for practitioners is to define and assess coastal landscapes and provide for their appropriate level of protection in RMA policies and plans. Identifying and articulating outstanding and other coastal landscapes can be challenging. There can be barriers to getting community acceptance of any associated regulatory provisions and there is no single agreed assessment methodology. Assessments are increasingly using expert peer review processes to ensure good practice.
The New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects and the Environment Court have grouped landscape assessment criteria to identify three key categories of landscape attributes:. Expert landscape assessments and a strategic planning approach can enable practitioners to protect coastal landscapes. Expert assessments by professionals such as landscape architects and landscape planners are usually area based or development proposal driven. Further information on landscape assessments is provided in the Landscape Guidance Note.
Coastal land development has the potential to significantly impact on coastal landscapes and natural character by changing the naturalness of an area, and the visual, cultural and amenity values associated with the coastal landscape. New and existing coastal development can be designed and located to minimise adverse effects on landscape and natural features.
The challenge for practitioners is to ensure that RMA planning documents reflect the direction of the NZCPS and section 6 of the RMA by avoiding the adverse impacts of development on coastal landscapes while still allowing for appropriate development in locations where development is considered appropriate refer to the policy direction in Policy 6 1 of the NZCPS Adverse effects of activities on areas of outstanding natural features and landscapes are to be avoided and significant adverse effects are to be avoided.
All other effects are to be avoided, remedied or mitigated. Coastal landscape views from land and sea can be adversely affected by the individual and cumulative effects of inappropriate subdivision, use or development. Coastal developments can be highly visible from the sea and impact on the quality of the visual landscape from the sea.
Coastal development may be visible from land that is not directly adjacent eg, other side of the harbour and adversely impact on the coastal landscape. Practitioners need to consider landscapes in their entirety and their role within a wider coast. Where possible, practitioners should maintain and enhance the visual coastal landscape links between the coastal marine area and the landward coastal environment. Coastal landscapes are of particular importance to tangata whenua. This is reflected in Maori tradition and legends, including wahi ingoa place names , purakau traditional stories and whakatauki proverbs , and the exercise of customary activities.
Particular coastal landscapes may be identified as significant cultural landscapes by tangata whenua. Such landscapes may include concentrations of pa and wahi tapu sites. They may also include important pou whenua, such as rock formations, cliffs and trees that provide traditional markers within the environment.
Other important aspects of coastal landscapes include view shafts to and from marae and the sea, the views of prominent headlands, and ara trails. New Zealanders have a close association with the coast. The ability to access and enjoy the coast is a significant contributor to people's quality of life and sense of community well-being. The maintenance and enhancement of public access to and along the margins of the coast, rivers and other waterways is recognised as a matter of national importance in section 6 d of the RMA and reflected in several policies of the NZCPS This includes providing for public open space and walking access in the coastal environment and recognising esplanade reserves or esplanade strips as a management tool.
The Marine and Coastal Area Takutai Moana Act promotes free public access in, on or over the entire common marine and coastal area. It also preserves and protects existing recreational fishing rights and navigation rights. Policy 18 and Policy 6 in particular clauses 1 i and 2 b of the NZCPS , promote the provision and enjoyment of public open space in and near the coastal marine area, including its waters.
Linkages with natural character, natural features, natural landscapes and amenity values are also recognised to ensure the provision of open space is compatible with these other values. Esplanade reserves and strips are required to be recognised as a tool to help meet the need for public open space. Coastal processes and climate change are required to be considered so as not to compromise access to public open space.
Policy 19 of the NZCPS seeks to maintain and enhance public walking access to, along and adjacent to the coastal marine area. Restrictions on access are provided for only when necessary, where specified values are likely to be adversely affected. Policy 20 of the NZCPS directs control of the use of vehicles on beaches, foreshore, seabed and adjacent public land where there is harm to particular values in the coastal environment.
Vehicle use on beaches, foreshore, seabed and adjacent public land is not precluded by Policy The policy seeks to provide for vehicle access where this is appropriate, for example for recreational purposes, when and where vehicle access will not cause adverse effects, and access for emergency vehicles.
Another relevant NZCPS policy is Policy 16 which seeks to protect nationally significant surf breaks, access to them, and their use and enjoyment.
Practitioners are required to maintain and enhance public access to and along the coastal marine area, where possible and to identify situations where public access to the coast is inappropriate eg, for habitat protection, public safety and security amongst other things.
The provision of public access in the coastal environment should be integrated with other methods including tools under the Local Government Act Public open space should be maintained and enhanced where possible and is an important design consideration for coastal subdivisions, uses or other developments. Good design includes thinking through how to integrate on-site management with the wider strategies and policy direction provided in district and regional plans. This can include considering how to provide for community values for open space.
Undeveloped land in peri-urban and rural areas and redevelopment of urban coastal areas provides opportunities to enhance public access. Early planning for public access, such as establishing reserves and walkways, can provide links with open space planning for an area.
Open space planning is important for coastal developments as these developments often result in a perceived loss of open space, even if open space was not available for public access prior to development eg, farmland.
This can reduce, degrade or remove public access to and along the coast between mean low and high water springs. Esplanade areas are particularly important in these situations as they may be the only available high tide public access along the shore and provide a buffer during periods of erosion. The Gold Coast in Australia is one of these coastal places, which developed through taking advantage of its environmental assets, such as direct access to the sea, a white sandy shoreline, an extensive and naturally protected broadwater and several large accessible rivers.
While many other coastal cities relied on port facilities to develop commercial and naval activities, the City of Gold Coast emerged and grew as a tourism destination.
Largely because of this phenomenon, the pattern of settlement and subsequent development of the city differs from most traditional Australian settlement and development patterns. Today, the Gold Coast is one of the most famous tourist cities in Australia and it accommodates more than ten million visitors annually. Given this preoccupation with the coast, one may expect that Australia would be at the forefront of coastal tourism developments and coastal protection.
There is, however, no overriding jurisdiction covering planning law enforcement in maritime areas and, this situation has led to many social and environmental conflicts. This paper demonstrates how the evolution and resolution of development conflicts on the Spit Gold Coast are symptomatic of the evolution of place values and the national coastal management and how, this informs a shift towards coastal protection. Yet as a coastal city characterised by extensive residential canal estates kilometers of canals, ten times more than in Venice , there is limited scholarship investigating local coastal management activities within the dominating and overarching context of tourism development.
This paper goes some way to address this gap. However, historically, the Australian Constitution decreed that the planning and management of crown land was the responsibility of state and territory governments Wescott, With no overriding jurisdiction covering the enforcement of planning law in coastal areas, many social, environmental and development conflicts arose. It was not until the late s when some noticeable changes started to occur. For instance, in , the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act introduced an important change as it gave the Australian Government significant powers to influence coastal environmental policy and planning George, Since then, coastal management in Australia has been undergoing a transformation that reflects broader governance shifts, as well as raising awareness about global issues such as climate change and pollution.
Despites this shift in national government approach to coastal management, conflicts still regularly make the headlines regarding the management and development of coastal areas in Australia. Others emphasise that conflicts frequently emerge as a result of change, and as meanings, values and attachments to places alter Mitchell, For instance, Dekker et al.
However, unlike other Australian cities, the City of Gold Coast emerged and grew as a tourist destination that reached a peak in the s and continue to grow rapidly. Today the city welcomes more than 12 million visitors annually ABS, The city is renowned for its natural environment, with 57 kilometres of coastal strip with pristine beaches and unique hinterland landscapes featuring several national parks.
The City of Gold Coast is also dissected by numerous rivers and creeks that have largely been reconfigured and developed into prime real estate around artificial canals Figure 1. Although there is only one marina owned by a yacht club Southport Yacht Club , there are about twenty other privately owned marinas, slipways and boatyards within the jurisdiction of this unique city, which offers the proximity to two major airports, tourism attractions, theme parks and unique hinterland Tenefrancia, Figure 1.
This transformation, combined with an extraordinary increase in population 8, inhabitants in ; almost 70, in and over , in , ABS, resulted in urban densification of the coastline, which became the hub for a range of services, tourist attractions and housing.
There was little or no planning legislation in place to protect the coastline. Planning legislation in the City of Gold Coast has historically favoured development rather than environmental conservation and heritage preservation Bosman et al. Besides, with a population that could also triple in size over the holiday season in selected precincts, the city has historically been challenged by finding a balance between financial interests, community cohesion, and identity. The image of the City of Gold Coast also poses questions regarding the value of place.
Figure 2. Changes in the coastline at the Surfers Paradise district. Place meaning and values emerge out of everyday activities and are produced through and by global and societal influences. Place is also read and understood as a physical site in relation to both built and natural environments, as well as through written, verbal, visual and non-verbal media and marketing. Language, and in particular advertising, is a key constructor of place, especially with regard to tourist places.
The feeling of attachment that is produced from knowing a place comes from living that place. In doing this, however, different people, or different groups of people, often come to value places in different ways to one another Cheng et al. Previous research has identified the importance of understanding the way in which people interact with the landscape and how they develop place- based values Jorgensen and Stedman, ; Cheng et al.
Essentially the place becomes vulnerable as local everyday activity nodes move elsewhere and tourists do not return. Gordon Holden writes:. For many coastal cities such as the City of Gold Coast, the challenge is compounded, as activities in the coastal zone land and water significantly contribute to creating a sense of place. The coastline often becomes synonymous with the identity of the city and a key ingredient to its growth and prosperity, yet it is also a highly contentious place where numerous conflicts are rife.
This recurring cycle is initiated by the arrival of new players stakeholders into the development arena. New players invariably bring with them new ideas, concepts, beliefs and place values.
This pattern is immersed within the history of Southport as discussed below and the Gold Coast as a whole see for example Whelan, The cycle can be broken up into five, often difficult to define, phases see figure 3.
Figure 3. Cycle of conflict. Much of the literature on the history of Aboriginal-European conflict in Australia is written with a Euro-centric perspective Anderson, ; Best, No matter which perspective is more accurate, the fact remains that this conflict of interests resulted in Aborigines dying in large numbers, some shot by Native Police, some poisoned by settlers Moore, As with most serious development conflicts, this remains unresolved, although it has taken on a very different form, moving from physical altercations into the political realm.
The Spit is located at the northern end of the city see Figure 1 , across the Broadwater from the early s settlement of Southport, and is the result of the reconfiguration of the sand dune at the mouth of the Nerang River in the late s following a series of storms see GCCM, It is today one of the last significant undeveloped public green spaces in the city. Yet the Spit is also a well-known and targeted place of conflict with pro- and anti- development stakeholders vying for opposing outcomes for the place, and often running parallel debates to the national agenda.
This is the focus of the next sections. This is not surprising within the Australian national context as the federal government have historically left the responsibility of coastal zones to local government authorities to care for, manage and maintain.
On the Southport Spit, one of the first to object to development on this prime beachfront dune was the local National Party Member of Parliament at the time, Doug Jennings. The Waterways Authority were frequently involved in controversy over commercial development rights on public land in the city Condon, In one case a prominent Board member obtained 64 hectares on the western side of the Spit for tourism urbanisation now the theme park Sea World.
Other tourism related developments on the Spit were also approved during this time and were subsequently built, renovated and extended: an exclusive shopping precinct, a commercial fishing wharf now also accommodates super yacht berths , an exclusive resort complex and an international hotel and apartment complex Figure 4.
Figure 4. Picture and map of the Spit. However it was not until that the Labor Government set up the Gold Coast Harbours Authority to take a more local approach to the management of the Broadwater and Spit environs. The Gold Coast Harbour Study Issues Paper was part of this endeavour to address local issues at the local scale and take into account local place values and interests.
It reflected an optimistic period of policy development Vince, that would culminate with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in One thing that did emerge from the Gold Coast Harbour Study was that the Gold Coast City Council agreed that no development private or commercial would occur on the remnant of public land at the northern end of the Southport Spit and that the open space character of the area would be retained and enhanced Gold Coast City Council, The Board was set up to advise the Premier and the Coordinator General to undertake tasks as required by the Government.
In effect the State Government created its own proponent for the project, a proponent that was also to advise the Government. All decisions taken by the Government were to be, and in fact were, based upon the advice of the Board.
To heighten this inbred decision making process, the State Government called for expressions of interest from developers at the same time as it commissioned an EIS for the site Bligh, The supposition being that the advice from the Board would be in favour of development. In addition the Government sought direct control over the proposal, feasibility and development of the project. This declaration triggered State legislation that called for an Environmental Impact Study EIS which meant the Government had direct control over the way the EIS was developed, the criteria by which it was to be assessed and it enabled other legislation to be bypassed if necessary.
This situation also reflected the wider commonwealth disengagement from state planning concerns and the failure of all levels of government to implement policy Vince, ; Wescott, One of the major contributing factors in this decision-making process was the lack of national approach TFG, : the Gold Coast Spit clearly demonstrated the conflict embedded in development in coastal zones and, the local-centered approach without the consideration of any wider context in term of coastal management.
Yet, things were about to change. This energetic and dedicated group organised a number of rallies and delegations and petitions over the next two years Figure 5 and maintained and continue to maintain an evocative and resourceful web site.
By July just ten months into the feasibility studies the SOSA had collected over 20, signatures as part of their petition to the state government to stop development on the Spit SOSA d. Figure 5. Rally organised by SOSA. These were SOSA, b :. The economic benefits to the community, the City and the state were marginal because SOSA research indicated that cruise liner passengers spent more money on board the than they did on shore. The loss of public open space in the face of rapid population and urban growth.
The negative impact the development would have on existing tourism operators on the Spit, namely the dive industry, surfing industry, fishing industry, charter boats and kayaking. Environmental impacts, including dredging, erosion, flooding and air and water pollutants from the cruise liners.
A few months after a well-attended and enthusiastic protest, and in response to a continued barrage of criticism about the development proposal see SOSA, a , the then Deputy Premier, Anna Bligh, herself a Gold Coaster by childhood experiences, summed up the situation. We suggest that in this statement the Deputy Premier was casting local place attachment as an obstacle in the development process. The government perceived the Spit to be, and valued the site as, a space of economic opportunity.
The Premier did not directly acknowledge that this decision reflected the views of over 22, local residents SOSA, d. Instead the augment put forward by the government was that the decision not to proceed was based on the cost to taxpayers; an economic, rationale not an environmental, nor a cultural, and certainly not a social or community rationale.
It is important to note however, that the decision by the government not to proceed was taken at the height of a state government election campaign. The surveys were done at various times of the day and on different days of the week throughout the survey period.
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