Luis Feliu
Plans for the $25-million facelift of Kingscliff’s foreshore, including a large rock seawall to protect public land and a major upgrade of the council-run caravan park, is set to be given the nod tomorrow.
Tweed Shire Council’s bold foreshore ’revitalisation project’, costed at $21.2 million of which much of it is federal funding, is up for council approval.
Councillors will also consider the staff-recommended approval for a $3.6 million upmarket renewal of the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park, which will be protected by the rock wall, and will be reduced in size by around half to make way for a ‘Central Park’.
The two major developments by council, which is trustee of the caravan park, come after more than 13 years of planing with the council’s adopted 2007-27 master plan for its foreshore, underpinning them.
In their report council planners say the projects would be staged over 20 years to minimise disruption to the town’s popular tourist and retail strip nearby.
It would uprade park land and holiday parks as well as preserve the beach and foreshore.
Another project under the master plan includes the Marine Parade one-way street change of 2012-13, which received mixed response when completed, with critics saying the conversion from two-way traffic did not help congestion.
The caravan sites are to be cut from 176 to 61 and its overall area from 3.31 hectares to 1.99 hectares.
The proposal includes the removal of all movable dwellings and structures from as well as demolition of the existing site office, amenities blocks, concrete slabs and road pavement material.
A new access is to be provided to the site as part of the redevelopment.
The concrete seawall and rock revetment seawall will be built between the Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club (CHSLSC) and the Kingscliff Beach Bowls Club (KBBC).
Part of the caravan park site will be turned into public foreshore park and a combined pedestrian/cycleway will be built between the surf and bowls clubs.
Planners say the staged works under the strategy over the next four years includes rebuild the existing rock wall between the surf and bowls clubs reusing existing rock, in two stages, with community amenities such as viewing platforms in the later stage.
In a brief history, they say the township was hit by a series of storm surges and erosion between 2011 and 2013 which resulted in the loss of large tracts of foreshore area.
The loss of infrastructure and assets behind the foreshore prompted Tweed Shire Council to undertake emergency revetment (sandbag and rock) works between the northern training wall of Cudgen Creek and the bowls club.
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