Currumbin Eco-Parkland

Biodiversity Australia has made significant progress this year in the ecological restoration of Currumbin Eco-Parkland. In 2023 alone, they have dedicated hundreds of hours of fieldwork to ensuring the balance and health of this valuable ecosystem.

Key Activities and Achievements:

1. Weed Control & Invasive Plant Management: The team undertook meticulous stump cut treatment for invasive plants such as the Devils Fig, Lantana, and Broad Leaf Pepper trees. A particular focus was on the challenging task of removing Cats Claw Creeper tubers. Key areas of attention for the Biodiversity team have been property boundaries, tracks, and the watercourse feeding into Currumbin Creek. This focused strategy aims to help prevent the spread of invasive weeds to neighbouring properties.
2. Fire Preparedness: In anticipation of a hot summer ahead, restoration activities have included clearing fire breaks and trails of potential fuel sources like leaf litter and fallen branches.
3. Supporting Gold Coast City Council: Biodiversity Australia promptly responded to the seasonal groundsel bush detection program, assisting the council with rapid interventions.

Looking ahead, the Biodiversity team will continue to work alongside MRA, ddwfauna, and Gold Coast Botany, to focus on areas of ecological significance. Land management activities require a careful and considered approach to ensure the protection and preservation of any emerging native plants. While this work is time-intensive and the results might not be immediately visible, it’s a crucial step that will lay the groundwork for increased ecosystem health in the years to come.

Weed Treatment Statistics: To put things in perspective, the below pie chart presents ten of the most treated weed species to date.

Aerial map showing a selection of weeds identified (red) and treated (green) within the Eco-Parkland.

For future updates on restoration efforts, stay connected with the Have Your Say news feed and newsletters.

To ensure that the Currumbin Eco Parkland project continues to protect and preserve the unique natural features of the 148 hectares of land at Currumbin, Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) has appointed Biodiversity Australia to provide land management services and support across the site.

Founded in 2002, Biodiversity Australia has extensive experience in the management and delivery of specialist environmental management services for small and large-scale projects across diverse industries and sectors.

In collaboration with the existing land users, they will be on-site conducting weed management, fire trail and general maintenance activities for the remainder of 2023.

Please keep following this page for further updates expected soon

On Saturday 10 September some 50 members of the public gathered at the Tallebudgera Valley Community Centre to participate in the Currumbin Eco-Parkland Enquiry-by-Design (EBD) workshop.

Supported by key technical experts, the workshop provided attendees with an in-depth planning and design session that uncovered, explored, and tested design ideas from the local community and stakeholders.

The workshop, facilitated by Articulous, included presentations from Lat27, DesignFlow and the team of Ecological experts currently assessing the 148-hectare site. Participants enthusiastically contributed to design activities, listened to other perspectives, and carefully considered the constraints and opportunities for the eco-parkland. All participants also had the opportunity to share their aspirations for the site and consider what it would take to accommodate the range of uses and desired activities at the Eco-Parkland.

The ecological team outlined their initial findings regarding rare and threatened flora and fauna species already identified in their preliminary work. The ecologists will continue their work as we move from Spring into Summer, with their findings continuing to inform the master planning process.

The workshop included a collaborative master planning exercise. Working in small group alongside Lat27 and Articulous team members, each group designed their own concept master plan in response to the work regulation, site constraints and draft precinct options plan. Participants’ conversations carefully considered how a balance could be achieved between the range of desired activities and uses, with the site constraints. The groups were then asked to test the strength of their designs and identify opportunities for implementation.

For further details about the EBD workshop outcomes, please read the summary report.

What now?

The Project Team will consider all concepts from the enquiry-by-design process, past engagement responses, technical studies, and findings from the ongoing work of the ecologists, to prepare a final master plan.

The final master plan will be announced and made publicly available on our Have Your Say page once approved.

In response to the community’s aspirations for the most up-to-date environmental information about the parkland, three local consultancy firms; Mark Rigby and Associates (MRA), Gold Coast Botany (GCB) and ddwfauna have been engaged as a consortium by Economic Development Queensland to complete a full ecological study of the Currumbin Eco-Parkland.

Recognised as leaders in their respected fields of natural sciences, these environmental experts have provided over 20 years of ecological services to Queensland and parts of New South Wales across both the private and public sectors.

MRA will work as the lead consultant on the parkland study, which will be completed in four phases over the next four months, with initial field assessments occurring in the next two months (weather and field conditions permitting).

Starting on site in July 2022, phase 1 will include a review and ground truthing of the desktop studies completed prior to the parkland being acquired by the state government in December 2021. The desktop studies informed the preliminary opportunities and constraints outlined in the draft options plan discussed during our community consultation sessions.

Phase two will include the field assessment of fauna and flora species and habitat, ecological constraints, and the geological and topographic aspects of the site.

The consortium will also take part in and present at our master planning sessions. Their ecological field assessment will provide more clarity, with information gathered in the field, around the ecological areas of importance across the site. This will directly inform the design of the draft master plan for the site.

Meet the Currumbin Ecological Assessment team.

How you can get involved:

Do you have a story, memory, interesting fact, or environmental information about the parkland? Or do you know of unique flora and fauna in the parkland? Share your story and images of Currumbin Eco-Parkland with the team.

Details about further community engagement activities will be available on our Currumbin Eco-Parkland Have Your Say page. To receive the latest information and to stay up to date don't forget to please register on our Have Your Say page.

Economic Development Queensland will be convening a face-to-face community meeting with sporting groups, clubs and recreationalists with an interest in the Currumbin Eco-Parkland site.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 27 April 2022 at the Tugun Community Centre, 414 Coolangatta Road, Tugun from 6.30 pm to 9.00 pm.

If you would like to attend this meeting, please register via Eventbrite. (Please note will be limited to 75 attendees).

In early 2021 a Preliminary Ecological Assessment report was developed for Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) by S5 Environmental. As the report was prepared prior to EDQ having full access to the Currumbin Eco-Parkland site, further ground truthing is required.

A full ecological study will now be undertaken to identify the location of the site’s protected species to ensure the master plan design protects the appropriate ecological values of the site while also allowing for co-existence of community use.

Due to the size of the site, preparation of the full ecological study will be staged so the timing of areas being investigated align with the timing of the master-planning of those areas.

Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) would like to thank the members of the local environmental groups who attended the initial Currumbin Eco-Parkland engagement session.

The session provided an opportunity for:

• EDQ to provide overview of the works regulation and election commitment guiding the project
• EDQ to share early findings from community feedback received from the online survey and comments on the options plan
• Lat27 to share the methodology behind the development of the options plan
• Community members and environmental groups to share what they value about the site, and what they would like the master plan to consider.

Presentations are available in the online library section for your information review. Meeting summary notes are being prepared to capture the discussion.

This was the first meeting in a series of conversations with the community. Our next session is scheduled for Wednesday 27 April, and will focus on the sport and recreational interests in the site. Details for how sporting groups, clubs and recreationalists can register to attend this session will be available closer to the date.

Community members who already registered an Expression of Interest to meet for a face-to-face session can expect an invitation to attend a session on Thursday 12 May.

To stay informed about the project and future workshops, please register on the Have Your Say page.

Economic Development Queensland will be hosting the first of its community and stakeholder engagement face-to-face activities for the Currumbin Eco-Parkland this week.

We have invited a number of groups with environmental interest in the site to attend an initial session on Wednesday evening – 23 March.

We are working to schedule another session for other interested parties such as sporting and recreation groups to attend. To avoid public and school holidays this session will likely be after Easter.

Details about the sport and recreation groups session and further community engagement opportunities will be available on our Have Your Say page shortly.

We are transitioning to the next phase of our community engagement. To allow us to review and analyse the feedback received to date from the What are your thoughts? survey and comments pinned to the interactive plan, we will conclude both tools on Friday 18 March 2022.

We thank those visitors to our Have Your Say page who have actively shared their ideas, concerns and aspirations around future uses of the parkland. The comments pinned to the interactive options plan and the feedback from the “What are your thoughts?” survey, have highlighted a diverse range of perspectives. The feedback from these two consultations will inform further work we are currently undertaking with our landscape designer, considering possibilities for the parkland master plan.

You can continue to talk with us and ask questions using the Q&As tab.

The new phase we are entering will include face-to-face community and stakeholder engagement consultation activities. These activities will be scheduled throughout late March and April, avoiding public and school holidays. Further details about these activities will be available on our Have Your Say page.

Should the proposed Currumbin Eco-Parkland focus on delivering sporting and recreational elements, opportunities for rehabilitation of the natural environment through eco-tourism, or protection of local koala habitats?

Should there be all-abilities playgrounds, a zipline, camping facilities or an on-site plant nursery?

What are your thoughts?

We are looking for the community to assist in the design and shared vision for the future master plan and transformation of the 148-hectare parkland at Currumbin into one of Australia’s biggest eco-parklands.

To get involved, you can:

• leave a comment in the interactive options plan
• complete a What are your thoughts? Survey

Or if you want to get involved even further, please register an Expression of Interest to attend future consultation forums.

It has been a challenging start to the year. To give you a little more time to register an Expression of Interest to attend consultation forums, we have extended the closing date to 7 February 2022.