Sunshine Coast Mass Transit Plan
Project overview
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council are proposing a Mass Transit Plan for the beach corridor from Maroochydore to Kawana. Their preferred option is Light Rail.
To be financially viable, the proposed plan requires much higher housing densities, including high-rise buildings, along the route.
For Minyama, Buddina, Warana and Bokarina, Council are proposing their Light Rail system to run along the centre of Nicklin Way, resulting in
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loss of 2 motor vehicle lanes to make way for Light Rail and its system of tracks
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loss of the green strip in the centre along Nicklin Way
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higher housing densities with multi-level units replacing residential houses, planned for 400m along either side of the road in all directions (north-south and east-west).
Red line is Proposed Light Rail
Shaded area is where housing rezoning for units is likely to occur
Rezoning from low-rise to higher densities
The plan is to rezone the existing residential housing to 5 times what is currently there now. This rezoning will be a combination of medium and high density multi-storey buildings. Council call this land use improvement.
The Light Rail is proposed to run for 13km from the new Maroochydore CBD to the Sunshine Coast Hospital precinct at Birtinya. There are to be 16 stations. Council have said they plan to densify more heavily around the stations.
This has a significant impact on Buddina and Warana as the Kawana Shopping Centre will likely have a dedicated station. Therefore the current low rise, low density residential housing that exists today is likely to be rezoned to much higher-density, high-rise development, including residential and tourist accommodation.
To this:
From this:
Listen to the noise of the Gold Coast light rail
Click the button below to learn more
About the Mass Transit Project - the facts
Get involved - what you can do? HAVE YOUR SAY
The Sunshine Coast Regional Council will undertake public consultation on their Mass Transit Project in early 2021. The commencement date and format of the consultation are yet to be announced.
Friends of Buddina believe that we need a modern, economically viable, flexible, demand-driven public transport system. However, the current Light Rail plan is not the answer. This Light Rail plan is all about increasing development and little to do with a good, appropriate public transport solution for the community. If the rezoning is allowed to go ahead, residents will have no say in what happens to our community. We will be faced with more inappropriate, over-development of our beachside suburbs - another Gold Coast. Now is our chance to stop it happening.
We urge all residents to participate in this consultation to let Council know this is not what we want for our area.
Click here to learn more about the public consultation process.