We respectfully ask you to vote against the proposed Springbrook Cableway
Council votes on these issues on Tuesday. 3 votes will sway it our way. Please follow this link go to this letter sign it and send it to the counsellors.
https://savespringbrook.org/vote-no
Save Springbrook Residents Group
Springbrook, Queensland
To The Councillors
Gold Coast City Council
We respectfully ask you to vote against the proposed Springbrook Cableway
Dear Councillors,
On behalf of the Save Springbrook Residents Group, we respectfully ask that you vote against the proposed Springbrook Cableway should it come before Council.
Our opposition is not based on opposition to tourism. Springbrook has welcomed visitors for generations, and we recognise tourism as an important part of our local economy. Our concern is that this proposal is fundamentally incompatible with the values of a World Heritage-listed cloud forest and the unique community that lives here.
We ask that your decision be guided by evidence, sound planning and the long-term public interest.
1. Public Safety
Cableway systems, while generally safe, are not without risk. Since 2000, there have been numerous serious cableway accidents worldwide, resulting in more than 200 fatalities.
Springbrook is also subject to frequent severe weather conditions, including high winds, intense storms, prolonged heavy rain, lightning and dense cloud. These conditions prevail for the majority of the year during which the cableway would not even be able to run. These conditions must be carefully considered when assessing the long-term safety and operational reliability of any aerial cableway.
2. Springbrook Is a Cloud Forest
Unlike mountain ranges offering expansive panoramic views, Springbrook is a subtropical cloud forest.
For much of the year, particularly during wetter months, the rainforest canopy is immersed in cloud, mist and rain. The cableway will only be transporting them through nil visibility clouds. The attraction of Springbrook is not a sweeping sky vista—it is the ancient rainforest itself.
Visitors already have access to spectacular lookouts throughout the National Park without introducing large-scale infrastructure into the landscape.
3. Irreversible Environmental Damage
Construction of a cableway would require clearing, tower footings, access roads, maintenance facilities, utilities, stations and ongoing operational infrastructure.
These works would permanently fragment one of Australia's most environmentally significant rainforest ecosystems.
The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia are World Heritage-listed because of their Outstanding Universal Value. Once damaged, these ecosystems cannot simply be restored.
4. Permanent Visual Impact
Springbrook's natural landscape is one of its greatest assets.
Cable towers, cables, stations and associated infrastructure would permanently alter views that residents and visitors currently enjoy.
People come to Springbrook because it remains largely untouched.
That character cannot be recreated once lost.
5. Emergency Management
Springbrook has a long history of extreme weather events, road closures and bushfire risk.
Any aerial transport system must demonstrate how passengers could be safely evacuated during prolonged power outages, severe storms or bushfire emergencies.
These questions deserve comprehensive answers before any approval is considered.
6. Springbrook Has Reached Its Carrying Capacity
Council has frequently promoted Springbrook as a tourism destination.
However, the National Park already experiences congestion during busy periods.
Existing facilities are under pressure, including:
Parking
Public toilets
Walking tracks
Emergency access
Waste management
Importantly, Council contributes no direct funding towards managing the National Park itself, despite encouraging increasing visitor numbers.
Increasing visitation before addressing existing pressures & risks, degrading the visitor experience, while placing further strain on the wildlife & environment.
7. Our Community Is Different
Springbrook is unlike suburban Gold Coast.
We have:
No medical facilities - emergency or otherwise
No reticulated sewerage.
No reticulated water supply.
Limited telecommunications.
Frequent electricity interruptions.
Narrow mountain roads.
A resilient community adapted to living in a remote World Heritage environment.
These characteristics define Springbrook.
Large-scale tourism infrastructure would fundamentally change both the landscape and the community.
8. There Is a Better Alternative
If Council wishes to strengthen nature-based tourism, there are better solutions than industrialising a World Heritage mountain.
We encourage Council to investigate establishing an iconic visitor and education centre at Nerang or Mudgeeraba.
Such a facility could:
celebrate the Gondwana Rainforests;
provide Indigenous cultural interpretation;
showcase the biodiversity of the hinterland;
provide parking and visitor services; and
operate a Park-and-Ride network servicing Springbrook, Lamington, Tamborine and other National Parks.
This would improve visitor experiences while reducing traffic, protecting sensitive environments and benefiting the entire hinterland—not just one location.
9. If the Proposal Were Commercially Viable...
Council is currently spending significant public funds investigating a cableway.
If this proposal represented an outstanding commercial opportunity, it is reasonable to expect that a private proponent would already have submitted a development application.
To date, no such application has been lodged.
That fact alone should encourage caution before further public resources are committed.
We Respectfully Ask You To Vote: NO
This decision will shape Springbrook for generations.
As elected representatives, you have an opportunity to protect one of Australia's most precious natural landscapes.
We respectfully ask you to reject the proposed Springbrook Cableway and instead support tourism that complements—not compromises—our World Heritage environment.
Our community welcomes visitors.
What we cannot support is transforming one of Australia's last remaining ancient cloud forests into another major tourism attraction.
Please help us protect Springbrook's unique character, its extraordinary biodiversity and the peaceful mountain community that has cared for it for generations.
Councillors are not simply deciding whether to build a cableway. They are deciding what kind of legacy they wish to leave. Long after political terms have ended, the rainforest will either remain one of Australia's great natural treasures—or it will bear the permanent imprint of decisions made today.
We ask you to choose protection over irreversible change.
Respectfully,
Save Springbrook Residents Group
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