When community groups met with Mr Don O’Rorke (Consolidated Properties) and Mr Andrew Stark (World Surf League), they were questioned regarding the accessibility of the facility to the general surfing community. Their response indicated that this was not a facility for the casual surfer or a surfing family to “have a surf” on the way home from work or on the weekend.
They were also asked about cost and would not give any information in relation to its affordability again for the casual surfer or surfing family. We have heard of costs in the range of $100’s of dollars for one wave attempt and thousands of dollars for daily hire.
Surfrider Sunshine Coast says "Our love of surfing does not override our need to protect. We are not against development but it must be appropriate. The building of housing/accommodation, retail area & a wave pool on a floodplain marked by the Sunshine Coast Council’s Blue Heart project as an area ‘to protect and enhance this area for blue carbon sequestration, habitat for biodiversity and water processing’ raises many questions. We support the Sunshine Coast Environment Council, Coolum and North Shore Coast Care, Friends of Yaroomba, OSCAR and Development Watch Inc in their quest for answers."
Is this a tourism attraction? No, the 'wave pool' is a 'trojan horse' for urban development.
SCEC and fellow community groups OSCAR, Development Watch , Coolum Residents Association ,Friends of Yaroomba and Surfrider Sunshine Coast have no objection to a ‘wave pool’ per se in the region. However, this is not the right location. We remind the community, the developer and the State that the site proposed for this development is currently zoned rural and is outside both the SCPS Urban Growth Management Boundary and the South East Queensland Regional Plan Urban Footprint Boundary.