The fight against the Coomera Connector continues, but the clock is ticking.
Protestors are planning to hit the streets today, rallying in front of local member Melissa McMahon’s Beenleigh office.
Members of the Eagleby Community and Wetlands Group will lead the protest following a four-year battle to have the 45km road diverted.
The highway is planned to run a corridor between Loganholme and Nerang (east of the Pacific Motorway), and is intended to ease congestion on the M1.
Environmentalists believe the road, planned for construction through Eagleby, will devastate the surrounding wetlands.
Members of the Eagleby Community and Wetlands Group have been fighting this proposal for four years, will today (4 July) stage what they say will be a peaceful protest outside Macalister MP Ms McMahon’s office.
Group president Marcus Fitz-Gerald said the protest would remain civil.
“There will be no circumstance where people are banging on [Ms McMahon’s] door or anything like that,” Mr Fitz-Gerald said.
“We just decided it was time to take a stand and be present, and this is the way to do it.”
“We want [Ms McMahon] to realise that [the Connector] is a concern to the community and we’re representing the community’s concerns.”
He said the group was disappointed by Ms Mcmahon’s responses to their previous calls to action.
“At the moment, I think she feels safe enough supporting the lines from the government and sticking with them,” Mr Fitz-Gerald said.
“She hasn’t yet seen the community really stepping up.”
Construction of the Gold Coast stage of the Connector, between Nerang and Coomera, began on 22 March 2023 and is expected to finish in late 2025.
But the remaing 29 kilometres, stretching from Coomera to Loganholme, is still waiting environmental approvals and timing has not been confirmed.
According to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, a business case for the $22 million project, jointly funded by the state and federal governments, is still being prepared.
“The decision to proceed with the next stage of the Coomera Connector, and the timing, will be at the discretion of the Queensland and Australian governments following completion of the business case,” TMR’s website reads.
