The future of a road project that has been in planning for more than 10 years, and for which properties have been resumed, now rests with the federal Environment Minister.
The Caloundra Transport Corridor Upgrade was referred for consideration as a potential Matter of National Environmental Significance under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act last October.
The CTCU was deemed to be a controlled action under the Act, which means that the Environment Minister will make a decision about whether it should go ahead.
The referral says construction of the road has the potential to directly affect 1.08ha of coastal swamp sclerophyll forest threatened ecological community, 1.47 ha of greater glider habitat, 3.52ha of koala habitat and 4.03ha of grey-headed flying fox habitat, as well as cause flora and fauna mortality and vegetation destruction.
It says there could also be indirect impacts through the introduction of invasive species, plant-pollinator associations, localised and temporary change to surface water and to stormwater quality, loss of habitat resulting in localised species population declines, increased bushfire risk, a potential increase in edge effects, and disturbance of conservation-significant fauna due to noise, vibration, lighting and dust.
The state government has committed $14 million towards the project and $7 million has been committed by Transport and Main Roads, although the federal government withdrew financial support for the project during 2023 infrastructure cuts.
Properties have been resumed and homes demolished to make way for the four-lane road, which would take traffic from Nicklin Way to Omrah Avenue via Third Avenue.
Sunshine Coast councillor Terry Landsberg has expressed his concern about the process the CTCU has followed, saying the council’s decision to refer the project for EPBC consideration would only slow the project while costs continued to rise.
“This is bureaucracy at its best, delivery its worst for the community,” he said.
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Cr Landsberg said the project should never have been raised as an Matter of National Environmental Significance (MNES).
He said a consultant had not identified any matters of national environmental significance, nor had MNES been raised during discussions with a group of stakeholder representatives.
“I question why council elevated this as a MNES. When you look at MNES, this is usually reserved for the Great Barrier Reef or national conservation areas,” he said.
Cr Landsberg said the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) assessment applied to both stage one of the project – from Omrah Avenue to Arthur Street, which is being handled by the council – and stage two – from Third Avenue through to the Nicklin Way, which is being handled by TMR.
There is no timeline for EPBC assessment and Cr Landsberg pointed out the federal government was now in caretaker mode, meaning there would be no decision before the next Environment Minster was sworn in.
“This has come out of left field to hold up the project but what it’s done is end up in cost escalations. It’s already two years behind schedule,” he said.
Emma Rees, of Value Caloundra, which campaigned for the road to be two lanes rather than four, said there were reasons for concern about the entire process surrounding the CTCU.
She said the council had been determined to build a four-lane road and the consultation that occurred had not been designed to genuinely work with the community to come up with a transport solution to meet its diverse needs.
“It would be really interesting if there was a feedback process for the consultation,” she said.
A council spokesperson said the potential for the project to have an impact on MNES had been known to council since 2017, when it was raised during initial environmental assessments undertaken to inform planning and initial design considerations.
The spokesperson said the council’s design team had considered the MNES as the project had progressed with a view to avoiding, minimising or off-setting its impacts and documenting actions to be taken.
The project was referred for EPBC consideration once these aspects of the design were advanced to a satisfactory level of detail and the extent of impacts on MNES confirmed, the spokesperson said.
“It is anticipated that council will receive EPBC approvals and start construction of this important upgrade in late 2025,” the spokesperson said.
The referral of the CTCU for federal environmental consideration was welcomed by Greens member and local resident Anna Sri.
“The Caloundra Greens support thorough evaluation of the environmental impacts of this road project, particularly given the unique close proximity of different ecosystems in the area,” she said.
“After all, once it’s damaged or destroyed, it is unlikely to be restored and will be a great loss to current residents and future generations.”
