Local Member for Currumbin Jann Stuckey MP asked the Government today whether the Tugun Rugby League Football Club, located next to the desalination plant, would receive compensation for their sinking field, clubhouse and grounds.
The club has been promised by the Gold Coast City Council to be relocated in two to three years, but this will not be soon enough to save the club, according to club President Scott Swain.
“Dressing sheds that have stood for 30 years have fallen apart in a period of 18 months,” said Ms Stuckey.
“Fields are subsiding, holes are opening up overnight and footings around the main club are lifting.
“Importantly, dilapidation surveys that were completed on houses surrounding the plant were not done for the club.
“The Club President acknowledges that the club was built on an old tip, as were other fields on the Gold Coast, but the acceleration of damage in the past 18 months is a bit too much of a coincidence with desalination drilling and tunnelling only about 100 metres away.
“The club is the local social hub for hundreds of residents with 2000 members and some 300 players and also hosts touch football, the fishing club, the golf club, Vietnam Vets and the Dart Club.”
“I have asked the Government to accept some responsibility and give this 32 year old club a fair go in a safe environment so they can keep providing social activities which are so important to our community.
“With the opening of the desalination plant delayed due to the news that faulty pipes with signs of corrosion will prevent operation, there has been ongoing uncertainty for local residents.
“It is time that local residents and the club, who have suffered from dirt, noise and disruption for over two years, receive adequate compensation and real solutions to these problems.
“This whole unhappy saga once again highlights the incompetence of the Bligh Government when it comes to building infrastructure,” said Ms Stuckey.
“The Bligh Government claim they are all about ‘go’ when it comes to building infrastructure. In reality they are all about hard hat media opportunities with little regard for the communities they make suffer.
Media Contact: Jann Stuckey 0439 755 919