The Burleigh to Springbrook Corridor
The Reedy Creek site forms part of the Hinterland Critical Corridor, a vital ecological link connecting coastal habitats at Burleigh Headland through to Springbrook National Park. This corridor allows native animals to move between habitat areas, which is essential for the long-term survival of species that need large connected territories.
The Gold Coast City Plan recognises this corridor as a key part of the city’s biodiversity framework. Fragmenting or degrading it would undermine decades of conservation planning.
A New Motorway Upgrade Designed to Protect This Corridor
In April 2025, the M1 upgrade between Burleigh and Palm Beach was completed. As part of that project, a 55-metre fauna underpass was specifically constructed to maintain connectivity within the Burleigh to Springbrook bioregional wildlife corridor.
Gecko Environment Council raised this point directly in its formal submission, arguing that “approving a quarry that fragments this very corridor would be directly at odds with that public investment and the conservation outcomes it was designed to achieve.”
Koala Habitat Under Threat
The proposed quarry site contains significant koala habitat. According to Gecko Environment Council’s submission, the current proposal would result in the removal of 9,668 non-juvenile koala habitat trees. In a previous assessment of the site, it was found that clearing would destroy over 23,000 koala food trees.
Since the previous quarry application was refused by the courts, the status of the koala has been upgraded from “vulnerable” to “endangered” under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) in February 2022. This change applies to koala populations in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
The Mudgeeraba Chamber of Commerce noted in its objection that this uplisting “strengthens, not weakens, the environmental case against approval.”
Other Threatened Species
It is not just koalas. According to Gecko Environment Council, the site also provides habitat for several other threatened species, including:
- Glossy Black Cockatoo
- Powerful Owl
- Tusked Frog
The site also contains threatened flora species. The current proposal would disturb approximately 56.4 hectares of a 216.7-hectare vegetated bushland site, with lasting effects on biodiversity in the region.
Waterway Risks
The quarry site is located near Oyster Creek and Stony Creek, which feed into broader catchment systems. Gecko’s submission raised concerns about potential impacts on these waterways, “particularly under increasingly intense rainfall events linked to climate change.”
The Mudgeeraba Chamber of Commerce also raised the risk of leachate contamination from the proposed West Burleigh construction waste landfill, which forms part of the same development application, into the Tallebudgera catchment.
The Bigger Picture
This is not just a local planning issue. It is a question of whether we protect the ecological infrastructure that makes the Gold Coast what it is. The wildlife corridor, the koala habitat, the waterways and the natural landscape of the hinterland are all part of a connected system. The proposed quarry would sit in the middle of that system for approximately 40 years.
Federal MP Leon Rebello (McPherson) has raised the matter with the Federal Environment Minister in light of the koala’s endangered status. At the state level, MPs Ros Bates, Hermann Vorster and Laura Gerber have all spoken publicly about the need to protect this area.
