Beach access on Coochiemudlo Island, Queensland, Australia |
Exploring foreshore access and coastal connections in the local area |
Living on Coochie means the beach isn’t just a weekend getaway—it’s our front yard and a core part of daily life. This compact island, just a short ferry trip from Victoria Point, boasts a series of sandy stretches and quiet inlets, making it a magnet for families, walkers, and water sports enthusiasts alike.
Many locals have vivid memories tied to their favourite beach spots, with some recalling summer barbecues, community clean-up days, and barefoot strolls along the shore. Recently, Council has initiated a call for feedback regarding foreshore access across Redlands Coast, including beloved areas like Main Beach and Norfolk Beach on Coochiemudlo.
This conversation comes at a crucial time. We’re all seeing the ongoing erosion firsthand, and we know how delicate the balance is between updating amenities and preserving our untouched stretches. The way locals, day-trippers, and business owners use the foreshore has shifted in recent years, especially with new amenities installed to enhance public enjoyment.
Council is now seeking insights to inform an updated strategy on maintaining, renewing, and potentially expanding assets like pathways, picnic spots, and kayak ramps. As more families move into the area and interest in eco-tourism grows, thoughtful planning around foreshore access is more crucial than ever. Better pathways and clearer signage could certainly help guide visitors toward lesser-known coves and relieve congestion at main entry points—but there must be a careful balance. Any updates need to support our local businesses and island charm while keeping the Heritage Fringe as close to its natural, untouched state as possible.
Residents are encouraged to share how they interact with beaches, and voices are especially sought from younger groups, whose preferences may shape the future of these coastal gems. Community pop-ups, interactive maps, and surveys are now available for everyone to provide practical feedback that could directly spark new coastal connections in coming years. Whether you paddle, fish, stroll, or picnic, your input stands to guide how Coochiemudlo’s shoreline remains a welcoming, sustainable, and cherished piece of Queensland’s coastal identity.
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14 Comments
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Wasn’t there talk last year about extending the bike paths? Still waiting on that! Hope it happens this time.
Love the idea of new pop-up events, especially clean-ups. That really brings folks together and keeps the beaches nice.
Don’t mess too much with the Heritage Fringe, please! The untouched parts are what set Coochie apart from the other islands.
Council needs to show us exactly how our feedback changes anything, not just collect surveys and call it done. Actions > words.
People come to Coochie because it is beautiful and peaceful. It's beauty in large part is due to it's natural state and the relatively small numbers of humans. Every time we add a path, a building, a sign post, an extra 100 visitors, we degrade that beauty. Once upon a time, places like Bribie Island and Surfers Paradise were also naturally beautiful but over time the development made in the name "access and progress" has turned them into crowded suburbs. It is a difficult lesson for humans to adapt themselves to fit the environment rather than to adapt the environment to fit the humans. We don't always have to modify nature. We should change ourselves but for most, this is too difficult. Humans have an appalling track record on this matter. When more animals and plants become extinct and genetic diversity drops rapidly beyond recovery, when our atmosphere becomes more damaged, when the natural rhythms of our ocean currents and rain patterns are so disrupted;, as humans we will experience increased problems with drought and flooding and other environmental impacts caused by the impact of human activity. On a small scale, in the short term, we catch less fiish on our weekends, on a global scale in the long term, we risk massive crop failures and food insecurity that will jeopardise millions. We already see the pollution of the bay caused by hardened surfaces of urban development on the island. Development creates more hard surfaces that in turn cause unprecedented runoff spilling to the sea. Instead of rain being soaked up by sand and soil (as in the past) it runs from our roofs, down our driveways, carparks, roads, paths and gutters; and flushes all the plastic and debris left by the thoughtless, straight into our fish breeding grounds and dugong grazing meadows. This affects the seagrass, the birds, the dugongs, the turtles and all our fauna and flora. We can expect things like worse fishing, rarer sightings of dugongs and dolphins, more turtle deaths, crowded fishing spots and packed beaches. Through ignorance and the desire for forever wanting more, we kill the very things that we love. Will we ever learn?
Glad they’re asking younger people for ideas. My teens use the beaches differently than we ever did, skateboards, paddleboards, jetty jumping, all of it!
I’m all for better access if it means less congestion on weekends! Hope they remember the island vibe and don’t just cater to tourists.
Extra signage would be great, especially for visitors who get lost looking for the wetlands. The info boards for local history are great, although starting to look a bit jaded.
Erosion is a real worry. I hope Council actually budgets for serious protection work, not just more picnic tables. The sand’s disappearing every year!
Our family’s been coming to Coochie for years and the barbecues at Main Beach are always a highlight. Would hate to see it get too crowded if more stuff gets added, but I know more folks are discovering it now.
We walk Main Beach every morning and the concrete pathways have made it easier for my mum with her walker. I do wish they wouldn’t overdo it though. Still want to feel like it’s a quiet island, not a mini city!
Parking at Victoria Point is a major issue since the sharp raise in permanent residents since Covid, plus the new units at the point and further development on the island. Council has to recognise that the parking plights of the other SMBI have been addressed yet nothing has improved for Coochie residents in over a decade. Many of the islands residents work full time which does not allow for public transport use. Council is happy to take our rates paid at the same rate as mainlanders yet with minimal facilities services.
Parking is a very big problem for all of us that live on Coochimundlo Island. My son has to park all the way up Colburn Ave late at night when he comes back home. I am worried about his safety as well.. please this is a BIG problem. The parking is Terrible and we are all getting fined all the time.. my son got another fine as he was parked on the grass for too long.. $172 .. its ridiculous.. There is space around that can be easily transformed into parking.. we cant carry on.. our rates have also been increased and we seem to be just paying for fines all the time to add to things as well.. The council has no fear at all..
Parking is a Hugh issue. The park on the left hand side of Colburn Ave is very underused and more parking could be added there. This would still leave ample park area. This would make the island more usable for many more people.