Gold Coast Council faces an appeal after it rejected plans for water extraction near Springbrook National Park. 

A legal dispute has arisen over Hoffman Drilling’s request to extract water for bottling purposes in close proximity to a World Heritage-listed national park on the Gold Coast. 

The company had requested permission to extract 16 million litres of water annually from a location on Repeater Station Road near Springbrook National Park. 

However, the Gold Coast City Council rejected the request, prompting the company to file an appeal with the Queensland Planning and Environment Court. The case is scheduled to be heard in Brisbane beginning Monday.

Hoffman Drilling maintains that the area is abundant in groundwater, with recorded annual rainfall in the vicinity exceeding 3,000 millimetres. 

The company argues that the groundwater recharge resulting from this rainfall would have minimal impact on the groundwater system, and points out that the proposed site is situated between two existing bore sites.

However, environmental groups and local residents are challenging the company's proposal. The Australian Rainforest Conservation Society (ARCS), represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, has joined the case to support the council's decision, arguing that water extraction could harm the values of the neighbouring World Heritage site.

ARCS is concerned that the proposed development could decrease water flow into nearby streams, including popular tourist destinations such as Twin Falls and Natural Bridge. 

The group also highlights the presence of critically endangered and threatened plant and animal species, including the smooth scrub turpentine shrub, the ravine orchid, and Albert's lyrebird, within a kilometre of the proposed bore site.

ARCS President Aila Keto says; “The ecosystems of Springbrook National Park and its surrounds are priceless refuges for a whole host of plants and animals, many of which have ancient lineages and exist nowhere else on Earth. Australia and the world are in the midst of an extreme biodiversity crisis, which means we have a duty to protect all these refugia as best we can”. 

The Queensland Government has imposed a moratorium on new commercial groundwater bores drilled on Springbrook and Tamborine Mountain since March 2020. 

The moratorium has been repeatedly extended to enable further research into the effects of water extraction on the ecosystem. 

The government says there is a strong need for data-driven research, which is currently being undertaken by QUT scientists, to ensure that informed decisions are made to manage groundwater resources effectively. 

The moratorium includes exemptions for bores intended for stock and domestic use.

A Gold Coast City Council report from 2020 found that groundwater was “the least understood component” of the city's water supply, with a lack of regulation posing a risk to the sustainable management of water resources and natural systems at Springbrook and downstream. 

Groundwater has been extracted in the area for commercial bottling purposes since the mid-1990s.