Conserve Agnes Stop Laguna

Image: Paperbark wetland; credit: ACC

Community Letter

to Gladstone Regional Council, Councillors and Qld State Parliamentarians

Agnes Water residents and visitors alike are deeply alarmed about the Laguna Agnes Water housing development and potential damage to our wild places, wildlife, town water supply, Reedy Creek Nature Reserve and the stunning, iconic Paperbark Walk.

The Nature Reserve protects high-value and undamaged Queensland coastal forest that is very rare and threatened as this type of forest has been significantly cleared for development in other places.

This incredibly unique ecosystem holds a special place in our hearts, and we are horrified that Gladstone Regional Council (GRC) are willing to risk damaging the reserve for an unsuitable and unsustainable housing development in a wetland.

This 236 acre Laguna site proposes 44 acres of man-made retention basins, marketed by developers as lakes, and is:

situated within the Great Barrier Reef Wetland Protection Area
upstream of and connects to Reedy Creek Reserve, a Matter of State Environmental Significance for high ecological significance wetland
wildlife habitat (endangered and vulnerable) and protected area (nature refuges)
adjoins to Reedy Creek Reserve which connects to Deepwater National Park and the Deepwater Creek wetland, a nationally important wetland and is one of the least disturbed coastal acid freshwater wetlands in Queensland
likely to impact threatened turtle nesting success due to changes to groundwater aquifers – the groundwater springs cool nesting beaches and sea turtles are one of the most threatened species on the planet, and we must do everything in our power to protect them
likely to impact the newly discovered swamp crayfish species, ONLY found in Reedy Creek Reserve.

The Reedy Creek aquifer is vitally important to the Agnes Water town water supply with GRC extracting up to 500,000 L of water daily to supplement the desalination water. Agnes Water does not have an abundance of fresh water so any risk to the aquifer is unacceptable.

The proposed development of this site raises concerns over changes to the overland stormwater flow. Neighbouring properties are likely to be impacted by these changes.

The community does not believe it is worth risking our unique natural environment including the remarkable Reedy Creek Nature Reserve and our town water supply for inappropriate, unsound development.

A petition was submitted to GRC with 1389 signatures in 2022, this demonstrates clear community opposition to the Laguna Agnes Water development that still exists today.

We are calling on the Gladstone Regional Council to reject the entire development to Conserve Agnes and Stop Laguna.

Act Now to help STOP LAGUNA

Option 1

Write your own personalised letter directly to the decision makers to let them know what a bad idea this project is. We have a list of the desicion makers below…