The Wave: Updated Designs and Draft Environmental Report Released for Public Feedback
The Wave has reached another important milestone, with updated designs released alongside the Draft Public Environment Report (PER) for Stages 1 and 2.
Following extensive community consultation and environmental investigations, the latest updates reveal several design changes aimed at reducing impacts on nearby residents and the surrounding environment.
The release of the Draft PER also gives the community another opportunity to have its say before the report is finalised and submitted for Australian Government assessment.
Community Feedback Shapes Updated Designs
One of the key outcomes from community consultation and the procurement process is a significantly narrower rail corridor in some sections, with construction methods also selected to minimise disruption to the community during the build.
Feedback has helped inform improvements to station access and connectivity, walking and cycling links, landscaping, vegetation, parking and local amenity. Caloundra Station will also feature a more coastal-inspired design.
There have been further refinements to the elevated rail structures near Tweddell Drive, with the viaduct now lower than earlier design concepts and the tallest vegetation expected to sit above the structure. The rail infrastructure has also shifted a further 10 metres west, increasing the distance between the corridor and the closest properties to around 70 metres, with more than half of that distance covered by vegetation.
What Does the Draft PER Cover?
The Draft PER relates to The Wave Stages 1 and 2 (Rail) and forms part of the Australian Government's environmental approval process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
It assesses the project's potential impacts on Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES), drawing on environmental investigations, field surveys, monitoring, laboratory analysis and specialist studies undertaken between 2022 and 2026.
Some of the key findings include:
Threatened ecological communities: The project is expected to have residual significant impacts on three threatened ecological communities, including Coastal Swamp Oak Forest, Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forest and Subtropical Eucalypt Floodplain Forest and Woodland.
Threatened flora: Three threatened plant species are expected to experience significant residual impacts: whipstick wattle, swamp stringybark and native guava.
Threatened fauna: Six threatened fauna species are assessed as likely to experience significant impacts, including the koala, greater glider, swift parrot, wallum sedgefrog, grey-headed flying-fox and south-eastern glossy black-cockatoo.
Wetlands and migratory species: The assessment concludes that significant impacts to the Moreton Bay Ramsar Site are unlikely, and no migratory species were identified as experiencing residual significant impacts.
The report also outlines proposed environmental management measures, including fauna fencing, dedicated fauna crossings, rope bridges, dry underpasses, habitat restoration and water-quality treatment infrastructure.
Environmental offsets will be required to address the project's predicted residual significant impacts. TMR has confirmed it is progressing the assessment and securing of additional offset sites, with a commitment to providing an offset package that meets the project's requirements under the EPBC Act.
As the Draft PER summarises: "Overall, the assessment concludes that most environmental and social impacts can be appropriately avoided, minimised or managed."
Have Your Say
The report is available for public inspection and comment from Wednesday 11 November until 5pm Wednesday 23 December 2026. Feedback received during this period will be considered and addressed in the finalised PER before it is submitted to the National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for assessment.
For those wanting to explore the findings in more detail, the full Draft PER, including its technical studies, supporting reports and proposed environmental management and offset plans, is available through the Queensland Government's project website.
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