This first campaign, fought in partnership with the Springbrook/Wunburra Association, successfully opposed the development of a golf course adjacent to the National Park and at the headwaters of the Gold Coast water supply. The proposed golf course land was purchased by the State Government and became known as The Settlement. A long six-year battle ensued to prevent its exploitation from any number of proposed commercial enterprises, some quite strange such as a cemetery. Finally, The Settlement became part of the National Park and a portion is used as a camping area for visitors to the Park.
It was the forerunner of many more campaigns in that special place that Gecko has fought, always in partnership with other local conservation organisations. The most important, and first of the really major campaigns for Gecko, was to prevent the construction of a cableway through the heart of the National Park and fire-prone bushland.