Gold Coast development: Controversial $100m Runaway Bay luxury tower rejected by council

A controversial $100m luxury tower 'no wider than the length of a cricket pitch' has been knocked back, setting the stage for a major legal battle.

A $100m luxury tower has been knocked back by the Gold Coast City Council, setting the stage for another legal battle.

The developers behind the proposed 34-storey Belvue tower at Runaway Bay have vowed to take the council to the Planning and Environment Court over the decision, which found the high-rise did not comply with the City Plan.

Monaco Property Group said in a statement it was “disappointed” by the decision.

“After long and productive discussions with council assessment officers, we are disappointed and perplexed with the decision made by council to reject a code assessable application” said a spokesman from Monaco Property Group.

“We disagree with the decision, and we will immediately lodge an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court.”

A development application for the Bayview St project, which would have been the first built since the 1980s, was lodged in October 2021.

Roland Pavoni and Kevan Wolfe of the Runaway Bay Action Group at the site of a proposed tower. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The “resort-style” tower was planned to have 31 units, each 323sq m, and three detached villas on the 3115sq m site., which was described by critics as being too small.

Area councillor and city planning boss Cameron Caldwell said there were “significant” issues with the tower.

“I was satisfied that a refusal was the appropriate outcome based on the assessment and supported that decision being issued,” he said.

“The community made their feelings known, and the genuine planning concerns raised have been validated in council’s decision.

“This was clearly not the right development for this location.”

Artist impression of Belvue tower which council has knocked back.

Runaway Bay Action Group chairman Kevan Wolfe welcomed council’s decision.

“It has been an anxious wait for the council decision,” he said.

“The 1200 owners who live in the Runaway Bay tower complex have expressed their relief and appreciation at the council’s decision.

“The proposed tower would have impacted so many people’s lives, many of them retired couples.”

Coast residents vow to fight $100m luxury tower

FURIOUS Runaway Bay residents have vowed to fight a $100m luxury residential tower they fear will be “shoe-horned” into their waterfront suburb.

More than 500 people have signed up to the Runaway Bay Action Group to oppose Belvue, a 34-storey tower proposed for a Bayview St site by developers Monaco Property Group and Polites Property Group.

The developers says the tower, inspired by US resort town Palm Springs, will revitalise the suburb.But residents group chairman Kevan Wolfe, said it was “completely inappropriate” for a tower of that size to be built on a site which is just 20.1m wide.

“This will completely change the aspect of amenities residents have enjoyed for so long and should expect to continue in the future,” he said.

“The shape and design of the proposed tower does not fit the local character of Runaway Bay and will be shoe-horned into a narrow space barely more than a cricket pitch in width.

“Contrary to the developers’ claims that ‘the time has come for the reinvigoration of Runaway Bay as one of the Gold Coast’s premier waterfront residential addresses’ (we believe) it already is and doesn’t need a “US Palm Springs-inspired resort.” 

A development application for the Bayview St project was lodged with the Gold Coast City Council on October 20.

It will be the first residential complex to be built since the first crop of high-rises, such as the Broadwater and Bayview towers, went up in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The “resort-style” tower will have 31 units, each 323sq m, and three detached villas on the 3115sq m site. 

Each unit will have either three or four-bedrooms.

City planning boss Cr Cameron Caldwell said the concerns of residents would be taken into consideration during council’s assessment process in coming months.

Monaco boss Jonathan Grasso said he hoped to transform the Runaway Bay site into “one of the Gold Coast’s quietest and most exclusive Broadwater enclaves”.

“Our team has spent a lot of time designing and curating what we believe will be a highly unique luxurious residential offering for this pristine part of the Coast,” he said.

The site of the proposed tower. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Schoolies could stop tomorrow and nothing would change - October 27 

FORMER Surfers Paradise nightlife supremo turned festivals promoter Billy Cross has hit back at Schoolies critics, saying the event is “integral” to the identity of the tourism hub.

The Cross Promotions co-owner who looks after beachfront concerts during Schoolies said he was “sick to death” of the negativity surrounding the rite of passage celebations.

“I’m tired of the same people each year having a whinge about Schoolies with the same negative comments,” he said.

“Let’s embrace it – Schoolies has been synonymous with the Gold Coast for over three decades.

“What the critics seem to easily forget is that Surfers Paradise will always be a party and entertainment destination.

“It annoys me that individuals – probably for their own personal gain – have to speak out against the event.”

Mr Cross said the police, state government and Schoolies officials should get a “pat on the back” for all their hard work.

“The safety response has improved drastically every year and it’s a credit to the police and volunteers who pour everything they can into keeping these kids as safe as possible.”

Billy Cross. Picture: Glenn Hampson

While Cross Promotions won’t be holding one of their iconic beach parties this Schoolies due to border restrictions and reduced visitor numbers, a one-day festival is planned at The Spit.

Mr Cross said this year’s Schoolies needed to go ahead in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“After everything local businesses and the accommodation sector has endured this year, it’s vital that we show them a little love – they have been struggling for so long,” he said.

“It’s incredibly unfair to even think about reconsidering the future event as it’s an extremely important contributor to the Gold Coast economy.”

‘Iconic’ Schoolies beach party. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Division 10 councillor Darren Taylor echoed Mr Cross’s sentiments, adding there were only

“two ways” the future of Schoolies could go.

“We could stop it (Schoolies) tomorrow and nothing would change.

“These are smart, young adults who have completed 12 to 13 years of schooling and deserve every chance to celebrate such a milestone.

“We can go back to the eighties or nineties when Schoolies was uncontrolled and unsupervised or continue the festival the way it is run now – safe, controlled and supported by several organisations at a community level right up through government.

“You will never be able to stop school leavers from visiting, booking accommodation or coming to Surfers Paradise.

“The negatives far outweigh the positives if we were to ban the event completely. The ongoing economic benefit to our city has always been clear.”

Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said Schoolies would be welcomed back to the city after last year’s festival was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The class of 2021 had been “to hell and back” finishing their senior schooling during the pandemic, she said.

“It’s been a really tough couple of years for this cohort and they deserve to celebrate,” she said.

‘Only a matter of time before an idiot kid burns a building down’

NEXT month’s Schoolies festival has been hit by mass cancellations as the border remains shut – and a prominent local has called to lock the celebrating teens out permanently.

Body corporate executive, long-time Surfers Paradise resident and vocal Schoolies critic George Friend says now is the time for a radical rethink of the rite of passage festival as it faces another year of Covid-19 turmoil.

“While we’ve seen our fair share of Schoolies chaos in previous years, it’s only a matter of time before one of these idiot (kids) torch an entire apartment building to the ground,” he said.

“Just because it was cancelled in 2020 and may be quieter this year doesn’t mean there will be a curb on peer-pressure, gang attitude and mob mentality – all resulting in shocking incidents of violence and stupidity.

“It’s an ongoing story to see the same antics each year and the damage done will forever be a cost to local residents and the city.”

Surfers Paradise businessman George Friend.

Mr Friend slammed irresponsible parents and Schoolies officials as “clueless”.

“In what right mind would you leave a teenager alone for seven nights, unfettered – with ample access to drugs and alcohol?” he said.

“Many (kids) aren’t equipped with the decision-making abilities and common sense to avoid these situations. The ones that do usually aren’t attending.

“Parents continually fail to understand the accommodation is mixed residential, not a five-star hotel - with all sorts of unsavory types - potentially exposing their children to prostitutes, pedophiles, drug runners and other scumbags living in the area.”

Mr Friend said the state government – which organises a safety response for Schoolies – reneged on a promise to involve him in a comprehensive review of Schoolies in 2017.

“How can we make a definitive plan for the future of this event if people in government aren’t keeping promises,” he said.

“The event needs to be seriously looked at and reconsidered if it’s going to continue, and I’m sure I’m not alone in the way I feel.”

Police detain a man on Surfers Paradise Boulevard during Schoolies celebrations on the Gold Coast. Picture Glenn Hampson

Schoolies.com CEO Matt Lloyd said the event was crucial to the Gold Coast economy and while week one Queensland bookings were at pre-pandemic levels, interstate bookings had dried up due to border uncertainty.

The Queensland border isn’t scheduled to reopen to double vaccinated interstate travellers until December 17 when 80 per cent of the Gold Coast is expected to be double jabbed.

“In a normal year, Schoolies injects approximately $60m into the Gold Coast economy over a two-week period and fills beds that would otherwise be empty,” he said.

“Marketing teams from tourist destinations the world over are constantly trying to work out how to attract the youth market to their destinations.

“The theory is, if they come once and enjoy themselves, they will return time and time again.

“With students choosing the Gold Coast for their schoolies holiday, we have solved the first-time customer puzzle.

“We should welcome Schoolies to the Gold Coast and make sure they enjoy their stay so the Gold Coast is top of mind for their future holidays over the next 60 years.”

After the state government scrapped last year’s Schoolies due to Covid-19, Mayor Tom Tate suggested school leavers could hold parties over Zoom.

They instead flocked to Noosa, angering many locals in the trendy resort town who called the influx “a nightmare”.

School-leavers party at Surfers Paradise on the opening weekend of schoolies celebrations. Picture: Schoolies.com

Mr Lloyd, whose Schoolies.com arranges holiday bookings for tens of thousands of schoolies annually and has done for 30 years, said he was anticipating pre-Covid-19 visitor levels for Queensland-based students.

“For week one, we are expecting the numbers to be in-line with figures from 2019,” he said.

“Due to uncertainty around borders, we have seen most interstate bookings cancelled or transferred to other destinations.”

“The Gold Coast is and always has been the major destination for Schoolies.”

Originally published as Gold Coast development: Controversial $100m Runaway Bay luxury tower rejected by council