Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane blasts Brisbane Roar over claims of unpaid rent
The future of a proposed elite sporting complex on the Gold Coast is in doubt with two national sporting teams at loggerheads over claims of unpaid rent and a $200,000 ratepayer-funded upgrade.
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THE Brisbane Roar and Gold Coast Suns are at loggerheads over claims the A-League side is pulling out of a deal to build a new base at Carrara.
Tony Cochrane, chairman of the Suns AFL club, said the deal to relocate the Brisbane team’s training and operations to the Gold Coast has fallen through and has left his club nearly $60,000 out of pocket in “outstanding rent”.
A furious Mr Cochrane is now demanding the A-League franchise pay back “every single cent”.
“They have completely let us down and it is really poor form,” he said.
“We recognised from day one their proposal was a load of rubbish but we reluctantly went along with it and now we have been left high and dry with a bill for $60,000 and we are not happy to say the least – and that’s me being polite.
“The truth is, we were used and abused … I don’t think they ever intended to shift their whole thing down here.”
However, the Roar dispute Mr Cochrane’s claims, insisting they have made no final decision about the club’s future on the Gold Coast.
“We have made no decision, nor have we made any announcement concerning our training base,” the club said in a statement on Sunday.
“The Gold Coast sports precinct training field is hired on a ‘when used’ basis and is currently not available for a period of two months due to maintenance.
“Unfortunately, due to the maintenance of the football fields and other related venue hire for cricket, there are currently no facilities available for Brisbane Roar to train on at the Gold Coast Sports Precinct.
“In the past, back-up training fields have been rented from the Gold Coast Suns.”
Roar officials confirmed they had received an invoice for $11,280.01 from the Suns earlier this month.
The Roar announced it would relocate its facilities and headquarters to the Gold Coast in late 2020 after a long-running feud with the Logan City Council over an alleged unpaid bills.
The three-time A-League champions had trained at Logan Metro Sports Park between 2018 and late 2020 after the Logan council invested more than $9m into the venue’s upgrade.
But the relationship between the parties soured in October 2020, with the Logan council suing the Roar over alleged unpaid utility bills – mostly water – to the value of $153,714.96.
The Roar were then lured to the city by the Gold Coast City Council offering a “significant” amount of money in incentives for the club to move.
Plans were announced for a giant elite training centre after the council transferred funds from its strategic priority reserve to build the new field.
The Council also spent more than $200,000 upgrading the playing fields for the Roar.
The Bulletin understands none of the incentive funding was ultimately given to the club.
Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said she was disappointed and called for a review of the council’s incentives program in the wake of the dispute.
On Friday evening she lodged a question on notice with council CEO Tim Baker asking for a report on the deal.
“We agreed to provide an elite training ground and we provided an incentive to them to relocate their operations here to the Gold Coast but now it hasn’t worked out,” she said.
“I want answers about how much we actually invested in this.
“I want stronger structures in governance around making allocations of ratepayer’s money in the belief that it will provide something of value.”
Ms Gates said she wanted the city to work in the best interests of all national sporting teams.
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