Ex-billionaire’s Gold Coast property turned vandal haven
An ex-Japanese billionaire’s Gold Coast playground has turned into a magnet for thieves stripping the property and vagrants “off their faces” disturbing neighbours.
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AN ex-Japanese billionaire’s Gold Coast playground has turned into a magnet for thieves stripping the property and vagrants “off their faces” disturbing neighbours.
Neighbour Tony Burchill says crooks frequently come onto his property after ransacking The Villa next door, a 22-hectare property owned by Japanese billionaire Toshiaki Ogasawara and now held by Pointcorp.
Mr Burchill says the situation is so bad his 10-year-old daughter is too scared to sleep in her own room.
He claimed Pointcorp which had bought it in 2018 had failed to secure the property which shares a driveway with his own. The company had plans for a $220 million lifestyle community with 296 terrace homes to be called Riverina Gold Coast.
“We have seen druggies off their faces walking through our property,” Mr Burchill said.
“We have had to grab people who have been off their t---, put them in the car and escort them off the property.
“We want them (Pointcorp) to knock everything down. The first thing is to secure the property so people cannot access it.”
He had called police up to 20 times since March 2019 but the situation had gone unresolved, he said, adding thieves tried to ram his car at one point when he blocked the road.
Pointcorp director Chris Vitale said they had “spent a fortune” trying to secure The Villa from trespassers.
It had 24/7 security from Border Security who visited the site four times a day, Mr Vitale said.
Mr Vitale said he sympathised with Mr Burchill, but had done everything he could do to stop people coming on to the property.
“The property is fully-fenced, it has security cameras. It is about to be demolished, we are about to start construction.”
He said the buildings on the site, seven in total including the mansion, would be demolished on June 10.
The Villa was developed by the late Toshiaki Ogasawara in the 1980s.
The grand mansion alone cost $11 million to build in 1989.
Mr Ogasawara would hit golf balls from a driving range outside his mansion’s first-floor bedroom and the property was home for several years to a private golf club where fees were $7500 a year.
After Mr Ogasawara’s death in 2016 the property was sold to Pointcorp.
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