Police called to GCB Constructions site of Drift Main Beach as site huts and branding are stripped
Staff at an under-fire building giant have been stripping company signage and property from a key Gold Coast development site, a day after the boss vowed ‘we’re viable’. VIDEO
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GCB Constructions staff have been seen stripping the company’s signage from a key Gold Coast development site, a day after managing director Trent Clark described it as a “long-term, viable business”.
Tensions reached boiling point at GCB’s Drift development at Main Beach, with police being called on Monday after an argument between a worker and a subcontractor became heated.
Workers in GCB shirts and trucks were seen removing equipment and GCB branding from the Drift site on Thursday and Friday.
A day earlier, developers said they would take over construction of another GCB site, the $160m Amaya Broadbeach tower.
Concerns have simmered over the financial stability of GCB Constructions since subcontractors downed tools on Friday, saying they hadn’t been paid.
Despite off-the-plan buyers of more than 500 apartments being in limbo across six residential towers, GCB boss Mr Clark maintained his company was viable.
The drama comes amid revelations the company is in a multimillion-dollar standoff with a developer and financier over the 30-storey Drift tower.
Industry sources say GCB claims it is owed millions for its work on the GDI Group’s project - a claim the developer has denied.
GDI managing director Dean Gallagher said there was “no funding dispute in respect of the Drift project as far as we are concerned”.
“We do not believe that any payment is due to GCB. We remain committed to the project.”
The Bulletin has contacted Mr Clark for comment.
Apartments in the project were still being advertised for sale on Friday.
A nearby resident said GCB workers removed lunch room items including a microwave and fridge, computers, filing cabinets, a photocopier and other office supplies and safety gear.
The resident said another worker in a GCB shirt used a bolt cutter and angle grinder to access another site hut and retrieve signs and paperwork.
A large crane was seen removing three site sheds, a water tank and power generator on Friday morning, with workers also craning out site huts, a tool shed and several palettes of steel, wood and other building supplies. GCB signage was also removed, leaving the site nothing but a bare slab and a lonely portaloo by Friday lunchtime.
GCB’s erasure from the Drift site followed a drama on Monday when a subcontractor for a security company turned up to collect their property and was involved in an argument with a worker.
Police confirmed they attended the site “in relation to a dispute over equipment at a building site”, but no further action was needed and no charges were laid.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Clark said GCB was “one of the Gold Coast’s leading construction companies”.
“GCB Constructions retains the ongoing support of its developers and funders,” he said.
“GCB Constructions is a long-term, viable business, with a solid history of performance in the local construction industry.”
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