Why new servo could change the face of Gold Coast suburb Mermaid Beach after fight for land

The co-founder of a petrol station chain has paid $5 million for property in Mermaid Beach — less than three years after a Gold Coast housewife won a court battle to stop a 24-hour bowser being built next door to her family’s beach shack. READ THE FULL SAGA

THE co-founder of a petrol station chain has paid $5 million for property in Mermaid Beach — less than three years after a Gold Coast housewife won a court battle to stop a 24-hour bowser being built next door to her family’s beach shack.

Companies associated with Melbourne billionaire Eddie Hirsch, the co-founder of United Petroleum, paid $1.34 million for the Cheesecake Shop store at 2368 Gold Coast Highway and $3.8 million for the Mandarin Court Chinese restaurant building at No. 2374.

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Mermaid Beach may get a new petrol station after companies owned by United Petroleum co-founder Eddie Hirsch bought two properties on the western side of the Gold Coast Highway hosting the Cheesecake Shop and Mandarin Court. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

The shops remain open and the owners have given no indication they are planning to close.

The two properties on the western side of the highway offer a combined site of 2089sq m and are located south of the Barry Morris-owned Mermaid Plaza, which Mr Morris is planning to redevelop.

Classic Aussie film The Castle, featuring a David and Goliath battle, could be about to be played out on the Gold Coast. Picture: Roadshow

Lachlan Harris and Chris Fort, of Avanti Commercial, negotiated both deals but yesterday declined to comment.

The change of ownership comes nearly two-and-a-half years after Gold Coast housewife Edwina Roberts won a court battle against United putting a 24-hour service station next door to her family’s beach shack on the eastern side of the highway.

Ms Roberts fought a three-year battle to get United to abandon its plans.

In June, 2017 – months before the court win – Ms Roberts channelled The Castle’s Darryl Kerrigan and said she would not back down in the face of a large corporation.

Edwina and Shaun Roberts with sons Finn and Ryan in 2017. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

“It’s the vibe of the thing, but it’s more than that,” she said.

“They have deep pockets and I am just a housewife. The petrol fumes and the health issues, it just makes me sick.”

The battle culminated in victory in February 2018 when the Planning and Environment Court rejected the service station giant’s appeal against a decision by the Gold Coast City Council to disallow the project.

United has been contacted for comment.