Council election 2020: Division 10 election signs vandalised with Disney characters
Hundreds of council election signs have been damaged across the Gold Coast and while some candidates want the vandalism to stop, others are giggling.
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MIKE Winlaw noticed something peculiar this morning but unlike his fellow Division 10 candidates he is glad “Chevron Island now has an art gallery”.
Pictures of Donald Duck, Goofy and Sleepy were carefully plastered across council election signs overnight in East Chevron Island.
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“It is quite humorous really,” Mr Winlaw laughed.
“Whoever started this has started a bit of innovative art gallery.
“We could call it Chevron Island’s first art gallery – now we just need funding.”
Hundreds of council election signs have been damaged across the Gold Coast and candidates have been urging a halt to the vandalism and for candidates and supporters to “play a clean game’.
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Mr Winlaw, a Division 10 candidate, was glad he was not Darren Taylor or Adrian Johnston who have been labelled as Mickey Mouse’s friend Goofy and Snow White’s dwarf Sleepy.
“For me Donald represents bringing home the money, looking after Chevron Island and results.
“I do not know what their interpretation was intended to be – but I guess that is what art is.
“If I was a couple of the others I would be concerned, you really wouldn’t want to be Sleepy or Goofy.
“I love them though and I am keeping mine up.”
Peter Hayward, a Chevron Island security guard, said he was a bit “suss” about the candidates who were targeted.
“They just turned up this morning …”
Mr Winlaw said the next three weeks were going to be “tough” fixing up his corflutes, which were often kicked over.
It comes as the Surfers Paradise Alliance CEO revealed his plan to reinvigorate Chevron Island after labelling the Coast’s new Green Bridge a “wasted opportunity”.
The Green Bridge was opened last month as a new pedestrian and cycle bridge linking the suburb with Home of the Arts (HOTA).
Mr Winlaw said he found it “remarkable” council had invested money in the new bridge but “failed to sit down with the local business and residents association”.
“The Green Bridge is an incredible piece of infrastructure but the City has failed to match that investment with a strategic vision for the community with the most to gain from it,” he said.
“Chevron Island should be the gateway to the Green Bridge.
“Instead, it is a paradise lost with local businesses and residents crying out for more support to rebuild a precinct that was once one of the gems of the Gold Coast.
“I am determined to bring business back to Chevron Island and I’ll achieve that by bringing together key stakeholders, including council, to develop a collaborative business plan to revitalise the suburb.”
Chevron Island Business and Residents Association President Geoff Smith said the area had become the “poor cousin” to Surfers Paradise despite sharing a postcode.
“I’ve been pleading with council for two years to provide us with more support and have got nowhere,” he said.
“There is a lot of talk but we desperately need action.”
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