GC Helitours wins court case as judge dismisses evidence, questions ‘credibility’ of witness

A high-profile Gold Coast tourism player will continue operating after a court bid to shut it down was dismissed, with the judge questioning the ‘credibility and reliability’ of a key witness.

Main Beach Association president Sue Donovan. Picture Glenn Hampson

The key council witness against a world-famous Gold Coast helicopter tour operator “has a clear animus” against the business and she ran an “organised campaign of complaints” that spurred the council to take action to try to shut down its business, a judge has ruled.

Planning and Environment Court judge Nicole Kefford said she had “serious reservations about” Main Beach Association president Susan Donovan’s “credibility and reliability as a witness”.

In her 134-page decision ruling in favour of Gold Coast Leisure Services, trading as Gold Coast Helitours, and owner and pilot Scott Menzies, Judge Kefford was critical of Ms Donovan’s evidence in the witness box stating: “There are many matters that cause me concern”.

Leader of the Main Beach Association, Sue Donovan, Picture Glenn Hampson

Judge Kefford did not accept Ms Donovan’s evidence that the 2017 addition of a floating two-storey terminal at Gold Coast Helitours triggered a “dramatic” increase in helicopter flights, describing it as speculation.

The Gold Coast council unsuccessfully argued the expansion to six helicopters in 2017-2018, together with the construction of a two-storey cafe and office building and the use of another launch pad area was “assessable development without an effective development permit” and so was not a lawful use of the site.

Ms Donovan said that in December 2022 and January 2023 she spent days watching Helitours’ daily flights from her unit in Main Beach, where she has lived since 1989, and completing an informal survey.

Judge Kefford said that Ms Donovan’s survey evidence was “entirely unscientific” and her evidence about her observations of flights on New Year’s Eve took the matters in issue in the case “essentially nowhere”.

The business operates out of the Mariner’s Cove precinct on the Broadwater. Picture: Sunland Group

“Ms Donovan’s evidence does not advance the council’s case to any meaningful degree. It simply confirms a matter that is not in dispute, namely that there was a Chinese tourism boom on the Gold Coast from around 2017 through to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

“I have serious reservations about Ms Donovan’s opportunity to observe matters that she claims to have witnessed, such as the racial profile and identity of individuals visiting the premises,” she said.

“It was evident from Ms Donovan’s oral testimony that she has a clear animus towards Mr Menzies’ business, yet in her affidavits she portrayed herself as objective observer. She has repeatedly expressed views about the legality, from a town planning perspective, of the use of the premises by Gold Coast Leisure Services Pty Ltd.”

Judge Kefford said she was “not persuaded” by Ms Donovan’s evidence about noise impacts because she “persistently indicated that she had difficulty hearing the questions asked of her” in court.

GC Helicopters owner and pilot Scott Menzies on the Gold Coast.

Ms Donovan was also criticised for evidence she gave of watching construction works at helicopter pad in 2018, when Mr Menzies and reliable photographic evidence contradicted that showing the new passenger terminal was constructed on a site next to SeaWorld and pushed by a boat down the Broadwater, with only the balance of the structure, including the pontoon, constructed in a grassed area next to Mariner’s Cove.

Thursday’s ruling means Mr Menzies will not have to close operations at Marina Mirage at Main Beach, where it has operated for 25 years.

Judge Kefford slammed the council for its sluggish action and ruled from January 1994 until now there was an existing lawful use of the whole of the premises for aircraft services and the use of the premises has never been abandoned or materially changed.

“Even though the use of the premises has persisted for over three decades, no complaint was made about it until March 2019,” Judge Kefford wrote.

She said that the council was only “spurred … to action” by Ms Donovan.

“The council has not persuaded me that the increase in the extent of the built form equates to, or otherwise demonstrates, an increase in the scale or intensity of the use,” Judge Kefford said, referring to the 2017 addition of a floating two-storey terminal.

“Even then, the Council did little to properly investigate the relevant issues. Its conduct was also dilatory. I am not persuaded that the explanation provided by the council for the decades long delay in investigating this matter is adequate in this case given its level of awareness about the use,” she said.

Planning and Environment Court Judge Nicole Kefford. Picture: Dominic Elsome

“Although the council catastrophises about a lack of regulation of the operation: there is no evidence of any problem with the operation; and it is wrong to suggest that the activities on the premises are unregulated as the fuel component is subject to the requirements of an environmental authority,” she said.

She said Mr Menzies’ company must comply with laws banning environmental harm – including that caused by noise or light pollution – and the pilots and aircraft are subject to regulation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

She said his company must manage risk for its workers and anyone impacted by the operations of the business under workplace laws.

“Mr Menzies persuaded me of their good character and (corporate) citizenship. They have strong ties to the community and, over the years, have regularly provided public and community services, without regulatory or safety incident,” she stated.

“To the benefit of the community, these include police services, search and rescue, flood and fire emergency work, the rescue of sick and injured animals and the promotion of tourism on the Gold Coast.”

Mr Menzies said he was relieved the judge had ruled emphatically in his favour after a long and “very difficult” legal battle.

“I am pleased with the decision of the Planning and Environment Court which affirmed my use of the premises and the contribution that my business has made to the Gold Coast community,” he said.

“I would like to thank my legal team and everyone who has assisted me during what has been a very difficult time for myself personally, my family and my business.”