Cassowary Coast council says proceedings against Bingil Bay couple dropped

An epic legal battle has finally come to an end, with the full cost to Cassowary Coast ratepayers now on record. FIND OUT HOW MUCH

A SIX-YEAR legal imbroglio that has reportedly cost Cassowary Coast ratepayers $232,820 has come to an end.

Cassowary Coast Mayor Mark Nolan said in a statement on Wednesday a longstanding defamation proceeding initiated by council’s former chief executive James Gott against Bingil Bay couple Paul and Julianne Toogood had come to an end.

He said an application seeking orders for Mr Gott to be granted leave to discontinue the proceeding was granted by Judge Lynham in Townsville’s District Court.

Julianne and Steven Paul Toogood.

Cr Nolan said the application became necessary when Mr and Mrs Toogood did not consent to Mr Gott’s proposal to discontinue the proceeding.

He said council’s legal costs from 2017 to March this year were $232,820 and although council had been awarded costs, nothing had been received.

Council voted late last year to advise Mr Gott that “council had no appetite to continue the indemnification of the matter if there was no prospect to recover costs or damages”.

In a Supreme Court judgment dismissing an application from Mr and Mrs Toogood against council in March 2019 for a variation of an undertaking given to the court in 2018, Justice Soraya Ryan, QC, noted “the parties are embroiled in litigation on several fronts.”

“The trouble started, it seems, when council succeeded against Mrs Toogood for unpaid rates,” she said.

“Not long thereafter, the Toogoods made a complaint to the mayor about the conduct of the deputy mayor in his private capacity on a dating site.”

Former Cassowary Coast Regional Council chief executive James Gott Picture: Arun Singh Mann

She said the Toogoods’ complaint about the deputy mayor was investigated by Mr Gott, who found no evidence of misconduct.

The Toogoods did not accept this and complained to councillors, council staff and others, with correspondence critical of Mr Gott and containing serious allegations about the deputy mayor, Justice Ryan said.

The deputy mayor went to the police about the Toogoods and they were subsequently charged with and convicted of stalking.

Mr Gott brought a defamation action against the Toogoods in 2017.

Mr Gott retired in September 2021 after five years with council and 40 years as a bureaucrat.

The Toogoods launched a counterclaim against Mr Gott but it was dismissed in court and they were ordered to pay costs.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Toogood said “after five long years … the (court) made orders to discontinue the matter.”

“No concerns notice was ever sent and mediation was refused on several occasions,” he said.

Originally published as Cassowary Coast council says proceedings against Bingil Bay couple dropped