Gold Coast Helitours fights bid to shut down operations by Gold Coast City Council
A world-famous Gold Coast helicopter company is fighting a shut down bid over claims that for the past 25 years it has been operating illegally out of its Marina Mirage premises.
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World-famous Gold Coast Helitours, which operates near the site of the Sea World chopper disaster, is fighting moves to shut it down.
Gold Coast City Council on Monday filed an application in the Planning and Environment Court in Brisbane, asking the court to issue an “enforcement order” forcing Gold Coast Leisure Services, trading as Gold Coast Helitours to “cease and not resume using the premises for air services”.
The council also wants the court to declare the use of its launch pad, hangar, refuelling station and cafe is “not a lawful use of the premises”, constituting a development offence.
If the council is successful, the helitours business would have to close its operations at Marina Mirage, Main Beach, where it has operated for 25 years.
The court move comes three months after a mid-air collision between two Sea World joy flight helicopters killed four people and seriously injured seven others. Gold Cost Helitours, nor any related company, was not involved in the mid-air collision or tragedy in any capacity.
The Gold Coast Helitours facilities include a passenger terminal and a servicing area to maintain its fleet of choppers.
The helitours business is squeezed into a busy and tightly packed marina, with surrounding restaurants, offices and a shopping centre.
In its application, the council submits that it has received numerous complaints about the helicopters from “adjoining and nearby residents”, which include high-rise luxury apartments at Main Beach.
The council also cites “continued growth” of the helicopter business, submitting it is “inappropriate” to have a helicopter business operating without any development assessment or controls.
The claim names Gold Coast Helitours owner and pilot Scott Menzies as a respondent.
The council alleges that Mr Menzies has failed to “regularise the helicopter use by obtaining a development permit for material change of use, despite being placed on notice of the requirement to do so by the (council)”.
Gold Coast City Council planning boss Cr Cameron Caldwell said concerns had been raised about “the scale and intensity of the business in recent years”.
“Investigations have resulted in this enforcement action,” he said.
“All businesses have an obligation to ensure they have the proper approvals in place.
“And this is especially so on The Spit because its planning rules are so new and have been subject to such intense consultation.
“While air services are contemplated in the area to support tourism, it is not an automatic right and Council does have an interest in protecting amenity and lifestyle.”
Mr Menzies has previously said his operations were lawful and he has vowed to fight council moves to shut his business down.
In court documents, the council claims that when Gold Coast Helitours began operating at the Marina Mirage site in 1998, it was already in breach of planning laws, as it did not have a development permit and its use “was not a lawful use”.
The application states that company’s helicopter operations “intensified” between 2010 and 2011 with the construction of a large hanger building and additional helipads allowing the company to operate four choppers, and this was also “not a lawful use” because the helipad was assessable development carried out without an effective development permit.
The council claims that 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 also “assessable development without an effective development permit” and so was not a lawful use of the site.
The Courier-Mail has contacted Gold Coast Helitours and Mr Menzies for comment.
No defence has been filed and the case is set for hearing on May 10.
Originally published as Gold Coast Helitours fights bid to shut down operations by Gold Coast City Council
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