Clive Palmer: Coolum golf resort villa owners overpower businessman

A standoff between Palmer and owners at his Sunshine Coast resort is set for a breakthrough.

Villa owner Chris Shannon at the Palmer Coolum Resort. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

A four-year standoff between Clive Palmer and villa owners at his mothballed Sunshine Coast ­resort is set for a breakthrough, with a new powerline enabling some of the owners to return or sell their units.

The timeshare holders, who invested up to $100,000 for part shares in the villas, have been waging a war with Mr Palmer since the once glittering resort was shut in 2015.

Some owners say they have been prevented from accessing their apartments, and water and electricity, which is controlled by the resort, has been cut, leaving the villas “unsellable”.

But the investors, mostly retirees, have installed a separate powerline to the villas, meaning they can live in them or sell them, ending their four-year nightmare.

While the new 200m, $120,000 line will power 30 villas near the resort’s golf course — once rated the top course in Australia — the 64 villas in the tennis complex section remain without electricity.

Villa owner Chris Shannon said the new line was expected to be switched on by Friday.

Mr Shannon said a handful of owners said they wanted to sell their villas once the power was connected. “It gives owners an ability to sell and there’s an opportunity for investors to buy at a very affordable price for a two-bedroom property,” he said.

Mr Shannon said the investors who owned villas in the tennis complex were unable to install a separate powerline because Mr Palmer had a controlling interest in the body corporate.

The resort has at times fallen into disrepair, with photographs showing pools filled with filthy green water, gardens overgrown and buildings appearing shabby.

But Mr Palmer claimed in May that the resort was kept in “tip-top” condition and that unit ­owners had access to their investments.

Businessman Clive Palmer. Picture: AAP

The golf course at the resort ­remains fully operational.

About 50 of the 82 villas near the golf club, which remains open, already have access to electricity.

Mr Shannon said villa owners whose dwellings have no power have struggled to keep the units in good condition.

Several timeshare owners have continued to visit the units, even without power.

Mr Shannon, who owns a villa in the tennis section, said he had visited several times and described the experience as “glamping”.

“You basically camp in them with lamps and water,” he said.

“It’s a bit like glamping I suppose, but it’s just not the way it should be.”

In 2011 Mr Palmer bought the luxurious Hyatt Regency resort that hosted the flagship golf tournament the Australian PGA Championship.

But the rebranded Palmer Coolum Resort had a massive slump in visitors and was closed in March 2015, with 600 staff losing­ their jobs.

The Australian Securities & ­Investments Commission last year charged Mr Palmer in relation to a failed takeover of the ­resort’s timeshare scheme.

The watchdog accused him of breaching corporate law by announcing, through his company Palmer Leisure Coolum, a bid to take over the President’s Club but failing to make an offer within the legislated two-month period.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and fines of $11,000.