Most controversial Gold Coast City Council decisions: The inside story of how they unfolded
It’s a tough gig running a city – there’s inevitably going to be some opposition. These are the dramatic calls that rocked the city. READ THE FULL LIST
Gold Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Gold Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IT’S a tough gig running the second largest local government in the country – no matter the decision, there’s almost inevitably going to be some degree of impact and opposition.
From the notorious Pacific Motorway (M1) lights display to the light rail and a divisive cruise ship terminal, these are the Gold Coast City Council’s decisions we’re still debating.
YATALA LIGHTS
Designed by New York-based LOT-EK artists Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, the Yatala M1 project dubbed HI-LIGHTS was envisioned as an icon on par with the famed Welcome to Las Vegas and Hollywood signs.
MORE NEWS
Artesian Hospitality to run former Helm bar in Surfers Paradise on Gold Coast
Best places to holiday on the Gold Coast: Ultimate getaways in the region
Instead, the $2.1 million installation measuring 11m tall and 100m in length put in place ahead of the Commonwealth Games has copped continual criticism and ridicule from the Gold Coast community, who have branded the lights “ridiculous” and “a waste of money”.
Slacks Creek resident Tamara Williams noted in January 2019 “you can’t even read the signs if you’re driving on the highway”.
“To me it just looked like a whole bunch of lit up poles sitting in a slab of cement in the median strip,” she said.
Mayor Tom Tate admitted in 2018 he was not pleased with how the lights turned out.
“Gold Coasters are absolutely slamming this one, and I have to say I’m probably one of them,” he said.
There was suggestions in 2019 that Gold Coast City Council would remove the lights.
In response, Ms Tolla told the Bulletin: “This is a real insult.”
“The installation is completely site-specific – from the words Gold Coast to the setting and movement of the letters, the sculpture follows and adapts to the highway constraints and regulations,” she said.
The contentious display remains in place today.
OCEAN POOLS
The push for Ocean Pools in the city came to a shuddering halt in early February, when the eye-watering cost of the plan emerged and councillors knocked the idea on the head.
An officer’s report to the council found just one pool would cost $10 million to build and need $200,000 in annual maintenance.
MORE NEWS
Gold Coast: Fire at Alpha Sovereign Hotel in Surfers Paradise
Kirra Beach Hotel development latest to transform Gold Coast
A pool would only last 20 years and $2 million in refurbishment costs would be required.
Businessman Bily James had led a group including paralympic gold medallist Katie Kelly backing a plan for up 15 pools dotted along the city’s coastline, which attracted the backing of former LNP MP and tourism minister Jann Stuckey.
Councillor William Owen-Jones said it was easy to get excited about ocean pools.
“But clearly the report prepared to us today (shows) the Gold Coast is a different geographic layout of beaches to what Sydney in particular has in regards to its headlands,” he said.
Some Bulletin readers threw their support behind the push, while others slammed the idea as costly and pointless considering existing swimming spots like Tallebudgera Creek.
CRUISE SHIP TERMINAL
Mayor Tom Tate‘s divisive plans for an offshore cruise ship terminal off the city remain in limbo, but he has shown no sign of backing away from the project.
In October last year, Cr Tate said the project was still a possibility, but had been mothballed while the overall impact of COVID-19 on the cruise industry was unclear.
It’s likely any terminal would be constructed off Philip Park at The Spit and an Oceanside Cruise Ship Terminal (OCST) feasibility study has been completed.
The flagged $650 million terminal was reportedly “in a holding pattern” while the State Government worked on the The Spit Master Plan.
It would require a detailed environmental impact statement to proceed.
Previously, Cr Tate called on the State Government to chip in towards the costly terminal.
He also flagged it would not go ahead if it was not environmentally sound and the terminal would be “built and operated by a private consortium”.
In August last year, Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick raised doubts about whether the terminal would ever come to fruition.
“It’s very hard, particularly for people to travel internationally. That’s just the truth at the moment, so we just have to see how it stacks up,” he said.
“It would need to stack up economically and environmentally, in particular, for it to proceed.”
Mr Dick said a final decision on the project would be made by the Queensland Coordinator-General within 12-18 months.
The Save our Spit environmental group has strongly opposed a terminal, as have individual environmentalists and members of the community.
They have criticised the terminal as unlikely to be a popular stopover, raised concerns over environmental damage and opposed the use of public land in such a way.
The city began investigating a terminal in 2012.
SPRUCING UP SURFERS
The council raised eyebrows late last year when it decided to keep Paradise Centre shopping strip in the private hands of Challenger Group, rather than reclaim public ownership as part of plans to revitalise ailing Surfers Paradise.
The rundown shops have been highlighted as one part of Surfers which needs an overhaul, but new area councillor Darren Taylor has been working on a plan to revamp and revitalise the whole of the suburb.
MORE NEWS
VOTING CLOSED: Who has the Best Pizza in Gold Coast
Alfred Maurice John Coulstock beats up Uber driver after a request to hurry up
Gold Coast CEO’s family links to water mining near national park
Empty shops litter Surfers and stabbings, balcony falls and other negative occurrences continue to impact the holiday destination’s reputation.
Even Mayor Tom Tate has taken aim at the suburb, once the jewel in the crown of the city’s tourism offering.
He said late last year Surfers’ heart was “rotten” and a revamp of the area proposed at the time would “get the heart beating again”.
FULL DIGITAL ACCESS: JUST $1 FOR FIRST 28 DAYS
“It is the heart of our tourism offering but this heart is rotten to the core and we all see this deal in front of us for the betterment of tour city, so the opportunity is there to make Surfers Paradise pump again,” he said.
Bulletin readers have mostly backed the need to refurbish Surfers and have described the suburb as dated, rundown and dangerous.
BEACH CLUBS
A new push to build beach clubs on private land was met with fiery opposition by leading Coast environmental group GECKO last month.
GECKO Environment Council founder Lois Levy said the idea was essentially “the same old (land) grab” and approving such a beach club would set a dangerous precedent.
“This beach bar idea is the same old grab by some business entity wanting the use of public open space for his own commercial benefit,” she said.
“A temporary permit would soon become permanent and set a precedent for other undesirable activities on our beautiful public beaches.
“We need to draw a line in the sand.”
However, business and political leaders backed the council’s renewed pitch for State Government approval to take a restaurant and bar facility to tender.
Nearly 70 per cent of those surveyed by the Bulletin backed a beach club, while 81 of Gecko’s respondents were in opposition.
Mayor Tom Tate said he wanted the government to take advantage of rarely used “call in” powers to bypass bureaucratic “red tape” and allow a club pitched by the council.
“I did that with Jewel (towers). There was a lot of jumping up and down and I asked for that to be called in and we went on with confidence,” he said.
It came as Star Entertainment Group and events guru Billy Cross revealed they would tender for the beachside attraction.
Potential locations include Broadbeach’s Kurrawa/Pratten Parklands and the sand in front of the Sheraton Mirage at Main Beach.
BLACK SWAN LAKE
The long-running and bitter battle for Black Swan Lake finally came to an end in September last year when the council voted to save the Bundall site as a permanent body of water.
Previously, the council approved filling the lake to provide carparking for Gold Coast Turf Club, but in a surprise move the council voted to save the remaining 20 per cent of the lake.
In the end, only Mayor Tom Tate voted against saving the lake.
Councillor Peter Young said at the time: “I think we are all faced with a very difficult challenge here where was a very beautiful water body which was clearly not intended to become a habitat for a wild variety of wildlife.”
“It has been recognised as a significant urban environmental asset by the community and valued by them, and fought for by them. Nothing is perfect about this solution before us. The objective is to try to achieve a compromise whereby we have the challenge of current circumstance which is clearly untenable,” he said.
Council CEO Dale Dickson told councillors a decision had to be made to either fill in the lake or turn it into a compliant water body.
MORE NEWS
Gold Coast: Average wages across the city revealed in new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data
Gold Coast beaches fail to make top five in Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) annual rankings
First look: New designs showcase how Gold Coast railway station will look
The council flagged a cost of between $600,000 and $1.5 million.
Readers were split about whether the lake should have been saved.
Sarah Morrison said in September last year: “So many species of wildlife are thriving with what is left, it should have been left alone. No more destruction of environment and wildlife.
While many agreed, some opposed using ratepayer funds to save “dead fake lake”.
DALE DICKSON
Council’s CEO Dale Dickson has been replaced in the city’s top job by tourism identity David Edwards, who will enjoy a salary of more than $600,000.
Some readers expressed concerns the ousting of Mr Dickson would see the council take an approach more favourable to development.
But Mayor Tom Tate said he believed Mr Edwards would be a chief executive who “listens to the wider community” and “delivers the elective wing’s wishes”.
Peter Young was the only councillor who did not endorse the new appointment.
“Basically I don’t think there was any need to replace Dale,” he said outside the chambers.
“He’s an exceptional administrator who has a depth of knowledge about the city that can only be acquired over a period of his service.
“And that has enormous value to the community and the elected councillors.
“I feel that Dale has always conducted himself with very strong ethics, and think he’s carefully avoided entering into the political sphere. He did not politicise his position.”
Mr Dickson, who received unanimous support when his contract was renewed back in 2017, was cleared by the Crime and Corruption Commission of corrupt conduct last month.
A complaint had been made by Cr Tate’s media advisor Warwick Sinclair.
LIGHT RAIL
The light rail’s path down the Gold Coast seemingly cannot be halted, despite a degree of vocal opposition.
Construction on Stage 3 of the G:link between Broadbeach and Burleigh is underway, but some fear the $709 million extension will take up parking spots, reduce access to businesses and increase criminal activity in southern suburbs.
Vocal community groups have also expressed concerns the light rail will lead to overdevelopment along its tracks and result in an eventual “Gotham by the Sea”.
Some have suggested using electric buses rather than extending the light rail.
The concerns have been rubbished by supporters, however, including Mayor Tom Tate, who has continually thrown his support behind G:link and largely dismissed resident concerns.
The State Government and businesspeople have also defended the light rail as a key part of the city’s growth strategy going forward and a necessity to service a growing population.
In 2019, Cr Tate said: “Numerous Gold Coast leaders are behind the project, as are peak planning, development and transport experts.”
“We are Australia’s number one tourism destination and light rail direct to the airport is essential. It will mean less cars on the roads, increased property prices, increased rates and an economic upside for all levels of government,” he said.
Palm Beach resident Karen Rowles has been a particularly active opponent of the light rail.
She previously accused the council of using the light rail as an excuse to ramp up high-rise development and building density at the cost of the “village feel” of southern suburbs.
CITY PLAN
The council’s attempts to manage the Gold Coast’s continuous and ballooning population growth and its City Plan have been heavily criticised by some.
The State Government’s Shaping SEQ plan requires the council to accommodate 158,000 more dwellings by 2041 as the population is forecast to increase by 350,000.
MORE NEWS
Travel: Virgin Australia launches half price flash sale on tickets
Teens charged following Gold Coast cafe One Little Tree broken into two times in three days
Gold Coast chief lifeguard Warren Young retires after decades watching over the city’s beaches
It puts the council in a tough position – no matter what, the city has to make room for new arrivals.
The council planned for growth in targeted suburbs like Biggera Waters, Southport West and Labrador, but was forced to revise forecasts after a backlash from residents.
Last month, the council unanimously approved City Plan changes at a planning committee meeting, slashing growth targets in the suburbs by 41 per cent.
Residents and community group leaders have also demanded more thorough consultation on City Plan changes regarding building heights and the light rail route.
In recent days, it was revealed a new state government taskforce was expected to investigate transforming the city’s northern cane fields into towns to ease pressure on established suburbs.
The taskforce would run in conjunction with a council strategy to target southern suburbs including Coolangatta, Bilinga, Kirra, and Palm Beach for high-density development.
FIREFIGHTER FUNDING
The Coast’s rural firefighting brigades were up in arms when the council decided to stop collecting a $2 annual levy from ratepayers, which raises about $274,000 each year.
The State Government manages the emergency fire levy across Queensland, but funds are collected by councils, who do not provide operational funding to rural brigades.
Eventually, the council determined it would continue collecting the levy amid a stoush with the government.
“In recent years, we have asked all Gold Coasters to pay $2 a year from their rates to fund these community heroes,” Mayor Tom Tate said.
“We did this in what we thought would be an interim measure until the State Government realised the importance of the rural fire brigades, and sufficiently funded them through their own levy.
“Sadly, that hasn’t been the case and the State have washed their hands of the volunteers, leaving us with little choice but to continue with our annual $2 levy.”
Gold Coast Rural Fire Brigade Group officer Samuel Eitz said in August last year the decision took the region’s 15 volunteer brigades by surprise after a harrowing fire season.
“We don’t have any commitment that there is funding coming from anywhere else so this is a lot to us,” he said.
“This money goes toward things like electricity bills, building maintenance and other items for the station.”
Mr Eitz said brigades should not be left in the lurch while local and state bodies negotiated.
Originally published as Most controversial Gold Coast City Council decisions: The inside story of how they unfolded
Premier’s response to alarming police survey
Premier Steven Miles has defended his government’s record in supporting Queensland police after a survey of officers showing discontent in the ranks.
Revealed: Controversial aspect that could be returning to GC500
With the highly anticipated GC500 race weekend hitting the track tomorrow, the controversial grid girls may be making a return. See how.