artist,
You can be the best surfer, diver,
I will be listening
I’m happy for you, but
re of
to the people that matter ... It’s mo
the
an issue for high-profile people like
they’re
CEO of a cruise ship company ...
I’m worried
the high-profile people
about.” - Mayor Tom Tate
indicate large ships can never safely enter
the area and it’s becoming more apparent as
time ticks over that cruise ships might not have
been anything to do with the plan all along.
Despite the obvious losses of public land and
waterways, the proposal involves some serious
perpetual dredging, very real and significant
environmental risks and accessibility restrictions,
which would have a significantly detrimental
effect on the world class South Straddie surf
break and seaway dive site. More recently Tom
has pushed to take Kirra Big Groyne and fence
it up into a private helipad for affluent aviators
to land their whirly birds on. But hey, he re-built
the groyne, so he must own the rights to it, right?
According to the many newspaper reports,
these are just some of the public-space attempts
that Tom has spearheaded or suggested • Massive 75+ hectare foreign owned casino,
hotel, residential and cruise terminal suburb
development consuming the public areas
around The Spit and Wavebreak Island
• Multiple private helipads on public groynes or
public beaches along the coast
• A wide range of commercial activities on
public beaches, including in-principle support
for vendors and direct selling
• The push for large scale permanent
infrastructure on our beaches and foreshores for
major events, business events and conferences
Get used to this
view, because
d
privatisation an
mercialisation
com
of public spaces
ly
almost inevitab
ends like this
- every time it
happens
Déjà vu - All Tom needs to do is don
white shoes and a floral shirt and
he’s on the Sir Bruce Small Brigade!
• The controversial sale of a public park in Surfers
Paradise to facilitate developing a large private
high-rise - a venture that he happens to be a
significant private partner in
• Selling off a large chunk of the western side of
Evandale’s public parkland to private developers
in order to fund his ‘big ticket’ projects
Just days before the 2012 election, Tom was
accused by rivals of wanting to ‘sell off’ public
assets by stealth, to fund his ‘excessive’ election
promises such as the cultural centre. Tom strongly
denied this was his intent, aside from the Robina
‘Taj Mahal’ council assets. Post-election, and
he appears to be singing a somewhat different
song. He has faced some fierce opposition from within his own council and more so from
the Gold Coast public. Along the way he has
managed to alienate himself from vast sections
of the community, with surfers copping the
brunt of his sometimes nonsensical ire. It seems
that the public, who rightfully own the beaches
and foreshores, are naturally reluctant to hand
them over for private interests under his direction.
The mayor has been labelled a ‘dictator’ and
‘meglomanic’ by community groups and
detractors but he has also gained some support
from commerce groups and tourism chiefs. A lot
of what he is proposing will ultimately hinge on
the results of the next council election and the
wavering support of the councillors themselves.
One thing is clear though - if the people of the
Gold Coast want to keep their beaches and
foreshores safe from developers that are eagerly
rubbing their hands at Tom’s plans, and prevent
our shores and waterways from becoming a sea
of fenced up casinos, cranes, carts and concrete,
they can not sit idle and think ‘someone else will
save it’. They need to fight, they need to act now.