DEFUSE THE BOMBSITES

COUNCILLOR Dawn Crichlow is correct.

Developers should face a use-it-or-loseit rule when development applications for major projects are approved in corridors that promise to be an El Dorado for not only genuine development companies but also businesses and residents who want to move in.

The intention of the Priority Development Area established in Southport under state legislation was to streamline highrise projects in the CBD and along the light rail.

But several players are not observing the spirit of this planning device, under which applicants have four years to push ahead with their projects. The aim is to breathe new life into the heart of Southport and address looming land shortages by going skywards.

Cr Crichlow’s problem, particularly with the so-called “Golden Mile’’ of Queen St where none of a long list of projects has been realised, is that the council cannot force successful applicants to hurry up without convincing the State Government to tighten the rules.

The Gold Coast needs strong state representation and a sympathetic ear up in George St, but at the moment the people elected to lobby on the city’s behalf are in opposition.

The cynicism of applicants whose only intention is to get the tick of approval so they can flog off their prize should never have been allowed to become an industry.

Are residents really naive to expect governments at local and state level to be fully briefed on the ability of applicants to follow through with projects before granting approval? For decades Glitter Strip streets have been littered with “bombsites’’ – fenced-off vacant blocks – where owners promised the world but did not deliver.