‘Evandale shortfall behind decision’
THE Gold Coast City Council wanted to sell the Bruce Bishop car park because it was desperate to get funds to complete the cultural precinct before the Commonwealth Games, a court has been told.
The Bulletin has obtained documents lodged in the Supreme Court in Brisbane by the Save Surfers Paradise Inc group as it attempts to stop the sale of the facility.
Save Surfers Paradise secretary Deborah Kelly, in her affidavit, said a council officer report detailed what she claimed to be the real motivation for the sale.
“The sale decision was a direct response to an embarrassment of being halfway through Stage 1 of the Cultural Precinct and desperate to complete it in time for the Commonwealth Games, but being $87m short in the budget,” Ms Kelly said.
Exhibits provided to the court include several council reports which detail funding options for a new art gallery and green bridge to Evandale.
The proposed funding plan involved tourism levies, future surplus savings, fund applications and sales of land to provide almost $125 million.
At least $76 million would be provided by those proposals with more than $48 million derived from the sale of three lots of land which include the Surfers Paradise site.
A majority of councillors supported the sale of the transit centre given 640 public parking spaces would be retained by the buyer and an additional 100 car park spaces retained for community use.
Council CEO Dale Dickson, in a response to questions by the group’s legal adviser Clive Wall, said council’s decision was based on “an extensive report and supplementary advice” provided to a meeting.
Data suggested that the usage of the site was “seldom more than approximately onethird of capacity”, he added.