REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday, February 19, 2004

BUSINESS leaders wanted the city council to take the unprecedented step of borrowing $24 million to finish the Surfers traffic scheme.

In a virtually unanimous vote, a forum of 60 business people urged Mayor Gary Baildon and councillor Max Christmas to pressure their colleagues into spending the money immediately.

In what was taken by many in the room to be a thinly-veiled threat to the Mayor, prominent developer Soheil Abedian — who had previously donated generously to Cr Baildon’s election campaign — told him to bring his councillors into line.

The forum, convened by the Surfers Paradise Chamber of Commerce, was scathing of the council’s perceived inability to make a decision, particularly in regard to desperately-needed infrastructure.

Many expressed frustration at the Mayor’s lack of a mandate, calling for the introduction of a party-political system.

The meeting was called to discuss the trouble-prone Surfers Paradise Traffic Management Scheme. Ever since the council’s $20 million re-design of Surfers Paradise traffic opened in mid-2003, businesspeople, residents and tourists have been critical.

When funds ran out the project stalled with only a third of the work completed; and that is the way it had remained.

Cr Baildon and Cr Christmas were told that the ongoing traffic woes in Surfers Paradise and throughout the city would be a key election issue for all councillors.

In a blunt speech, Mr Abedian, head of Sunland, was damning in his criticism.