CAR PARK SOLD FOR $48M
Councillors vote to offload controversial Bruce Bishop facility in dramatic day of turmoil at city hall
THE Gold Coast City Council is selling the Bruce Bishop Car Park in Surfers Paradise for $48 million so it can build a $125 million cultural precinct without hiking up rates.
The transit centre will be bought jointly by the Melbourne-based Care Park and Far East Consortium.
In a day of unprecedented turmoil at city hall yesterday, eight councillors – Cameron Caldwell, Pauline Young, Gail O’Neill, Dawn Crichlow, Daphne McDonald, William Owen Jones, Glenn Tozer and Kristyn Boulton – voted six-to-two to sell the asset. The other six councillors and Mayor Tom Tate declared potential conflict of interests and left the chamber.
THE Gold Coast City Council is selling the Bruce Bishop Car Park in Surfers Paradise for $48 million so it can build a $125 million cultural precinct without hiking up rates.
The transit centre will be bought jointly by the Melbourne-based Care Park and Far East Consortium, who beat an undisclosed bidder.
In a day of unprecedented turmoil at city hall yesterday, eight councillors – Cameron Caldwell, Pauline Young, Gail O’Neill, Dawn Crichlow, Daphne McDonald, William Owen Jones, Glenn Tozer and Kristyn Boulton – voted six-to-two to sell the asset, which has divided the community for the past 14 years.
The other six councillors – Peter Young, Paul Taylor, Donna Gates, Hermann Vorster, Bob La Castra and Gary Baildon – and Mayor Tom Tate declared potential conflict of interests after hours of closed-door debate, and left the chamber before the vote.
Cr Tate, who is involved in a development company with interests in building an apartment tower on the neighbouring Surfers Paradise Bowls Club site, had at first sought to stay but later left citing his Star Platinum concierge card.
Of the eight councillors to vote, only Crs Crichlow and McDonald voted against the sale.
The councillors were told Far East Consortium has a small stake in The Star, operator of the Broadbeach casino and which has develthe opment interests on the Coast and Brisbane’s Queens Wharf.
The $48 million sale of the car park and another $36 million obtained from selling other land takes a huge chunk out of a $125 million plan to build the new arts building and green bridge at Evandale.
But community group Save Surfers Paradise (SSP), which has launched legal action against the council to stop the sale, believes ratepayers have been ripped off because it claims the asset is worth up to $100 million.
SSP yesterday backed councillors who warned the deal was premature as the court decision could emerge as a final stumbling block in the contract being signed off.
During debate yesterday when councillors had to decide and vote on colleagues leaving the chamber, there was brief silence about the Mayor’s position.
Deputy Mayor Donna Gates, got her to feet, and told him: “Mr Mayor, I will speak because we can’t all sit here saying nothing.
“I think that perhaps we all felt that your declaration previously – I’m not speaking for anyone else, I’m speaking for me – that your declaration previously (and leaving the room) was suitable in the circumstances.
“I think perhaps today, given all of the (new tougher reporting) legislation that we’ve been looking at, in an effort to protect you, we’d rather you out of the room.”
Veteran Crs Crichlow and McDonald opposed the sale of one of city’s biggest ratepayer assets because they felt it had been rushed.
Cr McDonald later stormed out of the chamber after clashing with acting chair Cr Caldwell.
Last night the upset Palm Beach councillor told the Bulletin: “I had a few questions. One was the urgency. It was only yesterday that we had the papers delivered to us.”
Cr Crichlow said the sale should wait until SSP had their day in court to contest the sale.
“But no, what have we done? We’ve jumped the barrel. Get out there, sell it, get it over and done with it. It’s really wrong. These figures don’t make sense to me.
“There’s a lot of traders out there who won’t even be able to afford their rent in 12 months. I only hope to be honest with you that the government steps in and stops the sale of this Bruce Bishop Car Park.”
Cr William Owen-Jones argued the sale would save borrowing costs and included requirements on the buyer such as creating 640 public parking spaces.
Cr Owen-Jones revealed previous reports suggested council was hopeful of obtaining $40 million.
“We fund things by being in the room and making some of the harder decisions,” he said.
Council officers told councillors that the freehold interest would change hands but the freehold owner of the site would issue a lease back to the city for 100 years.
“At any stage in the future when there is a redevelopment of the site the sublessee/freehold owner has to come to the city and seek owner’s consent to the lodgement of any redevelopment application,” an officer said.
Council CEO Dale Dickson told councillors he strongly backed the financial decision.
“If the council had not made the decision which it has made to dispose of this asset, then the alternative would be to look at borrowing the money,” he said. “So to borrow the equivalent amount of $48 million, over a 15-year period, would cost for that 15-year period in excess of $4 milion a year based on current interest rates.”
He estimated the city would also need to find at least $4 million a year to cover the operating costs of the new art gallery.
The car park was costing council about $1.2 million annually to operate.
Mr Dickson believed council had obtained the right price.
Councillors were told that the operator was managing a private car park and could set its own prices.
“We have to remember in Surers Parasdise ... there are in the order 4400 public and privately owned off-street car parks in that area alone. So the question of competition to address questions of pricing is very real,” Mr Dickson said.