Who’s in and who’s out?

Tough new laws create confusion in Coast council

TOUGH new local government reforms are creating deep divisions among councillors as colleagues nominate who they want to turf out of Gold Coast City Council meetings.

Planning committee chairman Cameron Caldwell alerted councillors to a potential conflict for William Owen-Jones, which has triggered wider legal and political dramas.

Cr Owen-Jones declared that he may have had a personal interest, which he recognised as a “real or perceived conflict of interest” after receiving $900 from a town planning consultancy in 2015 for his 2016 election campaign.

If a majority of councillors support Cr Caldwell’s hard-line stance, historic donations going back to previous council terms from consultancy firms will be voted on as a perceived conflict.

At a planning committee meeting on August 8, Cr Caldwell advised Cr Owen-Jones had a real or perceived conflict of interest in an office development at Southport because he had received a donation from Geyer Town Planning.

Councillors voted 9-4 with Palm Beach-based councillor Daphne McDonald abstaining, forcing Cr Owen-Jones to leave the chamber.

But that vote changed at another meeting showing the shifting positions and allegiances of councillors.

During a planning application on a Mermaid Beach house extension involving the same consultant, Cr OwenJones, after declaring, was allowed to remain in the room after a vote of 4-3 vote of support.

In his declaration, Cr Owen-Jones said David Geyer, formerly of Geyer Town Planning, was a director of Zone Planning, a consultant in the application.

He said he believed he could stay and vote while the council awaited legal advice on the perceived conflict. He noted that Mr Geyer had provided the donation in August 2015.

“I do not have a personal relationship with David Geyer,” Cr Owen-Jones said in his declaration.

At at full council meeting on Tuesday the vote was 7-7 with Mayor Tom Tate using his casting vote as chair. Cr Owen-Jones left the room.

Those voting against Cr Owen-Jones staying included Cameron Caldwell, Donna Gates, Hermann Vorster, Bob La Castra, Peter Young and Daphne McDonald.

Cr Tate told the Bulletin: “When you vote one way, when you go casting it’s only natural you vote a similar way.”

The Mayor acknowledged his vote was because he had decided to “err on the side of caution”.

“At the moment you ask two lawyers about perceived conflict, you get two different answers. Why do I say that? Because I have received two different answers from two different firms. I would say an abundance of caution is the best thing.

“You know what, the decision (on the development application) didn’t change. Democracy still works. In this case it takes a bit longer.”