Casino placing divides council
CASINO CHIPS ARE SPLIT
GOLD Coast City Councillors are divided about whether the city’s second casino should be built on public or private land.
The split coincides with a ReachTel poll, commissioned by Clubs Queensland, that found 68 per cent of the 1250 people surveyed did not want another casino or additional poker machines as part of the integrated resort.
GOLD Coast City councillors are divided about whether the city's second casino should be built on public or private land.
They will vote at a full council meeting today to continue their support for the global tourism hub, but at least four councillors are coy about the State Government putting up Crown land for the casino.
The split coincides with a ReachTel poll, commissioned by Clubs Queensland, which found 68 per cent of the 1250 people surveyed did not want another casino or additional poker machines as part of the integrated resort.
About 83 per cent opposed a casino on public land at the Carey Park car park at Southport between Australia Fair and the Broadwater Parklands.
The issue is expected to spark debate at council today after three councillors last week supported a motion for the casino to be “on privately owned land”.
Councillors William OwenJones, Glenn Tozer and Peter Young were out-numbered at the planning committee vote by committee chair Cameron Caldwell, Paul Taylor, Gail O’Neill, Gary Baildon and Hermann Vorster.
Southport-based veteran councillor Dawn Crichlow said yesterday she intended to ask councillors today to back the existing policy of not allowing a tourism hub on Crown land.
The council voted last October to write to the government to indicate its support for a casino on privately owned land, but not the public-owned Southport site
“There should be no integrated resort development on public land. End of story,” Cr Crichlow said yesterday.
Club Queensland communications and government relations manager Laura Bos questioned why the government was continuing to spend taxpayers’ money to test community sentiment when it was “so strongly opposed” to it.
“The Gold Coast neither wants, nor needs, this type of development. So why keep pushing it?” she said.
Clubs Queensland, which represents 1100 community clubs, predicts a second casino operating alongside The Star Gold Coast would result in about 30 clubs closing their doors, Ms Bos said.
“And those closures are just on the Gold Coast. The competition between three casinos will affect over 330 community clubs in the southeast corner ... 1.6 million members and about 10,000 jobs,” she said.