REMEMBER WHEN

A JUMP in the number of development ‘bomb sites’ on the Gold Coast prompted calls for owners to clean up the eyesores.

Turmoil in global financial markets was believed to be behind several building projects being delayed or cancelled, leaving ugly gaps in the streetscape.

Mayor Ron Clarke and development heavyweights were fed up with the growing number of overgrown and tired sites

Several high-profile sites at Surfers Paradise and Burleigh

Heads had become havens for graffiti artists and weeds.

“They’ve got to keep it neat,” said Cr Clarke. “The developers must comply and it is their responsibility to meet all of the necessary requirements. If they don’t we will go in there and clean it up and then bill them.”

Urban Development Institute of Australia president and local Stockland boss Col Dutton said developers sat on blocks for several reasons.

“Generally, when sites are purchased it can take an extended period for the product to come to market,” Mr Dutton said. “Developers are very conscious that they don’t oversupply the market, so they buy these blocks with delayed release in mind.”

However, Mr Dutton conceded that eyesores were not a good look for the city.

The Top of the Mark building in Surfers Paradise, home to nightclubs and tattoo parlours, had recently been slammed by developers on adjoining sites, including Juniper, for its state.

“Some of the sites in question are probably affected by the individual’s personal position and not so much the capital constraints currently affecting the market,” said Mr Dutton.