LANDMARK TIMELINE
1938: Surfers Paradise resident Charles Joseph Hicks makes a deed arrangement with the Southport council to preserve the land, including Neal Shannon Park, as a recreational reserve.
1986: The Gold Coast City Council builds the Bruce Bishop Car Park and Surfers Paradise Transit Centre, including recreating Neal Shannon Park on its roof. It is named after the former state member for Surfers Paradise.
March 2004: Mayoral candidate Ron Clarke announces the city should sell the “air rights” above the carpark but retain ownership of the complex.
May 2004: Council officers push for its sale to fund the $26m second and third stages of the Surfers Paradise Traffic Management Scheme.
July 2004: Plans commissioned by the council show at least two towers could be built on the site of up to 70 storeys under a proposal shopped to the development industry.
2004: Council endorses a plan to sell the carpark. Bruce Bishop, the former Surfers Paradise MP and councillor, makes his first public comments in a decade, blasting the plan. His comments are supported by expremier Rob Borbidge.
2005: Proposal to sell the carpark dumped after public backlash.
2007: Portberg Property proposes an $850m, 101-storey twin towers project for the site.
2008: A $1.3bn redevelopment of the carpark to create $400m town hall/transit centre development goes before councillors. Fails to gain support with the financial crisis soon ending any major development plans.
2012: Sale of city assets, including the carpark, becomes election issue, with mayoral candidate Tom Tate backing sales as a way of slashing council debt.
May 2017: Majority of Gold Coast councillors back Cr Tate’s proposal to sell the Bruce Bishop Car Park. The move sparks protests.
June 2017: Business leaders band together to create the Save Surfers Paradise group to fight the sale.
March 2018: The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) announces it is investigating, among other inquiries, Cr Tate, council chief executive Dale Dickson and the sale of the carpark. Cr Tate says “I respect the confidentiality of the CCC”. Mr Dickson says he “welcomed an independent investigation” and would co-operate with authorities.
June 2018: Cr Tate writes to the CCC urging it to move quickly on its investigation.
August 2018: The council sells Bruce Bishop Car Park for $48m to Care Park. Its majority shareholder is Hong Kong-based developer Far East Consortium.
September 2018: AttorneyGeneral Yvette D’Ath granted Save Surfers Paradise special leave to continue its case against council.
April 2019: Council, Cr Tate and Mr Dickson cleared by CCC over its handling of carpark sale.
August 2019: Save Surfers Paradise filed a Notice of Discontinuance bringing the Supreme Court proceedings to an end.
August 2020: Sale still not completed after legal battle ends, council says it will put the carpark back on the market if necessary.