Give Southport a break, pleads MP
Molhoek wants halt on retail development approvals
SOUTHPORT MP Rob Molhoek says the CBD’s problems are being felt across the Gold Coast and business leaders should stop “bashing” the suburb.
The longstanding politician is furious with calls to scrap or review Southport’s Priority Development Area (PDA) status, which had turned the CBD into a “bomb site” — littered with closed or for-lease shops — as the rest of the Gold Coast strains under a population boom.
Instead, Mr Molhoek said a moratorium was needed on new shopping centre developments and greater incentives for developers to build in Southport.
“Vacant shopfronts can be found the length and breadth of our city and it is clear retail has changed, so council needs to stop being so quick to approve new retail development,” he said.
“The mega centres of Pacific Fair, Robina Town Centre, Westfield and large-scale retail expansions are killing off streets and retail businesses at grade.
“It is time for a moratorium on planning approvals for new retail development approvals. We simply have too many shops given our current population.”
The PDA was introduced in 2013 to stimulate development of the CBD by streamlining the application and approvals process for projects.
However, critics say highprofile projects have failed to eventuate, leaving shopfronts
vacant, because developers were land banking, rather than building. Area councillor Brooke Patterson has commissioned a review into the PDA. Its findings are expected to be at council in July. However, any potential changes would need to be approved by the state government, meaning a revised PDA would be unlikely to come into effect until 2022. Mr Molhoek defended Southport and insisted many projects had gone ahead under the PDA. He urged council to retain it and further incentivise development in the area.
“Rather than abandoning the PDA, council would be better placed to properly support the vision and take a leaf out of Brisbane’s play book by offering incentives in the form of reduced infrastructure charges, with a view to fulfilling its vision for Southport as the true CBD of the Gold Coast,” he said.
“As far as the PDA is concerned, it was introduced to fast-track approvals at a time when the Gold Coast was on its knees coming out of the global financial crisis.
“Current projections suggested we need to squeeze 200,000 more people into the Gold Coast by 2031.
“We’re running out of land in the corridor, so do we concentrate growth in the light rail corridor and go up?
“Or do we drive population growth into residential choice domain, through Labrador, Southport and Ashmore, cluttering our streets with cars and demolishing entire suburbs to build more and more four-storey apartment buildings?”