Call to months-old crash sparks anger
A VOLUNTEER with the Queensland Ambulance Service has lashed out after paramedics were called to the scene of a two-month-old car crash on Springbrook Mountain at the weekend.
On Saturday morning, police and paramedics rushed to the scene of a silver sedan on its roof on the side of Pine Creek Rd after a call from a concerned motorist who spotted the vehicle.
The vehicle, which is on Springbrook National Park land, has been there since December 17 but has not been removed. There is also another black car that crashed in the same area on August 19 last year.
Police searched the area for the driver before reporting the abandoned vehicle to council.
Guy Livermore, who is a volunteer with the Queensland Ambulance Service, wrote on the Facebook page of the Springbrook Mountain Community Association that the incident on Saturday was the “last straw”.
“We had three vehicles worth hundreds of thousands plus many highly trained personnel, from all parts of the Coast taken from real emergency work because council/main road/national parks lack of giving a s***,” Mr Livermore wrote.
“I don’t give a rats behind. Who (sic) is responsible for these wrecks, get them removed!
“How about you charge the owners for removal after you get rid of them or sell what’s left to the recyclers.”
The sedan and black car have been the subject of a concerted campaign by the SMCA to have them towed.
On February 2 the group posted on its Facebook
page that Division 9 councillor Glenn Tozer had agreed to engage a contractor to have the cars towed.
A post from the association on February 13 says if the vehicles were removed then “valuable emergency resources wouldn’t be attending a rusting, vandalised wreck that’s been months on the side of the road”.
“Cr Tozer advised us in writing a few weeks ago that these cars were going to be removed by Council but he wasn’t sure when. We are hoping that it gets fast tracked after this debacle.”
Cr Tozer told the Bulletin that while the state government passed responsibility for retrieving abandoned cars on state roads to the council, it did not have the same authority to deal with cars that have crashed in national parks.
“It’s definitely time for greater clarity about council cleaning up after accidents on state roads in and near national parks and I’ve asked for our team to devise a solution also addressing who funds the sometimes expensive retrievals so the community can have confidence about reporting issues to us.”
FUNNY influencer Mitchell Orvel wasn’t laughing when he hit the final 7km of his first half-marathon, which he’d decided to do for a family and their battling baby – people he’d never met before.
Mr Orvel shot to internet fame with his Angry Dad YouTube channel sharing videos of his father’s outburst to his 253K subscribers.
The new father shares another YouTube channel with partner Chloe Szepanowski, who welcomed their son Artis to the world in August last year.
With a new perspective on life, Mr Orvel said he knew he had to do more when Kate and Grant Gouch reached out to him to share a GoFundMe page for their baby Oakley who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the children’s version of Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
“I just thought if that was me in that position I would want some help,” Mr Orvel said.
“One in 35 people carry the SMA gene and if two people carrying the gene conceive
there’s a one in four chance of the baby getting SMA.
“The technology is there for prenatal-testing and Kate and Grant are pushing for it to happen because if you do the test and find out then the child can be treated pre-symptoms and live a normal, happy life.”
The groundbreaking treatment is in the pipeline but needs a further
$3.3 million and Orvel is hoping to raise $100,000 to go towards the funding and the Gouch family.
Mr Orvel runs 3km every morning but only gave himself
a week to prepare for his 21km journey from Burleigh to Surfers Paradise and back, which he completed last Sunday.
“A few different people reached out and said they’d join me and a few more rocked up on the day,” he said.
“At least 10 people ran with me and another 30 or so were waiting for us at the end, filming and clapping.
“I hit a wall at about 14 kilometres and that last seven were tough but the group reminded each other why we were there.
“Then the last three kilometres Oakley’s dad and granddad ran with us and the emotions were flying and got me through.”
Those wanting to help can donate at:
A FAMILY-owned business is expanding its Gold Coast base to “revolutionise” the supplement industry with natural ingredients following a successful first year.
Naked Harvest Supplements is owned and run by brother and sister duo Coopa and Georgie Sevenson, who opened the business in 2019 and started operating out of a larger warehouse in Burleigh at the start of February.
The business, with more than 70,000 Instagram followers, came about because both siblings have had health issues and intolerances that made them conscious about what they put in their bodies according to Georgie, who also has a huge social media influence with 350,000 followers on Instagram.
“I have always been passionate about using supplements to complement my active lifestyle. I have suffered from hormone imbalances and intolerances previously which made me very conscious about what I put in my body,” Georgie said.
“I remember years ago buying separate ingredients and making my own preworkout because I wanted a natural, no c**p alternative.
“We saw a gap in the market for natural supplements without the nasties that actually do the job and taste great.
“I used to be a lawyer and Coopa had his own plumbing business, we have always been super close and thought we would make a good team.
“We felt passionate about this idea, so we quit our jobs and just did it.”
The expansion to the Burleigh warehouse has allowed Naked Harvest to expand its products and improve delivery times.
ICONIC Gold Coast hotel Palazzo Versace has been savaged in online reviews as anything but a six-star resort.
Of the most recent 20 reviews on TripAdvisor, 11 were just one or two stars for the swanky resort where rooms and suites range from $375 to $3065 a night.
One visitor from Ballina who stayed at the hotel in February said it was “probably the worst hotel in that price range I’ve ever stayed in” describing the ritzy establishment as “tired, boring and dull”.
A guest who travelled from Brisbane in December said she had stayed at Palazzo
many times but was “disappointed to discover how badly run-down the hotel was this time”.
She said the furniture in the suites was dirty and falling apart and staff were “incompetent”.
“We booked a cabana for Christmas Day and the roof on our cabana had a huge rip in it,” she wrote.
“Whilst we were trying to enjoy our food a bird excreted faeces above us which went straight through the top of our cabana and all over ourselves and our food.
“It was a terrible
Another Brisbane visitor said grout was falling out and in need of repair “throughout experience.”
the entirety of the complex”, while another reviewer likened the main outdoor pool to “swimming in Parramatta river”.
Diane W stayed in January saying there was nothing positive she could write about following her stay.
She said there were “very intoxicated men and women” in the pool area “hardly dressed in anything” and behaving inappropriately, and the cabanas were “in disgraceful disrepair”.
Diane said when they found bugs in their room they were told they could not be moved to a similarly priced room.
“We would have had a cleaner and more enjoyable
stay in a 3 star hotel – stay away from this place.”
Palazzo Versace was forced to close in April last year, standing down 250 staff.
Owner Dong Run group was forced at the time to deny the hotel had been put up for sale or that there was a dispute with condo owners over payment of what some believed were excessive management fees.
However, in January, the Bulletin revealed emails where Palazzo GM Jane Kingston complained of a “consistent public flogging” from condo owners and
“constant barrage of abuse” resulting from the dispute.
She said owners could “disengage” from hotel services but that would come at a “significant expense”.
Palazzo Versace did not return phone calls on Sunday.