The Gold Coast Bulletin

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THE Four Corners report on the perceived conflict of interest by Mayor Tom Tate and some of his seemingly compliant Councilors was insightful but misses big point.

The point is Mr Tate is mayor for the interests of the Glitter Strip’s business and political elites.

The Trojan Horse council has facilitate­d disproport­ionate use of ratepayers’ money on high-cost projects in the Surfers Paradise, Southport and Broadbeach areas.

The rest of us, especially in the south and west, struggle to get funding for basic roads and drainage type projects.

Many of us have no public transport, but contribute to a light rail which we never use.

As Four Corners showed, the Black Swan Lake is a striking example of how private interests such as the proposed car park for the Turf Club prevail over public interests of retaining public land for preservati­on of the environmen­t.

While many ratepayers are struggling to meet energy, mortgage and other living expenses, Mayor Tate persists in using their taxes on grandiose plans such as his reportedly deeply flawed proposed cruise ship jetty.

So here’s a plan which all parties in the upcoming State election might note: Create a separate local government area for Surfers Paradise, Southport and Broadbeach in which Mr Tate and the developers can have free reign to do as they please, but with their own money, not ours. ON July 19, the Gold Coast City Council adopted the Building Height Study Report. Shortly after that, the report was made available for the public.

About 20 per cent of the adopted report had been redacted before it was made publicly available.

Apparently, the public was not allowed to know what the council was considerin­g with regard to future building heights.

This week’s Four Corners episode had obtained a full unredacted copy of the report.

Quoted from page 222 of the report it was suggested by council that height limits on The Spit be rezoned from the current three storeys to a zoning to allow developmen­ts from 16 to 25 storeys.

Now in the Bulletin, when Mayor Tate was asked about this possible increase in height on The Spit, he said he had no idea where the report had come from and stated “it may have been a submission from Sunland”.

Why does the Mayor deny seeing the report he and his councillor­s adopted just two months ago?

More concerning is what other suggested height limit changes are being suggested across the Gold Coast that the public are not allowed to know about. R.RAT (Chat Room, 18/9), you’re kidding, right? Are you suggesting we ban spitting and snotting on live telecast of sport?

Do we blur it out like the Yanks do with partial nudity?

It’s sport and that is what happens when bodies are exerted.

You would like that sanitised? You sound like a 60s’ censor.

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