REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday, April 30, 2005

NEGOTIATIONS were under way for the council to buy land at Robina for a new stadium.

The Gold Coast City Council unanimously agreed to provide land for the Queensland Government to build and run a rugby league stadium.

Mayor Ron Clarke said a large parcel of land next to the Robina railway station, owned by the Robina Land Corporation, was the preferred site for the stadium, with Carrara the fallback option.

Cr Clarke said a final decision would be made if and when the Gold Coast was granted an NRL licence, with an announcement expected between May 12 and June 30, 2005.

“We are beginning negotiations immediately and hope to have a deal finalised soon, subject to an NRL licence being given to the Gold Coast,” he said.

“We have now guaranteed to give land to the Government for the purposes of a rugby league stadium, but we don’t yet know where that will be.

“Robina is the preferred site but we obviously won’t buy anything until we know that we have an NRL licence, otherwise there will be no stadium to build.

“Should we be unable to come to an agreement with the Robina Land Corporation (RLC), the current Carrara stadium is the fallback option and we would give that site to the Government instead.

“We do have some idea of what the RLC is asking for the land – we have been in talks with them already – but we don’t yet know what they will accept.’’

Cr Clarke refused to reveal the RLC’s price.