Gold Coast City Council watchdog

This page is still under development

It has been with GREAT RELUCTANCE that I have gone live with these pages, but have finally decided to do so to expose the performance of the Gold Coast City Council. Virtually none of the public go to Council meetings ( I was the only person there on 30th April 2007 ), so they rely on brief articles in the local paper for Council news. Additionally, since the Council has installed a glass wall to isolate the public at their meetings, they are able to control just what is heard. The result is that much that would horrify many ratepayers is not exposed. Those interested can find the meeting minutes online at Council minutes online

As one of the fastest growing areas in the nation because of the climate, proximity to the capital city Brisbane, and amenities, this city's population has a very large percentage of retirees. However, this Council continues the tradition of those that preceded it, and gives greater weight to tourism, business and industry, whilst giving lesser attention to those who provide the bulk of its income, the ordinary ratepayers. Not only does tourism not provide any income directly or indirectly to the vast majority of residents, it is in fact a curse to many, particularly at peak holiday times. This has been aggravated by the failure of successive Councils to upgrade essential infrastructure, such as water supply, to cater for a population which has been exploding for many years. Councils have allowed development on flood plains over the years with the full knowledge that in so doing, they have exposed some existing property owners to the real risk of flood. My house, which was built to the required level in existence at the time, is now around one metre below the current flood level, all due to Council approved development.

Council has given repeated warnings of their need to increase rates for many years into the future to fund the running of the city. But as an example of their priorities, instead of rectifying crumbling infrastructure, they gifted around $25 million ( they refuse to release the true figure ) to help build a new stadium from which they will receive no future income by way of rates, and which benefit a private organization. This despite the fact that Council already owned another virtually unused stadium, which has had many million dollars spent on it in numerous upgrades over the years. Meanwhile the residents who provide the money that they throw around simply cannot get small problems rectified. Council is more interested in the glory of new big-ticket projects.

I have been attempting for well over a year to try to get the Gold Coast City Council to accept its duty of care and rectify hazards that threaten the safety of pedestrians across the city. I have even resorted to picketing Council meetings. My efforts to date have only met with very limited success. The Council simply refuses to address the concerns that I, and many other residents, have raised. Click on the link below to view a sample of the hazards which Council simply will not fix, despite my long-running efforts to make them accountable for the problems. They want to attract visitors, but will not maintain the infrastructure of the area.

However, despite the Council, this area is basically a very good place to live and visit, but the Council has to start responding to resident's concerns. They are often more concerned about tourists, who do not contribute to Council coffers, than they are about ratepayers.

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Copyright 2007