Gold Coast councillors are furious about not being told Mayor Tom Tate and former chief executive Tim Baker investigated a golf course project on South Stradbroke Island with one describing the venture as “grotesque”.
It comes after the Bulletin exclusively revealed an 18-hole course and “surf wellness retreat” could transform the island under a plan developed in secret by Gold Coast City Council.
It’s understood a Tasmanian golf expert flew to the Gold Coast to give first-hand advice tot he Mayor in August after Mr Tate and Mr Baker earlier inspected the island via helicopter.
But senior councillor Peter Young questioned why him and his colleagues had not been briefed.
“I will ask at this point in time why we are not hearing about these, what I consider to be, grotesque considerations on South Stradbroke Island which I’ve read about in the (Bulletin) newspaper,” Mr Young told a committee meeting this week.
“I haven’t had any discussions about this. We haven’t had any papers given to us.
“It really distresses me. It’s really bad reputationally for council. It paints us in a bad picture.”
Mr Young said he expected councillors would be given information but did not know who at council to approach about the project.
He said he was voicing his concerns because council was embarking on nature tourism initiatives.
“We are trying to put some controls and measures around it, so it’s delivering the right kind of outcomes to small businesses, visitors and local community. Then we read about stuff we have not given any consideration to. It’s a poor outcome,” he said.
Councillor Brooke Patterson told committee chair Bob La Castra that she wanted an answer to Mr Young’s question about why the project surfaced first on the front of the Bulletin.
“It’s been plastered on the front page of the paper that this is a large nature-based tourism project initiated by council,” Ms Patterson said.
She added that council media had provided a statement to the paper on the project.
“We have a right to ask questions and there be a right for a response to that,” she said.
Council has been developing the Whole of Island Master Plan but the golf course — not included as a component — has split residents, with 57 per cent of 475 Bulletin readers supporting the idea.
Some residents say it would be “sensational” while Broadwater community groups warn the Mayor will face stronger opposition than when he suggested the ultimately-doomed cruise ship terminal.
Talk of the secret visit surfaced after a photograph was taken of a helicopter on the northern seawall on August 7, when Mr Tate had booked a flight.
A surfer going to The Other Side (TOS) took the photo and another in the water recognised the Mayor.
The Tasmanian golf resort owner renowned for building world-rated courses in isolated beach locations has declined to comment.