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Tipplers Resort has been a costly acquisition for the Gold Coast City Council and ratepayers who are funding the project, reports Ken Vernon
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THE. City Council's $14.36 million, proposal for the Tipplers Hub is unlikely to turn a profit, says Marine Queensland. But the industry's Gold Coast division manager, Charles Dickson, still gave broad support to the low-key draft plan approved by the council on Monday.
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THOSE Cold Coasterswho have followed the twists and turns of the Tipplers saga in these pages must be wondering how it wound back to the beginning. To many that is exactly what will seem to be the result the city council's new proposals for Tipplers. In essence, those proposals boil down to a return to the status quo that existed when the saga began.
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A DRAFT Tipplers Hub concept plan costing ratepayers $14.36 million over 10 vears hasbeen endorsed by the Gold Coast City Council. The council has promised to redevelop the South Stradbroke Island resort since controversially buying it and shutting it down 18 months ago. Like the old resort, the new Tipplers Hub would include a licensed cafe with alfresco dining, housed in the renovated former Trade Winds restaurant building.
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State Opposition leader John-Paul Langbroek stands accused of back-flipping over his support for Tipplers on South Stradbroke Island. AS the campaign to have Tipplers reopened escalates, the Marine Action Group (MAG) believes it has been betrayed by Langbroek and the LNP. MAG spokesman Keith Douglas, says Langbroek told him privately at a LNP gathering in Cairns that he would give Tipplers back to the boaties if elected as premier. But Langbroek describes a different version of events to Gold Coast Business News.
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TTPPLERS will be the destruction of the Gold Coast Citv Council at the next election. 1 cannot believe that the council is proposing spending more money on Tipplers again on things the locals do not want. The council did not need to put another couple of barbecues there as there are already eight electric barbecues nearby in the camp grounds.
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The Gold Coast City Council is stumbling from one poor decision to another.
COUNCIL bungling in the past few months has left the community questioning a string of pointless projects, mismanaged policy and millions in wasted ratepayers' dollars. As the outrage mounted about the $7 million purchase of the TipplersResort on South Stradbroke Island, a string of other bad decisions were passed that painted a picture of a Gold Coast City Council in disarray.
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A BROADWATER swimming enclosure planned for Tipplers will become a reality for less than $50,000, despite officers originally quoting a bill of $167,000.
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MAYOR Ron Clarke has defended a $31,550 public relations blitz that tackles some of the hot-button issues in the Tipplers affair. The six week 'My Straddle' campaign includes a website, paid radio spots and distribution of 1000 leaflets in camping shops, service stations, marine hire and repair businesses and Gold Coast City Council administration offices.
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GOLD Coast Mayor Ron Clarke has responded to criticism from marine groups on plans for Tipplers, saying if they want the South Stradbroke Island site, they can buy the lease for $7 million.
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HOW incompetent is the Gold Coast City Council and its elected councillors. They have now wasted $15 million buying and closing down Tipplers Resort - $15 million of ratepayers' monev, and why? They just can't tell you, and why, apparently they just do not know.
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A MOVE to adopt a Marine Queensland plan to reopen the former Tipplers resort has been rejected. The proposal was to run the South Stradbroke Island precinct as a not-for-profit enterprise with a restaurant, bar and environmental education centre. Gold Coast City councillor Bob LaCastra said it was clearly the best of six submissions to the council's call for public ideas to redevelop the resort after it controversially bought it and shut it down last year.
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A PETTING zoo, construction of 200 cabins and 'safari-style' accommodation are among ideas from the public on how to redevelop the former Tipplers resort. The Gold Coast council received six submissions to its call for ideas to overhaul the South Stradbroke Island site. Mayor Ron Clarke said the best ideas would be cherry-picked for a concept plan."We will take the ideas that we believe will he the best solution for the area and then go to tender on that," he said.
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DEMOLITION work at Tipplers has signalled the end for the South Stradbroke Island destination that was popular with boaties. A Gold Coast City Council spokesman said work was organised to ensure minimal impact on campers and day use visitors of these (Tipplers) structures are termite-infested and have wood rot" he said.
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HAS councillor Grant Pforr consulted anyone about spending more of ratepayers' funds on fencing off part of Tipplers Passage, blocking beach access anil placing impediments in an already narrow channel? Obviously not. His record on the closure of Tipplers Resort and the demolition of Club B is diabolical.
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A GOLD Coast councillor has high- lighted shark risks facing swimmers in the former Tipplers resort in a push for a $167,000 netted swimming enclosure at the former South Stradbroke Island resort. Councillor Grant Pforr's enclosure proposal, which the Gold Coast City Council has costed at S167,000 along with a further operational cost of $53,00 a year, would he installed bv the September school holidays to replace three swimming pools that have been removed or drained since the council bought and shut down the resort last year.
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ALCOHOL was flowing freely at Tipplers at the weekend during the first of several council-organised monthly concerts - but this time the councillors so desperate to rid the island of so-called 'drunken louts' didn't have a problem with it. Mayor Ron Clarke and councillor Grant Pforr defended the Easter Sundav concert where revellers were allowed to openly drink in the precinct despite having created a storm of controversy when council shut down Tipplers last year for the same reason.
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“This concept is fantastic, I can’t believe why council has not been in closer consultation with the Marine Action Group, it would have prevented a lot of community anger over council’s poor handling of the issue,” says Tate.
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I AND others inspected the now closed Tipplers Resort and we found the bar and restaurant areas in a reasonable state, the 40 accommodation cabins absolutely filthy, the swimming pools emptied but still certainly capable of being refurbished to an acceptable state and reopened. The other resort Club B was gone. completely demolished with two excavators still standing there in triumph, whv a council would buy a capable business,close and then demolish it at great cost is a mystery.
THE Marine Action Group has unveiled a $1 million plan to resurrect the Tipplers resort on South Stradbroke Island. The proposed new Tipplers Marine Education and Tourist Centre is intended to have the same low-key feel of the originalresort, hut with a tinge of green.
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Our guest speaker for the evening was Mr. Keith Douglas who was accompanied by his partner Alexandra De Vere. Keith is the Co-ordinator of the Marine Action Group, (M.A.G.), he indicated a number of concerns existed within the boating community and ratepayers of the Gold Coast. These included: • the lack of priority by Government in relation to the dredging of the Broadwater, • the need to develop an ongoing artificial reef program, and • the Gold Coast City Council’s inappropriate actions in purchasing Tippler’s and closing it to the public.
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THE Combined Gold Coast Coast Chamber of Commerce has slammed i.e. council's explanation for the purchase of Tipplers, labelling the CEO's answers as 'propaganda'. The chamber sent the council's top bureaucrat, Dale Dickson, a list of questions relating to the purchase and its legality. But the responses have angered chamberpresident, Bob Janssen, who said they were not good enough.
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ABOUT 120 boaties braved foul weather to sail to the former Tipplers resort on South Stradbroke Island yesterday, lured by a promised sneak preview of the Marine Action Group's redevelopment proposal for the precinct. But what they saw was more like glimpse with small groups permitted fleeting viewings of a single concept drawing.
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Where is the proof? No matter how hard the Gold Coast City Council tries to spin the Tipplers purchase debacle, they can't escape the dwindling number of campers visiting the island. Geoff Chambers reports on the latest attempt to divert attention away from city hall. OUT of sight, out of mind. Just like Dorothy in The Wizard Oz, the bigwigs at the Gold Coast City Council are clicking their shoes and hoping the Tipplers nightmare on South Stradbroke Island will suddenly vanish.
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THE Crime and Misconduct Commission has cleared the Gold Coast City Council of corruption over the Tipplers affair. It dismissed claims of misconduct over the purchase of the South Stradbroke Island resort, including allegations that Mayor Ron Clarke (pictured) and Cr Grant Pforr deceived the council and that Cr Clarke had a conflict of interest.
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THE only thing second rate about this area, Cr Clarke, is the leader-ship from council. What camel bought Tipplers with my money? What the heck will we do with it now? Will the light rail end up anywhere useful to locals? How will we fund ongoinginfrastructure maintenance? Where and how will council set up its long- term base for a bloated, inefficient and overpaid bureaucracy'-- Show me the leadership skills you have used to develop a team-orientated approach to solving these problems and I might listen to your views.
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GOLD Coast City Council bureaucrats have hit back at claims the purchase of Tipplers was unlawful, insisting it was done by the book. The Gold Coast Combined Chamber of Commerce has launched an official investigation into the purchase of the Stradbroke Island resort. Council boss Dale Dickson said he welcomed the chamber's questions.
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The Marine Action Group finds the content of Cr Pforr’s newsletter disturbing in many aspects - Cr Pforr appears to be out of touch with the boating fraternity and the swimming pool enclosure that he says he will “fight” for is opposed by both Marine Queensland and the Marine Action Group on a number of safety grounds as well as the unattractive appearance that would detract from the natural appearance that appeals to Tipplers visitors.
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I HAVE a question for the Mayor and Grant Pffor. I have a property at South Stradbroke and often visit Mc Larens Landing or Couran Point resort near Tipplers. I can drink alcohol without a meal in an unsupervised area. I have never witnessed or heard of any misconduct to warrant a discontinuation of these enjoyable family friendly locations on the island. Why are we being dictated to by you when you both, by your failure to mention this contradiction, support the very thing at those places that you oppose at Tipplers? Listen to the people.
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I WONDER which developer is about 2 snatch up Tipplers 4 a fraction of what council paid 4 it? Has that been the hidden agenda all long? - MCTC
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THE Gold Coast Combined Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on the Tipplers saga, lodging a list of questions with the Gold Coast City Council. Chamber president Bob Janssen delivered a letter to the council's CEO Dale Dickson yesterday demanding an investigation to determine, clarify and make public various aspects of the council's purchase of Tipplers, on-going costs and plans for the South Stradbroke Island site.
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GOLD Coast councillors are already at loggerheads over the future of Tipplers one day after unanimously agreeing to seek public expressions of interest to redevelop the controversial resort. Opposition to selling all or part of the South Stradbroke Island precinct continued yesterday, despite Bob La Castra saying a sale was the effective intent of the motion he raised to return Tipplers to the public.
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Wrrrrrr
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IT would be great to report that yesterday's apparent turnabout vote on Tipplers represented the first sign of understanding by the council of community anger over its decision to buy and close the popular resort. Instead, we think that another round of obfuscation and confusion has just begun. Did the council vote to change direction and sell or lease Tipplers back to private enterprise? Or did it tote to continue on its current path towards an unknown outcome, unconcerned with community protest at both the cost and lack of consultation.
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THE Gold Coast City Council has voted unanimously to call for public expressions of interest for redevelopment of the controversial South Stradbroke resort, Tipplers. But the vote left some observers feeling the council was flip-flopping on the issue - and it was unclear if it would actually sell off the resort to private enterprise.
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CITY councillor Bob la Castra plans to follow his plea last week that 'we made a mistake' on Tipplers, by offering the resort back to private enterprise. In a motion to be presented at Monday's council meeting, Cr la Castra will ask the council to approve a cull for 'public expressions of interest for the redevelopment of a part or whole of the Tipplers lease.
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I COULD not let the letter from Mayor Ron Clarke go unanswered: I was enjoying a beer on the beach at Tipplers while Ron was still running around in circles in the Victorian smog. What is wrong with drinking at a bar with no need for police enforcement, no enforced dress code or, imposed standard, and happy children able to share a'' sensible and relaxed environment with their parents on the beach? Not everyone drinks to excess.
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AFTER reading Ron Clarke's comment on Tipplers I felt I had to respond. I have been a resident of Queensland for over 25 years and a boatie all that time. My wife and I spent many wonderful days and nights at Tipplers wilh my three daughters, our friends and sometimes our grandchildren.
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THERE is mounting pressure for a probe into she Gold Coast City Council's purchase of the Tipplers resort with the Crime and Misconduct Commission confirming it is also assessing a formal complaint. The complaint from former Surfers Paradise Alliance boss Richard Holliday said there had been no public consultation or openness with the community.
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The fact that recent sustained and vociferous criticism of a number of council decisions comes directly from the community, no one else. That is especially so with community anger over the ongoing Tipplers fiasco and the Mayor's ongoing denigration of that community anger.
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MAYOR Ron Clarke MBE so detested the idea of people enjoying a drink in the friendly and casual atmosphere of Tipplers, he borrowed $13m on ratepayers' behalf, without checking with them, to close it down. Thereafter his justifications keep being added. Now it is his concern about drivers under the influence, as though Tipplers was the only source of drivers over the limit. I would have thought that was a matter for the police and the courts.
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IT really is sad Mayor Ron Clarke is still grasping at straws in defence of the council's closure of Club B and Tipplers. Most resort visitors were families who either stayed at the resort, visited on the resort's daily ferry services and cruise boats, walked from the nearby camping grounds and boat clubs, or stayed on their own vessels in what was once the Coast's most popular overnight boating destination.
AN attempt to have Gold Coast City Council's buyout of Tipplers Resort investigated has been stymied by Local Government Minister Desley Boyle, who says the council should be allowed to investigate first.
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I WONDER what your readers would think if the council suggested opening a bar free of police supervision, with no enforced dress standards, where children were free to wander among the drinkers - all of whom would have to drive home? Those 'boaties' pro- testing the closure of Tipplers are really only complaining about the bar closing, as the actual facilities there have been enhanced substantially. Ron Clarke MBE Gold Coast Mayor
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THANKS Bob La Castra for your stance on this very important issue of the sale of Tipplers. Perhaps some of your fellow councillors should follow your example by seeing the long-term consequences of their actions ... at election time. The Tipplers issue highlights an abuse of power by this council and a lack of respect for the average person, who loves a day or so out at Tipplers. Tony White, President Gold Coast North Chamber of Commerce
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I REFER to the recent letter from Phil Hamilton of Ashmore and thank him for seeking my view on the council's purchase of Tipplers. The owners of Tipplers had placed it on the market for a range of reasons, including pressure from the council and the State Government to address environmental concerns.
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RECENT comments made by opponents of the Tipplers redevelopment that the area has no ecological merit' and 'no environmental value' reveals a high level of ignorance. With eight years of continuing work in the island in the environmental field I have come to gain a deep understanding of the area's ecosystems and the negative influences of certain human activities.
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RON Clarke council wasted 12 million on Tipplers resort, the money should have been used 2 pipe sewage off the island council camping grounds and resorts overflow. - Concerned ratepayer
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IT has taken a long time, but Gold Coast ratepayers have just about reached the end of their tether with our free-spending council. The rumblings began with head-shaking at the escalating cost of closing down the Tipplers bare foot bar for no apparent reason other than the Mayor didn't like it.
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COUNCILLOR Bob la Castra has broken ranks with Mayor Ron Clarke and his council colleagues over the Tipplers buyout and admitted 'we made a mistake'. His move comes after The Gold Coast Bulletin found a $4 million black hole in the council's Tipplers costings - pushing the cost of the South Straddie resorts to more than $13.3.million.
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THE MAYOR: Last week I was challenged in your letter columns by Phil Hamilton to detail the costs incurred by the council to date in regard to Tipplers. I willingly oblige. PHIL HAMILTON: Where is Cr Grumitt sitting on the Tipplers and Club B closures?
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FEELING THE SQUEEZE Why your rates keep going up
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MAYOR Clarke's letter in the last issue about the closure of Tipplers only reiterates the problems he and the council are having justifying the huge waste of ratepayers' funds. A figure of $7million has been released by the council, but it is believed the overall cost involved in the closure of both Tipplers and Club B resorts will be much closer to $ 14 million.
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LOCAL marine and business industry leaders have joined forces to fight the Gold Coast City Council for control of Tipplers Resort. The two industries have predicted a grim future for tourism and boating on the Coast if the council does not give up the once popular boatie destination. Marine Action Group co-ordinator Keith Douglas said the council's idealistic plan to turn the site into an ecological park was unrealistic.
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I FULLY support all comments made by Peter Murray, Keith Douglas and Paul O'Hanlon. I have lived here all my life (a long one) and enjoyed Tipplers from when I was a child. I am disgusted with the council for taking away a Gold Coast icon.
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These public amenities must remain. Let's not forget the majority of Australians enjoy a drink and do the right thing.
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RON Clarke -1 never saw the barefoot bar at Tipplers out of control. What the council did was spend taxpayer dollars 2 suit your agenda. RE the reclamation of Tipplers ... thanks, Ron, for the new bbqs, so glad you didn't put them under any shade. VIMI can cook on them and get skin cancer, a!so thanks for the secondhand table tennis table that the public has to leave a deposit for to get the bats and ball, who would have thought to go to the island to play table tennis? Genius, Ron, keep up the good work.
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I commend the Bulletin for its accurate reporting of the closure of Tipplers Resort. For the last year I have stayed silent and read the reports, but it is time someone who was there on a daily basis told everyone exactly what was closed down.
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I AM absolutely convinced that our city council has no idea how on the nose it is. However, I'm quite sure some of our most senior councillors understand that City Hall is held in universally low esteem and there appears to me to be a country mile between how some of our leaders think they're going and the facts.
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I am absolutely disgusted at Mayor Ron Clarke’s latest excuse for the closure of Tipplers and Club B
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THE Gold Coast Bulletin is to be congratulated for not letting the council pull the wool over ratepayers' eyes when it comes to Tipplers and Club B. We know now that the lame excuses used to justify spending millions of dollars of the city's resources do not stand up to scrutiny and in hindsight the funds would have been better applied to acquiring significant natural habitat and certainly not commercial leases. Tipplers and Club B were tourism assets that provided employment for numerous small businesses.
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RE the bulletins editorial headed 'Show us the evidence Ron'. I believe if Ron Clarke can't show us the evidence of all this drunkrd behaviour at tipplers and quickly, then he will lose the respect and faith of the gold coast and should resign immediately. - Angry boatie
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EDITORIAL COMMENT THE continuing Bulletin investigation into the city council's $10 million acquisition of Tipplers Resort has uncovered several inconsistencies. Initially the council said it bought the resort and closed it in order to save it from developers but a council report discovered by The Bulletin ruled out such development. Now Mayor Ron Clarke says the resort was a mere 'barefoot bar' plagued by drunken violence and he bought it to save it for families; but our investigation has found no evidence of drunken violence and Gold Coast police have no record of any unusual incidents of drunken violence on the island.
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Reclamation of South Stradbroke 1 COMMEND The Bulletin for its role in the reclamation of the beach foreshores, especially those at Burleigh. for family entertainment on Australia Day. As your columns reported, perfect weather, a nearby beach, lake or waterwav, family and friends, and a BYO barbecue. What could be more Australian?
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AN army of boaties has fired a warning shot across the bow of city hall and promised more protests to stop plans to ban booze and pub meals at Tipplers. ..../ Mr Janssen said all the Gold Coast chambers had agreed to take the fight to Mayor Ron Clarke.
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AGNUS Bjornsson, the architect behind the Tipplers drawings - revealed here for the first time - thinks he may have done a lot of work for nothing. THE owners of Tipplers Resort offered to sell the loss-making operation to the Gold Coast City Council months before attempting to lodge a development application for the site. But serious questions remain about whether or not the development plans' were legitimate or simply intended to force the council's hand.
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MAYOR Ron Ciarke admits the redevelopment of Tipplers Resort vetoed by the council bears a remarkable similarity to the South Stradbroke Island resort that he built - Couran Cove. He has also admitted knowing the owners of Tipplers did everything they could to tip the council's hand into buying the loss-making resort.
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BOATIES are expected to hit the water in their hundreds this Australia Day to show, Gold Coast City councillors the fight for Tipplers is far from over. Gold Coasters have been encouraged to take part in a flotilla using any kind of boat, board or canoe. Marine Action Group co-ordinator Keith Douglas said the display was to create awareness of the Tipplers issue and remind councillors they could not escape protest on last year's purchase of the South Stradbroke Island resort.
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AS a concerned marine business owner I have visited the Tipplers Resort site every week-end since Christmas. Having seen it transformed from a vibrant boaties destination to a fenced off derelict tragedy and now to a sterile paved barbecue area, I was interested to gauge the usage of the area by the boating public during the peak boating season. Not surprisingly usage appears to be virtually nil with only the wallabies enjoying the newly-planted, wallaby-friendly vegetation.
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THE GCCC did no conduct a single piece of community consultation over the purchase of Tipplers Resort and the mayor and councillorswere likewise silent. (GCB, January 16). The decision to purchase Tipplers for in excess of $10 million dollars was 100 per cent political as was. discovered by The Bulletin's FOI requests.
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THE GCCC did not conduct a single piece of community consultation over the purchase of Tipplers Resort and the mayor and councillors were likewise silent. (GCB, January 16). The decision to purchase Tipplers for in excess of $10 million dollars was 100 per cent political as was discovered by The Bulletin's FOI requests.
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A FLOTILLA of angry boaties will hit the Broadwater for an Australia Day rally to protest against the shutdownof the Tipplers resorts. Hundreds of boaties. anglers and personal watercraft users are expectcd to join forces to oppose the council's $10 million buy-up on South Stradbroke island.
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I attended a meeting of the Marine Action Group in an attempt to gain a better understanding of why our council has and will spend $14 million closing a much loved boating and tourist destination. it is fairly obvious that they are now regretting their actions. Who would want to be a councillor or mayoral hopeful at the next election. Their stupidity will not be forgotten.
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THE Gold Coast City Council has spent $14 million of ratepayers' money on closing the Tipplers resort on South Stradbroke Island, apparently to preserve 1 per cent of this great big previously mined sandbank from the grasp of greedy developers who no doubt intended to destroy the snakes and scrub and make something that could actually benefit and be enjoyed by humans, shock, horror. Why?
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THE fallout from Gold Council City Council's purchase of Tipplers Resort has left Jacobs Well retailers battling a drop in the amount of summer trade. Boaties and anglers have reportedly begun steering clear of northern Gold Coast boat ramps since the once popular South. Tipplers Island resort was turned into a booze-free environmental camping area.
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Waste Water: Is this what you want for South Straddie?
Often these purchases just happen and do not 'hit the headlines' as much as Tipplers has. Despite how local press may choose to spin this story, I am satisfied (as your representative) I made the correct decision to purchase it and to put it simply, you can't have a face lift' without getting a few bruises.
Council communication officers' email puts spin on purchase
SENIOR Gold Coast City Council bureaucrats have tried to micro-manage and 'spin' the public perception of the Tipplers resort purchase. Leaked emails highlight an attempt to put words into the mouths of councillors, and press for a conciliatory approach on the $10 million debacle.
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IT has taken more than a year of denial and mishandling but at least now the Gold Coast City Council has committed to a public consultation process over its $10 million investment in Tipplers Resort. Yesterday's angry meeting at South Stradbroke Island is the first genuine attempt to engage the interested public and while it is long overdue and perhaps even too late, Mayor Ron Clarke should be congratulated for confronting the issue.
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GOLD Coast Mayor Ron Clarke has backtracked on his booze ban for South Stradbrcke Island resort. Tipplers. After the council controvesisially bought the resort Cr Clarke consistently said there was a 'major' alcohol problem in the area and that people would not be able to buy alcohol from the redeveloped Tipplers. Cr Clarke. a teetotaller, has now denied ever saying alcohol would be banned.
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ALMOST a year after councillors splashed $10 million to buy and maintain popular South Stradbroke Island resort Tipplers, they still don't know what they are going to do with it. Having bought the land and completed 'phase one and two' of their plans for the island, it will be at least another eight months before the council reveals w hat it will do with the land.
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THE Crime and Misconduct Commission could be called in to investigate the controversial $10 million Tipplers purchase. Premier Anna Bligh has told Gold Coast residents and stakeholders to pursue the Gold Coast City Council over the takeover of two South Stradbroke Island resorts.
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BOXER Trevor Martin dis-agrees with Mayor Ron Clarke's belief that Tipplers on South Stradbroke Island was rife with alcohol fuelled bad behaviour, and he should know. Mr Martin 'never saw a punch thrown' in the many years he was ready to lend a hand to Tipplers management if things ever got out of control.
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THE stampede of councillors now trying to distance themselves from the Tipplers fiasco confirms that some of them do not appear to fully inform themselves before deciding to spend millions of taxpayer dollars. Its no use them claiming now they were not aware of all the facts. Ratepayers have a right to expect their highly paid councillors to make informed decisions. The CMC should be investigating.
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Councillors spend $10 million of ratepayers' money buying Tipplers Resort on South Stradbroke Island after falsely claiming it is at risk from high-rise development. They then close the popular watering hole.
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In any assessment of the past 12 months it would be impossible to ignore Tipplers and the outrage of boaties at having the Gold Coast icon taken away. No matter what ROB Clarke says, if they cannot have a beer and enjoy the experience, council's purchase of the resort has not 'pre-served' what those who loved it wanted.
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SENIOR council officers endorsed the construction of new tourism developments on South Stradbroke Island just weeks before councillors agreed to spend $10 million to buy Tipplers resort. Recommendations were made in a special tourism blueprint to build a boutique casino on Wavebreak Island, eco-resorts at Tipplers and a cruise-ship terminal in the Broadwater.
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BOATIES are sure to raise a glass to news of a boat and jet-ski training facility that could be started on South Stradbroke Island as part of plans to reopen Tipplers for business. Marine Action Group spokesperson Keith Douglas said the group had approached the council about a number of options to bring the resort back to life, with the favoured choice being Marine Queensland taking over the site on a long-term lease and establishing a boat club and training centre.
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Dear Santa, I've been an awful good girl this year and 1 was wondering it you could do me a teensy favour? Any room in your sleigh for an extra parcel? I only ask because I'd really like to return Ron Clarke to whence he came. And you can have Cr Grant Pforr if there's room. Just tie him to the back of the sleigh.
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IT has been a tough seven days for the Gold Coast City Council but not as tough as it has been on the ratepayers who ultimately foot the bills. On Saturday this news organisation revealed the council needlessly spent $10 million of ratepayers' money to buy an island resort.
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COMBINED Chamber of Commerce spokesman Bob Janssen has labelled the Gold Coast City Council a 'bloody disgrace' over the bungled purchase of former South Stradbroke Island resort Tipplers. Mr Janssen said evidence in the Weekend Bulletin proved beyond doubt the council's Tipplers decision was disgraceful and ratepayers were paying the price.
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THE council's controversial purchase of popular South Stradbroke Island resort Tipplers might not have gone ahead if councillors had been aware of a critical report into the issue. Fears of over-development and high-rise buildings in a development application, which was never lodged or seen by most councillors,prompted them to vote in favour of the purchase.
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THE correspondence that The Bulletin has uncovered via a freedom of information request regarding the Tipplers Resort purchase clearly indicates that the bureaucracy was less than impressed with Mayor Clarke and Councillor Pforr's idea to purchase the resort. For senior bureaucrats to resort to using words and phrases such as diabolical, a lazy $7 million and eternally grateful ... I smell a rat.
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JUST 14 days out from the settlement date for the controversial Tipplers deal, council bureaucrats were still confused about how the city would fund the buyout. Emails exchanged between senior bureaucrats, and obtained by The Bulletin under freedom of information laws, reveal council officers initially had no idea where to find the money. *this is a large download file as it is a scan of 2 pages =>800K
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THE Gold Coast City Council's plans for an environmental park at former South Stradbroke Island resort Tipplers could still be derailed pending a decision from the State Government.
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MAYOR Ron Clarke will host a special meeting at Tipplers next month in a bid to convince disgruntled boaties and marine industry representatives of his vision for the controversial South Stradbroke Island resort site .....
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GOLD Coast Mayor Ron Clarke's revelation the council purchased Tipplers Resort to turn it into parkland has angered the marine fraternity. Marine Queensland Gold Coast manager Charles Dickson said the admission the council had deliberately used Open Space Levy funding, or green funding, to prevent the site being used for anything other than parkland, was at odds with the industry's vision for Tipplers .....
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THE use ofgreenspace funding to buy the former Tipplers Resort on South Stradbroke Island, preventing the site being used for anything other than parkland, was a deliberate strategy, says Mayor Ron Clarke. Cr Clarke. who pushed through the purchase at an initial cost of more than $7 million, last night confirmed he had never intended the area to be anything other than park .....
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GOLD Coast Councillors have given themselves an extra fortnight off over Christmas - and it's no wonder why. Their purchase and closure of Tipplers resort on South Stradbroke Island has turned into a nightmare, following news that it was bought using money from a green space fund. This means the area can only be used as parkland now and plans for a new eco-resort have had to be shelved.
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MORE than half of Tipplers Resort will be demolished before Christmas to make way for a community barbecue area. The area will include a television room. table tennis courts and new barbecues. The bad news for boaties is that a report due back to council before Christmas is now expected to be delayed until next year. Instead, a progress report will be handed to councillors on Monday. Mayor Ron Clarke last night denied the 'reopening' of the South Stradbroke Island Resort shopfront was a ploy to please boaties .....
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MAYOR Ron Clarke has told the State Government it can buy back Tipplers for $10 million. The offer was made after a stunning attack by Broadwater MP Peta-Kaye Croft in State Parliament, criticising the council's unpopular purchase of two Tipplers resorts. Cr Clarke said he would not back down on his move to take over the island, despite not having any immediate plans to overhaul the rundown resorts. Both Cr Clarke and local councillor Grant Pforr said Ms Croft was running a 'populist' campaign to divert attention away from the State Government's poor handling of the Broadwater......
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I TOLD you so, Ron, but you never listen. Did you ask me before you went on a wild and heady spending spree and splashed out $7 million of my money to buy Tipplers Resort? No. Did you bother asking the rate- payers before snapping up this 'bargain' and spending their money? No. Did you bother checking with the people who frequent Tipplers how they'd feel about it before you unceremoniously booted them off the island? No. You went and bought it anyway. South Stradbroke Island, you lectured us, was more than just a drinking hole for the working man. Shame on us for being so selfish for keeping a part of paradise for us workers, a place where we don't .....
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THE Gold Coast City Council folly in buying Tipplers and other resorts on South Stradbroke Island threatens to descend into a full-blown debacle. Earlier this year, at a time when Gold Coasters were - and still are - losing their jobs. When rates were set to skyrocket, which they have since, and the Gold Coast economy had slowed to a crawl, nothing incensed many Coasters as much Mayor Ron Clarke's seemingly irrational determination to spend an estimated $7 million un buying out resort leases on South Stradbroke Island .....
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1 AM disgusted with the city council over Tipplers, removal of memorial plaques, $1 million portable loos in Surfers, road works, rate and councillor wage rises, closing of the Playroom, new council headquarters, closure of sports grounds after rain, charging people for using parks and parking fines. This council is a disgrace and please bring on the next election. If not dissolve it straight away and get rid of political correctness. It is destroying the fabric that we came to enjoy. Dawn Crichlow is the only one who would make past councillors proud ......
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COUNCILLOR Grant Ptorr's letter of August 31 is very hard to fathom. Being in a position where I have had the opportunity to ascertain the views of those most affected by the closure of Tipplers, 1 have not found one person in favour of it. In fact, I have made a point of talking to Stradbroke Island residents, people who actually visit the area, tourists, local boaties and commercial operators and I have found them .....
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For Queensland boaties, Tipplers Passage has long been a favourite anchorage and destination. Now the once vibrant anchorage and island destination with its colourful mix of resorts, restaurants, club and educational facilities is under serious threat from the ineptitude of government, this time at the hands of Queensland's second largest municipality the Gold Coast City Council .....
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WITH reference to Friday's story on the Tipplers Precinct, I would like to make the following clarifications. For some time now, I have been meeting and speaking with key leisure boating identities, including members of the wider community, to work towards the best eventual outcomes for Tipplers. The recent press photographs show structures that are derelict and abandoned in the worst condition of both land holdings, full of termites that are only good for demolition. Some 20,000 families visit the island camp grounds every year but many over recent years left, never to return, due to rowdiness and inappropriate behaviour .....
The closure of Tipplers Resort on South Stradbroke Island has many of the town's aquatic tipplers up in arms. Ken Vernon and Robyn Wuth examine the issue that has tongues wagging.
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1500 farewell Tipplers EMOTIONS ran high yesterday as hundreds came for one last drink before the much loved Tipplers Resort is demolished. All had one question in their minds: why? • Reports, Pages 4-5
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THEY shut the doors at South Stradbroke Island's Tipplers Resort for the last time yesterday - and 1500 turned out to say their goodbyes. Frustrations were evident. Tears flowed and emotions ran high as the island's faithful condemned the Gold Coast City Council's decision to close the resort to make way
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CAROL Pearce will start a new career today after the South Stradbroke Island photographer lost her job-thanks to Tipplers Resort being closed down. Ms Pearce, pictured, was one of 35 staff left unemployed but hopes to make a new start when she begins work at a Runaway Bay cafe owned by former resort owner Gary Kline.
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IT was last drinks at historical South Stradbroke Island resort Tipplers yesterday, and there were plenty of tears in beers. There was also plenty of anger at the Gold Coast City Council's decision to spend $7 million of ratepayer funds tobuy the resort, close it down and put more than 30 staff out of work in the midst of the global economic crisis.
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UP to 1000 boaties will head to Tipplers for a 'last drinks' protest tomorrow as Mayor Ron Clarke prepares to send in bulldozers to demolish the South Stradbroke Island resort. Protesters oppose the Gold Coast City Counciltransforming the site into an alcohol-free zone.
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Grant Pforr’s version of the facts behind Tipplers .....