Save Our Southern Gold Coast

17/10/2026

🚨 GOLD COAST RATEPAYERS — WHAT’S HAPPENING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS?

PUBLIC MONEY. PUBLIC LAND. PUBLIC ASSETS. PRIVATE DISCUSSIONS!

Serious questions are being raised about transparency at Gold Coast City Council.

🔴 INVEST GOLD COAST: Major property acquisition discussed behind closed doors.

🔴 WASTE SERVICES: The future of the popular blue kerbside bags debated in private.

🔴 CLEAN ENERGY PLANT: Another closed-door discussion about one of the City’s biggest projects.

🔴 NEW CITY PLAN: Councillors have already been briefed on proposed zoning changes and building heights across our suburbs.

🚨 SO HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION!

If councillors have already been shown proposed zoning and building heights, WHY HAVEN’T THOSE SAME MAPS AND DETAILS BEEN RELEASED TO RATEPAYERS?

WHEN COUNCILLORS ARE INFORMED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR SUBURBS, THE COMMUNITIES THEY REPRESENT SHOULD BE INFORMED TOO!

The accompanying growth map highlights significant development potential along our southern coastal suburbs.

But how high will buildings go? How much density is proposed? Where is the infrastructure to support it?

Commercial confidentiality may sometimes be necessary, but it must never become an excuse for unnecessary secrecy.

OUR SUBURBS. OUR FUTURE. OUR RIGHT TO KNOW!

📢 Release the proposed planning maps and give residents a genuine opportunity to have their say!

14/10/2026

🏆💚 TEARS OF JOY, A HISTORIC VICTORY — AND NOW TUGUN NEEDS US! 💚🏆

Our very own Tugun Bowls Club Mixed Pennant Team is heading to the Queensland State Playoffs! 👏👏👏

For the first time in the club’s 70-year history, the team has earned the honour of representing the Gold Coast at the State Playoffs in Mackay this November.

What a moment for our players, their supporters and our local community. You can imagine the tears of joy and pride after achieving something so special! 🥹💚

Now let’s help them get there.

The club is raising $14,000 to cover travelling expenses for the 14-person team. Every donation, big or small, will help our local champions take this next exciting step.

🙌 Can you donate?
🏢 Could your business become a sponsor?
📣 Could you share this post to help spread the word?

Business sponsors will receive community exposure and recognition while helping the team compete at the highest level it has ever reached.

To arrange a donation or request sponsorship details, please contact Denise Stanley, Tugun Bowls Club Secretary:
📧 [email protected]
📱 0402 644 465

They’ve earned their place. Let’s get behind them and help Tugun shine in Mackay! 🏆💚

13/10/2026

🌲 COOLANGATTA’S CHARACTER MATTERS — AND PLANNING LIMITS SHOULD TOO.

Save Our Southern Gold Coast welcomes Council’s refusal of a proposal to increase the approved Jazzland development from 18 to 23 storeys.

According to the Gold Coast Bulletin, planning officers identified concerns about the additional height, its impact on the transition between central Coolangatta and the lower-scale Kirra Hill precinct, and the visual prominence of Kirra Hill and its iconic Norfolk Pines.

The application attracted 27 objections and no submissions in support. An earlier 23-storey proposal drew more than 500 objections before an 18-storey development was approved in 2023.

📌 This refusal concerns the extra five storeys. The existing 18-storey approval remains.

Residents deserve confidence that planning decisions will respect their neighbourhoods—and that an approval won’t simply become the starting point for another height increase.

Our Norfolk Pines, heritage places and coastal landscape help define Coolangatta. Their significance deserves real weight in planning decisions.

👏 Credit to the residents who spoke up, the officers who recommended refusal and the councillors who supported it.

SOSGC wants this same commitment to protecting community expectations across the southern Gold Coast.

📰 Source: Gold Coast Bulletin report on the Jazzland tower refusal.



https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/gold-coast-council-rejects-developer-bid-to-build-23level-coolangatta-tower/news-story/d3096924e1565caa16d833bd706cfa53

13/10/2026

🏠🤫 WELCOME TO GOLD COAST’S MYSTERY PROPERTY SHOPPING!

The property? Confidential.
The price? Not publicly disclosed.
The funding? Councillors are asking.
The sacrifices elsewhere in the budget? Also asking.

But apparently it could be a “significant missed opportunity”. Nothing gets the municipal credit card twitching quite like those words. 💳

Brooke Patterson says she doesn’t believe we can afford it. Naomi Fowler wants clarity about funding and future responsibilities. Dan Doran questions whether Council should become a property developer or speculator.

Fair questions when ratepayers are being cast as the mystery buyers.

Here’s a radical investment strategy: show councillors the full financial picture BEFORE asking them to make the decision. Then tell residents as much as can properly be disclosed.

A confidential negotiation shouldn’t come with a blank cheque.

Save Our Southern Gold Coast would like “strategic” to mean a clear public benefit, an affordable price and an explanation of what we give up to pay for it. 🔍

12/10/2026

🪄📰 WELCOME TO THE GOLD COAST — WHERE FINDING OLD NEWS CAN FEEL LIKE A MAGIC TRICK.

Remember reading a story? Try finding it again. Suddenly you need a detective, an archivist and possibly a séance. 🔍

We’re trying to trace earlier reporting about the Kirra Pavilion lease, alongside records about Tallebudgera Surf Club’s reported water-pressure opening delay and the infrastructure assessments behind Palm Beach high-rises.

Were articles moved? Archived? Hidden behind a paywall? Or are we simply searching in the wrong place?

An accessible public record would save everyone the guessing game.

Meanwhile, the towers keep rising. Residents’ questions deserve answers that are just as easy to find as the glossy sales brochures.

💧 Can our water infrastructure cope with the additional demand?
🚒 What do the pressure and flow tests show about firefighting capacity?
📋 What reports were required, and what evidence did Council rely on?
🏛️ Who made the decisions about our public places—and where can we read the reasons?

Apparently “ocean views” come in enormous print. Infrastructure answers could use the same treatment.

This is our lifestyle, our safety and our quality of life.

Want to join us in pushing for integrity, transparency and proper answers? Follow Save Our Southern Gold Coast, share this post and get involved.

And if you have an old article, screenshot, date or link that could help piece the record together, please send it through. 🧩

11/10/2026

Ha ha….this is interesting. Your thoughts??

10/10/2026

🧬 Apparently innovation is in the Gold Coast’s DNA. Judging by this article, so is giving yourself a very generous pat on the back.

Mayor Tate’s latest column paints a glowing picture of progress, wellness and opportunity. From a southern Gold Coast community perspective, we’d like to see that enthusiasm applied to the basics:

🏠 Housing ordinary people can afford.
🚰 Infrastructure that keeps pace with development.
🌳 Public spaces protected for public use.
🗣️ Consultation that actually influences decisions.
🔎 Transparent decisions and straight answers.

We welcome research, medical advances and new opportunities. But a mayor’s performance also needs to be measured by how well the city serves the people who already live here.

Here’s an innovation worth trying, Tom: give residents the same attention you give the city’s promotional image.

Less spin. More accountability.

Save Our Southern Gold Coast

09/10/2026

💰 Where is the fairness for frontline staff?

It is deeply frustrating to see reports of substantial pay increases for senior executives while frontline employees are left fighting for better wages and working conditions.

These are the people delivering the services our community relies on every day. Their work deserves recognition, fair pay and decent conditions.

If Council can afford substantial increases at the top, it should explain why frontline workers’ requests are being knocked back. What increases have executives received, how do they compare with those offered to staff, and who approved them?

At Save Our Southern Gold Coast, we believe fairness starts with valuing the people doing the work. Respect should be reflected in their pay packets and working conditions.




https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DjA3rf652/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate’s salary package is now almost $327,000, with councillors costing ratepayers more than $3.1m a year. Full story: ➡️ https://bit.ly/4jcv0MA

09/10/2026

Big shout out to my new rising fans!

Kingsley Butcher, Patricia Barry

09/10/2026

🌿 Public spaces belong to the public.

Save Our Southern Gold Coast believes our parks, reserves and green spaces should be protected for community enjoyment and the natural environment. Commercialisation should never come at the expense of public access or the places people cherish.

Cr Glenn Tozer, we would like to see much greater scrutiny of what is permitted in these spaces. Your support for development and ecotourism raises an important question: where do you draw the line?

Calling something “ecotourism” doesn’t automatically make it environmentally responsible. The test should be what it protects, what it damages, and whether the community retains access.

We expect councillors to put those questions first. Our public spaces are a community asset, and their future deserves open discussion before commercial interests are given
a foothold.

Should businesses be allowed to use public parks for outdoor dining? 👇

A business in Mudgeeraba Village has asked councillor Glenn Tozer to raise the idea with Gold Coast City Council.

The idea is for businesses next to parks to rent space for outdoor dining — similar to cafés using footpaths — but "only when it’s appropriate and when the divisional councillor is supportive".

Cr Tozer said it began as a "very localised Mudgeeraba issue", but the proposal has been deferred because it could have wider implications for the city’s 1,200 public parks.

He acknowledged "concerns about the commercialisation of parks".

Mayor Tom Tate said he was open to the idea, but ruled out the service of alcohol.

Council will discuss the proposal on 22 October.

Would you support this in your local park? What conditions would you want?