Earlier this month, the Queensland government said no to a planned $3m Southport Spit casino. Now, it has been reported that Tom Tate, the mayor of the Gold Coast, has met with councillors and is mulling over an alleged new casino development at Carey and Queens Park, located just off the Gold Coast Highway. If the bid is successful, the casino would be constructed at the site of the region’s oldest bowls club.
Tate’s meeting took place less than a month after Gold Coast officials pulled the plug on the ASF-developed casino resort, which would have included corporate facilities, a hotel, and restaurants.
While ASF Group, a Sino-Australian investment house, expressed disappointment about the decision to veto the deal, the firm also owns the land directly behind the suggested site for the new casino, and was granted approval to construct a 66-storey tower on the land.
The new casino development is following the same trajectory as the previous Southport Spit plan, with Laird Marshall, president of the Southport Chamber of Commerce, pointing out that the proposed casino would impact low-rise, public space. Marshall also said the project might see a casino placed where it shouldn’t be and offered old hospital grounds as an alternative site.
While Marshall seems at least willing to entertain the idea of a new casino development, Dawn Crichlow, a local councillor, said she would oppose the plan, saying the site should remain for recreational use.
Local residents have also expressed their concerns, saying the development could negatively impact property prices and lead to more communal land being taken away for commercial development.
At the time the first project was cancelled, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made it very clear that an operating license would remain in place on the Gold Coast for any future projects.
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