V1 - GCBE01Z01MA

AHEAD OF THE GAME STAR boss Matt Bekierhas slammed plans for arival casino, claiming theBroadbeach hotel and ca-sino complex was alreadyproviding a global tourismhub (GTH) on the Coast.

But the State Govern-ment’s senior bureaucratoverseeing a GTH projecthas fired back, telling amajor conference in Bris-bane that there is big po-tential in an integratedresort to complement TheStar. REPORT P12

NAILEDTHE building regulator hasswooped on a tower in Broad-beach after the unlicensedbuilder behind a collapsed

construction company set upin an office there.

Adrian Hill’s company, ABHill Constructions, went intoadministration in May, after aspray-painted threat of “pay

tradesman or burn” on one ofhis sites sparked a police in-

vestigation. Liquidators of thecompany say it owes about$4.7 million to subcontrac-tors, the Queensland Build-ing and ConstructionCommission (QBCC) and

other creditors.Mr Hill (pictured) yester-

day denied he was trading,saying he was using the officeas storage space.

New homeowners were

also hit, with manyhomes left unfinished, andsome constructed withoutcouncil approval.

REPORT P6

KATHLEEN SKENE

Builder accused of spruiking business despite being rubbed out a year ago owing creditors and taxpayers $4.7 millionEXCLUSIVE

SUBBIESBACK OUR

GUILTY AS SIN

GEORGE PELL

FULL REPORT P4-5

WAVE OF ANTICIPATIONGOLD Coast surfers will be able to ride the perfect wave every day of the year under plans to open a man-made surf park next year. Former world surfing champion Mark Occhilupo,

who worked as the surf industry adviser for the project, said bringing a wave pool to the Gold Coast would be “massive’’ for local surfers. FIND OUT MORE P7

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 GOLDCOASTBULLETIN.COM.AU $1.70

12 month digital subscription + Kayo

Never miss afooty moment

Conditions apply

1800 027 627

Wharf St, Tweed Heads

1800 014 014

GOLDCOASTBULLETIN.COM.AU • WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27 2019 • SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 726 161NEWS 07

V1 - GCBE01Z01MA

Death not suspiciousAN autopsy has ruled the sud-den death of Gold Coast nurseLisa Davey last week was notsuspicious.

Ms Davey, 37, passed awayon Saturday two days afterbeing found in her Arundeldriveway with an unexplainedtraumatic head injury.

Yesterday, police released amedia statement confirmingthat her death was not consid-ered suspicious after a post-mortem was conducted.

Police will prepare a reportfor the Coroner.

It comes after days of policeinvestigations looking into allleads surrounding Ms Davey’spersonal life, with police call-ing for CCTV of the area in themoments leading up to andafter her death.

The emergency departmentnurse was found critically in-jured and unresponsive byneighbours about 6pm lastThursday. It is understood MsDavey was preparing to leavefor Cairns next week followingthe death of her mother.

Ms Davey was described as“brilliant” and “passionate” bythose who knew her.

M2 move good: TateFOR Mayor Tom Tate thegood of the many outweighsthe good of the few when itcomes to reclaiming propertyfor a second M1.

The State Government yes-terday announced they maytake over homes at Eagleby tobuild the road, but Cr Tate wasnot concerned and welcomedthe action.

“In any part of increasingthe Ml or M2 highway there’salways an impact on peopleclose by but you’ve got to lookat the overall that the good ofthe many outweigh the good ofthe few,” he said.

“I think any movement re-garding further investigationand creating of the M2 is time-ly because everyone’s waitingfor a long-term solution.

“I know in the short termwe’ll start fixing it now but Iwelcome the initiative by theState Government to move onwith it and really from every-one from Brisbane to southeastQueensland we really cheeryou on.”

New surf park rides wave of excitementMICHAEL SAUNDERSmichael.saunders@news.com.au

A REVOLUTIONARY man-made surf park featuring upto five waves at one time willopen on the Gold Coast inwhat industry experts say is amajor coup.

Gold Coast-based com-pany Surf Lakes has an-nounced its first commercial“5 Waves” pool will be builton the Gold Coast and is ex-pected to be operational bythe second half of 2020.

The park will be one of thefirst in Australia to open tothe public and has the city’s

top surfers salivating over theprospect of a permanentlyperfect wave. Surf Lakes saysit would pump out up to 2400surfing waves each hour.

Former world surfingchampion Mark Occhilupo,who worked as the surf indus-try adviser for the project,said bringing a wave pool tothe Gold Coast would be“massive’’ for local surfers.

“When I first started work-ing with Surf Lakes I toldthem there had to be one onthe Gold Coast,” the Cool-angatta local said.

“They thought we hadenough waves. But we’ve got

so many surfers and at timeswe get no surf, especiallyaround September, Octoberand November when thereare bad winds and little swell.

“Even at the moment afterthe big swell has ruined allthe banks – in those kind ofsituations we’d be coming toSurf Lakes.”

Estimated build cost is be-tween $20 million and $40million, depending on sur-rounding infrastructure.

The company hopes to getup to a million visitors to thepark each year.

Mr Occhilupo said theSurf Lakes design was differ-

ent from other wave pool des-igns, relying on a “centralmachine’’ – similar to a giantplunger – pumping out fivewaves of various sizes, lengthand difficulty each time.

“We want it to be very pro-ductive for surfers of all skilllevels,” Mr Occhilupo said.

“There are five waves frombeginner to expert level, soessentially you can learn tosurf and become an expert inthe one place. There are alsosix to eight wave sets, so therecan be 30 people in the lakeall surfing at the same time.”

Surf Lakes CEO Mal Bor-geaud was tight-lipped on a

location, as negotiations hadyet to be completed.

“We know the facility willbring tremendous benefits tothe community, not just byproviding waves and surf-ori-ented fun … it will be a boostfor employment, tourism andthe local economy,” Mr Bor-geaud said.

Gold Coast Tourism chair-man Paul Donovan wel-comed the proposal, sayingSurf Lakes would do “excep-tionally well”.

The park would be builtand operated in a specificallydesigned lake. Constructionis set to begin late 2019.

Surf Lakes’ artificial wave pool demo site in Yeppoon. The company has announced it will build its first commercial ‘5 Waves’ pool on the Gold Coast.

Problem solved3hoursin under

BumperTech 18 Years of Professional Service

www.bumpertech.com.auCALL NOW: 0412 241 014

We Come To You

Mobile Paint and Bumper Repairs - Scrapes,

scratches and minor panel damage

No obligation free quotes

Trade qualified team

Computerised Colour matching on location

5 YEAR

WARRANTY

got this

get this