COMMERCIAL development fees on the Gold Coast are up to 10 times higher than other states, investigations by the Bulletin and goldcoast.com.au have revealed.

Five councils in NSW, Victoria and WA said they would charge between $58,000 and $404,000 for a proposal similar to one in Pimpama, which the Gold Coast City Council last month slugged the developer $2.5 million.

The GCCC approved Tipalea’s bid for a shopping centre on a 2.4Ha site on Yawalpah Road, which included 5500sq m of retail such as a Woolworth’s supermarket, specialty stores and medical centre.

However, three examples from Camden Council, in south-west Sydney, revealed charges between $60,000 and $404,000 for a similar development; $297,000 in Manningham City Council in Victoria; and $365,000 in City of Stirling, Perth.

GCCC Sustainable City Future boss councillor Peter Young said he accepted Gold Coast charges were higher, but said if developers did not pay, ratepayers would.

Tipalea managing director Scott Spanton said he had a similar development to his Pimpama bid in south-west Sydney where he was expecting to pay $60,000 in council charges and up to $200,000 in State Government charges.

“We love the Gold Coast, we want to do more up there, but (the charges) make it harder to make it stack up,” Mr Spanton said.

Read the full article in the Gold Coast Bulletin by Matthew Killoran