A REDLAND City councillor has launched a scathing attack on political leaders over the long-running delays at the Weinam Creek Priority Development Area, accusing them of “misrepresentations” and rewriting history on the troubled project.
Councillor Paul Golle has publicly called out Mayor Jos Mitchell, Councillor Wendy Boglary and Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie as tensions continue to escalate following the State Government’s takeover of the full precinct yesterday.
Cr Golle said claims that a December 2025 council vote caused delays were “absurd” and ignored more than a decade of stalled delivery under successive State Governments.
“Councillor Boglary and Mayor Mitchell’s claim that seven councillors stalled progression through a 2025 vote is absurd and appears to be political spin,” he said.
Weinam Creek was declared a Priority Development Area in 2013 under the former LNP Government, with the intention of fast-tracking a coordinated redevelopment of the ferry terminal, transport interchange and surrounding waterfront precinct.
Cr Golle said the project had always been a State-led responsibility.
He argued that from the outset the vision was for a mixed-use waterfront precinct — not a full-line shopping centre — with retail only ever considered as a fallback if the State failed to deliver core infrastructure such as parking.
According to Cr Golle, council’s later consideration of a shopping centre was driven by uncertainty over State delivery, not a preferred outcome.
He said once the State recommitted to building the multi-storey car park, the fallback option was no longer required contributing to council’s decision to walk away from a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with a potential developer.
Cr Golle also rejected claims that recent council decisions were responsible for the project’s delays, pointing instead to a timeline stretching back more than a decade.
“At the time of the original PDA announcement in 2013–2014, the LNP Government under Jeff Seeney stood alongside former Mayor Karen Williams and Councillor Boglary, publicly confirming the State’s commitment,” he said.
“It therefore defies credibility to now suggest that seven councillors are responsible for delays that have in fact accumulated over more than a decade.”
He also took aim at statements from the Deputy Premier that the State had “stepped in” to fix the project, arguing the State had always held responsibility for the site.
Cr Golle said claims about missing services at the precinct were also misleading, pointing to an existing State-funded medical facility already operating on site.
He warned the debate had become politicised, obscuring the real issue of delivery.
“This has become a political nonsense that obscures a simple reality,” he said.
“After more than a decade (2013–2025), successive State Governments have failed to deliver the core infrastructure for their own transport hub, with responsibility repeatedly shifted away from that fact and thanks to political spin, rate payers are unknowingly being led down the garden path by Councillor Boglary, Mayor Mitchell and the Deputy Premier.”
Cr Golle also raised concerns about the financial implications of past proposals, arguing that pushing for a full-line shopping centre risked shifting costs onto ratepayers.
He said that position conflicted with claims of wanting to reduce financial pressure on the community.
“Weinam Creek was declared a Priority Development Area in 2013 to fast-track coordinated infrastructure delivery, yet more than a decade later the core commitments — particularly the multi-storey car park — remain incomplete,” he said.
“It is not accurate to suggest recent Council decisions are the cause of long-standing delays when the PDA framework has been in place since 2013 under successive State Governments.
“This has become a political distraction from the real issue: delivery of the infrastructure originally promised for a State-led transport hub.”
