A Gold Coast City Council decision to impound boats and canoes stored along the Broadwater at Labrador and Biggera Waters was based on a single complaint, according to a boatie opposed to their removal.
The council said it received approximately 40 complaints about the watercraft being kept long term along the foreshore and removal stickers were placed on the craft in May.
On June 11, 22 vessels were impounded by council officers; a number of those were identified as abandoned.
Retiree Wayne Hayes was one of the affected boaties and said more than 800 people had signed a petition against the crackdown.
He said a freedom of information request was made to the council, asking for copies of the complaints it had received about the vessels, which, in some cases, had been stored there for decades.
"So we received back a response from council, and the bottom line is that there was a total of one complaint received," Mr Hayes said.
He said the complaint was submitted on behalf of a resident by former Division 4 councillor Kristin Bolton who was not re-elected at the local government poll in March.
"She received that in April 2019 and that is the only complaint that has been provided to us and therefore the only complaint received by council," Mr Hayes said.
He said the 2019 complaint related to boats being stored on a nearby creek bank and not the Labrador foreshore.
Division 7 councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden, who was elected in March, disputes Mr Hayes's claim that only one complaint had been received by council.
"The number I was given was that there was 12 formally lodged complaints related to watercraft storage along the Labrador foreshore," he said.
"At the time when it was all happening, I was seeking regular updates from the regular law officers and the number I was given was approximately 40.
"I received a number of correspondence from people showing support for the watercraft being stored on the foreshore, but I also received a number of people contacting me not showing support for them being stored there."
Mr Hayes said he and other tinnie owners wanted council to provide storage options, adding that he was told by Cr Bayldon-Lumsden that a submission was going to be made at the council meeting on June 18.
"At the time I was told within three weeks of the meeting that the decision was made to remove the tinnies, I was told I'd have an answer from the council officers," Mr Hayes said.
"That never came so I chased up the council officer at the time and there was no response at that time."
Storage options
Mr Hayes said he wanted bollards placed along the foreshore so boaties could secure their vessels and said they would be happy to pay a permit fee.
Cr Bayldon-Lumsden said council was preparing a report, requested by him, on possible options for the compliant storage of watercraft on the Labrador foreshore.
"It's hoped that this report will be submitted to committee in October 2020 for discussion," he said.
"We'll be able to have that discussion then about how we can foresee the boats being stored on the foreshore in a compliant manner moving forward."
