The Advisory Committee

EXTERNAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS (voting)

Jim McKnoulty
Chairman

Jim McKnoulty is chairman of Conics Limited, a group of consultancies assisting industry and government to meet challenges of growth management and climate change. He is National President of Green Australia founding and was appointed to the Queensland Government's new Climate Change Council by Premier Anna Bligh.

John Howe

John Howe is the current Honorary Professor of Integrated Engineering at Griffith University and is an Adjunct Professor of the School of Sustainable Design at Bond University. John has over 25 years of business experience in the Development and Construction industry.

Dr Sally MacKinnon

Dr Sally Mackinnon has been involved in sustainability education and enterprise since 1989. Dr MacKinnon works with and is a former Executive Officer of the Ethos Foundation, a not for profit, sustainability learning and earthcare organisation based at Binna Burra in South East Queensland.

Margaret Spriggs

Margaret Spriggs is the Manager of the Northern Gold Coast Communities for Children Initiative. Margaret has spent the last eight years developing and managing community-based programs for 'hard to reach' families with young children including families from a refugee background.

Michael Kerry

Michael Kerry is a senior executive with Babcock & Brown, Brisbane. Previously he was a Director with the Springfield Land Corporation, an Urban Management Adviser and the Executive Director, Office of Urban Management, Queensland. Michael has extensive experience in city and regional planning, major projects and urban development. Michael holds tertiary qualifications in Geography, Economics, and Civic Design and is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia.

Barry Lee

Barry Lee is Design Director of DBI Design, a Registered Architect with a First Class Honours Degree in Architecture from the University of South Australia. Barry has been involved in the design of a number of major internationally recognised high-rise buildings including the "Wave Tower" and "Q1 Worlds Tallest Residential Tower", both silver medal winners in the Emporis World Skyscraper Awards, and has been responsible for more than thirty other significant high-rise developments, many of which have received professional accolades.

Courtenay Cameron

Courtenay Cameron was a major contributor to Youth Week 2007 and has organised various activities and events for young people. She has also designed and created various web sites for young people on the Gold Coast. Most of Courtenay's work has been undertaken on a voluntary basis. Courtenay is studying multi media and committed to a healthy future for the city.

Stephanie Toft

Stephanie is a Year 12 student at Helensvale High School. Stephanie is very committed to the future of the Gold Coast and making a difference. Stephanie is a past Junior Council Junior Mayor.

Paul Burton

Paul Burton is Professor of Urban Management and Planning in the Urban Research Program at Griffith University, a position supported by Gold Coast City Council. Until recently he was Head of the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol, UK, where he carried out research on a wide range of public policy issues. These include studies of the effectiveness of equal opportunities policies and community health improvement programmes; research on living conditions and youth homelessness in European cities and evaluations of schemes to integrate housing and care for older people.

Deb Daly

Deb Daly has been employed in the Queensland Public Sector for over 17 years and currently holds the position of Institute Director for Gold Coast TAFE, an institution with a national reputation for outstanding performance. Ms Daly Chaired the Gold Coast's Education and Training Network during a year of significant change and achievement for that organisation in 2003, and has been an active member of the Gold Coast City Council's Regional Economic Development Advisory Board since her appointment as Institute Director in 2001.

INTERNAL COUNCIL MEMBERS (non-voting)

Councillor Greg Betts

Prior to being elected Councillor for Division 12 in 2004 Cr Greg Betts worked with Qantas for 15 years and the last position he held was Supervisor of the Qantas terminal at Coolangatta airport. His keen interest in urban design and land use planning has developed over the last four years in Council. Since he was young Greg was interested in politics and current affairs, so he always thought that he would end up standing for public office. The reason that he entered politics, and particularly Local Government, was a desire to be involved in the decision making process for my his area.

Councillor Chris Robbins

Born in England, Cr Robbins went to the United States as a teenager where she completed university studies. She taught English as a second language in Korean schools, then public health education in West Africa. While in North Queensland during the early 1970s working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders she began her long love affair with Australia and met her husband, Peter, with whom she moved to the Gold Coast Hinterland in 1976. She has also held positions on the executive committees of several Gold Coast Chambers of Commerce while being the Managing Director of her own events management business.

Councillor John Wayne

Councillor John Wayne was Born in Sydney and has lived in various locations throughout the Gold Coast since the early 1960's. He has been a Wongawallen resident for the past 12 years. Cr Wayne has a strong commitment to protecting public open space and our waterways and has been a long time supporter of the Save Our Spit Alliance and a member of the Coomera Valley and Hinterland Residents Association for the past 12 years. Cr Wayne is a member of numerous Council committees including Sustainable City Future, Planning implementation and Assesment (Deputy Chair), Governance and Finance and Council of Mayors (SEQ) representative on the Natural Resource Management South East Qld Inc Board (NRMSEQ).

Councillor Peter Young

Councillor Peter young was born and lived in Adelaide until he was 21, moved to Sydney and has now lived in Oxenford since 1994. Cr Young has been the Division 5 Councillor since 2000. Prior to election in 2000, he was the Director of his own consulting company. He provided award winning specialist advice and services in Geographic Information Systems to the Federal Government and Governments of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. Cr Young as tertiary qualifications at at Flinders University (South Australia) and Sydney University - Bachelor of Arts (double major) majoring in Political Science, Government and Public Administration, and Human and Urban Geography.

Mayor Ron Clarke
Bold Future Patron

My wife, Helen, and I first came to the Gold Coast for a holiday in 1957. We returned almost every year thereafter, and in 1995, after 14 years abroad mainly in Europe, came back for good. Mayor Ron Clarke's career in business has been based primarily in the accounting field. However, Ron is an icon in sporting circles. He set 19 world records between 1963 and 1970, in races ranging from 2 miles to 20 kilometres. He competed in 2 Olympic and 3 Commonwealth Games winning an Olympic bronze and four Commonwealth Games silver medals and is widely considered the ultimate ethical competitor. During his career he was twice judged the World's Greatest Sportsperson, in 1965 by the BBC, and the European Sports Writers Association and in 1966 by the French Academy of Sports. He was an inaugural admission to both the Australian Sports Hall of Fame, and the International Athletics Association Hall of Fame.

pdf identifier Read the Advisory Committee’s report to Council [PDF 268 KB]