No denying the dinosaurs despite residents' appeals

Eccentric Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer was yesterday given the green light to build "the world's biggest" park exhibiting giant robotic dinosaurs despite hundreds of objections filed by local residents.

A spokesman for the Sunshine Coast regional council said Palmer's plan to erect up to 160 animatronic dinosaurs at his Coolum resort was approved "unanimously by the council", which hopes it will increase tourism.

The exhibit will include five Tyrannosaurus rex robots, the largest a towering 8.5m tall, as well as a 10m Ruyangosaurus. The creatures, on order from China, will move their tails and chests and blink their eyes.

There are already two specimens on display at Coolum, north of Brisbane, and a third is under construction, a Palmer spokesman said.

"Jeff the T-rex [is] near the golf course pro shop. [There is also] Bones the Skeleton, and a giant crocodile is being installed.

"More dinosaurs [are] coming in [the] next few weeks."

Palmer, a larger-than-life character who has made a fortune in mining and is currently building a replica of the Titanic to re-enact the ill-fated passenger ship's Atlantic voyage in 2016, has described Coolum as the world's biggest dinosaur exhibit.

Once asked why he was building the Titanic replica, Palmer said: "I want to spend the money I've got before I die."

The council said Coolum "has the potential to attract new patronage and maintain the economic viability of the resort", rejecting local residents' fears about noise and the dinosaurs harming the resort's reputation and image.

"The additions form a minor part [about 1.3ha] of the 150ha resort," it said.

Exhibits would be motion-sensor controlled, have a predetermined performance time and noise would be minimised with an adjustable master volume control "to ensure they do not disturb resort patrons or nearby residents".

Palmer is running in national elections this year in an audacious bid to become prime minister.