Premium Content Subscriber only A business mogul has launched a mammoth $42m lawsuit against Mackay Regional Council over a proposed residential development in the city's south. Mackay property developer John Cowley, who with his wife Rhonda owns multiple development companies and trusts, has alleged council backflipped on a promise to support his push for a housing subdivision. It is further alleged council benefited from more than $16m in infrastructure to the area that was paid for by the Cowleys, which they claim had only been designed and built as part of a joint "agreement" in relation to the housing project.