A Gold Coast high-rise set to be built well above the city's height limits is just one of "hundreds" approved beyond planning guidelines, according to the acting mayor.

The council's Planning and Regulation Committee on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a 43-metre residential tower in Palm Beach — above the area's 29-metre limit.

Acting Mayor Mark Hammel said such approvals were common.

"It's happened hundreds of times in the city now," he said.

" That precedent is well and truly gone. "

A leading urban planner said the approvals reflected how Queensland's planning system had been designed.

"There probably is no such thing as an absolute height limit," Emeritus Professor Paul Burton of Griffith University said.

"Things are negotiable and not absolute."

What was approved?

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