Putting aside the many legal, ethical, economic, environmental, safety, aesthetic, practical and anti-egalitarian arguments that have been thrashed out on social and news media for and against beach bars, it strikes me that the council, in deciding to persist with the trial over the next three years, has misjudged the Gold Coast’s beach culture.
Two fundamental issues relating to the ‘WHAT FOR’ factor, have been overlooked. Both are compelling at many foreign beach holiday destinations, but absent here. One is protection from roving hawkers selling handicrafts, snacks and knick-knacks - but that doesn’t happen here in Australia so there’s no justification for segregation. Another is the romantic ambience of sensational sunsets over water.
Australian beach experiences are different. It’s customary for beach-goers to set-up anywhere, hassle-free of hawkers. There is plenty of wide, open, white, sandy beach so if you don’t want to be close to others, you can simply position yourself away from the surf lifesaving flags where people tend to cluster. Unless we live within a close walk to the beach, we tend to drive, so when we plan to settle down for more than a surf or quick swim, we bring our own folding chairs, umbrellas, marquees and maybe an Esky with drinks and snacks.
Kurrawa boardwalk, 5.30am, January 2012
Much like ‘the other Gold Coast’ in Florida, USA, mornings, from sunrise to midday are the best time to enjoy our east-facing ocean beaches. After noon, wind gets stronger, and shadows from Casuarinas and tall buildings stretch across the beach. There are even some stretches between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach where the building shadows join up to create continuous shade. At sunset, if you crane your neck away from the ocean to the west, you might be lucky to catch a bright crack of sunlight passing between silhouetted buildings; and after dark, there can be a glittering presence of lights in the apartment buildings, but looking east, the ocean and sky appear black. There is little more to see than the outline of breaking waves, lights of passing aeroplanes or ships on the horizon, and occasional fireworks. If the weather is fine and calm, the ambience can be lovely, but seldom is it sensational like the mornings, or evening sunsets in other places where beaches face west.
By far the best locations for afternoon or night-time drinking and dining at the Gold Coast, are west-facing with outlook to sunsets and city lights over water.
It was no surprise to many that the Kurrawa Beach Club trial was a fizzer. Despite the operator’s efforts to set it up with smart furniture and decor, it didn’t achieve a great vibe. Visitors were sparse - even on bright sunny days and fine evenings. I took a series of photos at random times, and I followed Kurrawa Beach Club’s Instagram account and hashtag. Collectively, these give a picture of the beach bar’s popularity, or rather lack thereof. A security fellow told us that there was one busy night in January for a private function associated with the ‘Magic Millions’ carnival, but I missed that. Despite targeted events and entertainment, marketing initiatives and social media influencer promos, the beach club didn’t show promise of attracting regular crowds.
I wasn’t opposed to the trial. I was keen to see how it would manifest, and I was open to persuasion that it could be great for Broadbeach. Kurrawa Beach Club appeared to be well managed. If there were problems with noise, rubbish, car parking and public drunkenness and other nuisances that are typically associated with licensed venues, I didn’t notice them. From afar on the beach the setup looked ok. The warm glowing festoon lights were a far improvement from the white floodlights that normally beam on the beach at Kurrawa. However, from the park and dunes it was an eyesore. The cluster of portable toilets, storage containers, rubbish bins, power generators and the hoardings that shrouded them intruded on a large area of the beach, dunes, boardwalk, volleyball courts and the park.
The council reported that the trial attracted 44,820 visitors, even though rain and overcast weather marred 47 of a possible 76 days of trade. I’m dubious about this figure and would like to know how it was calculated. It’s unlikely the council and trial operator will reveal a true balance sheet of costs and revenue – with staffing and security, capital set-up and maintenance, power and water, cleaning and waste disposal, the council’s installation of substantial electrical power board, and multiple spaces in the nearby public car park that were cordoned off for exclusive use by the club. If I were to venture to guess, the trial returned a financial loss.
A close look at Kurrawa Beach Club’s Instagram account reveals a general sense of the less-than-anticipated popularity of the place. By comparison to similar style venues of Burleigh Pavilion and Cali Beach Club with more than 50K followers and thousands of hash tagged posts, it’s evident that Kurrawa Beach Club failed to capture the market.
Photos taken at random times during operating hours of Kurrawa Beach Club, Dec 21 - Mar 22
Certainly, some people enjoyed Kurrawa Beach Club and would like it to return, but from conversations during the trial period with residents and visitors around Kurrawa, my sense is that most people were not impressed. They welcome pop-up bars and dining for events and festivals but establishment of a semi-permanent beach club for six months of every year would be a stretch too far. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said “let’s not kill the goose that laid the golden egg.” Our magnificent beaches are what the Gold Coast is most famous for. Most people would prefer that they remain free of commercial intrusions.
That’s not to say that there aren’t other commercial opportunities to provide services and supplies to beach-goers, which could be implemented immediately with little financial risk or public objection:
The council could facilitate orders from local cafes and restaurants by providing designated delivery/collection points;
The council could offer permits for a limited number of cold drink/ice cream carts; and
SLSC’s could run beach equipment hire services for such things as towels, chairs, umbrellas or boogie boards.
At Kurrawa, there’s an obvious business opportunity for a bar in conjunction with, or alongside the Surf Life Saving Club’s Tower 28 Café, and the same applies to many of the clubhouses from Main Beach to Rainbow Bay
It’s a mistake to believe that our tourism economy needs permanent or semi-permanent beach bars to expand the appeal of the Gold Coast, or that standalone beach bars will ever be commercially viable. Meanwhile, local residents feel that since Broadbeach was combined into a new Council Division 10 with Surfers Paradise and Main Beach in 2020, the public spaces, in particular the parks of Broadbeach are not receiving a fair share of attention and investment.
Taking a wider perspective on the matter of beach bars, there are better ways to put the Gold Coast on the world stage as one just a handful of the world’s great ocean beach cities. For a start, the council could take proper care of the existing foreshore. And they could plan for its future with a more ambitious masterplan for Kurrawa Pratten Parklands. Plus, it’s about time that the whole of Australia recognises this amazing quality of the Gold Coast as a beach city and its significance in our national identity. The Gold Coast deserves a Global Surf Museum, at the southern end of the city, overlooking the world famous ‘Superbank’.
Foreshore Maintenance: The foreshore from Kurrawa SLSC south has been neglected for at least 10 years. The dune vegetation overstorey has thinned out, the understorey is infested with weeds, and the beach viewing platforms parallel with Elizabeth and Margaret Avenues that were washed away by storms around 2013 have never been replaced. And night lighting is patchy and poorly designed and specified. These are things that could and should be addressed immediately.
Kurrawa Pratten Parklands Masterplan: Not since 2007, has the landscape design of this significant and prominent foreshore park been reviewed by the council. Nor has the masterplan been followed. Each year, it seems the parklands are incrementally degraded by piecemeal and contingent changes, tree removal, installation of concrete, artificial turf and even random public artworks that bear little resemblance to the masterplan. Structures like toilets, park shelters and even the new Kurrawa SLSC clubhouse have been built within view corridors to the beach. The all-abilities playground was re-positioned without thought about the noise impacts on adjacent resident.
As superdense highrise development proceeds at full speed, Broadbeach is losing its shine – or rather its green. But there are obvious opportunities to offset the heating and hardening effects of tall concrete and glass buildings by supergreening the streets and parks of Broadbeach, starting with the largest and most prominent park along the foreshore. Kurrawa Pratten Parkland deserves the royal treatment. Broadbeach Parklands could be at least as good, and even better than Southport Broadwater Parklands, and the wonderful foreshore parklands in other Queensland coastal cities like Yeppoon, Bagara, Townsville, Cairns.
Global Surf Hub: The Gold Coast can lay claim, alongside Hawaii and California, as a Global Surf Hub. There’s a natural opportunity and longheld ambition amongst many community members, to establish a cluster of surf retail outlets, allied organisations and a home for the amazing collections of Surf World museum at the southern Gold Coast. There’s plenty of enthusiasm, local knowledge and content to make it an international attraction. If the State Government, council and tourism authority collaborate and prioritise some investment from the public purse, this longheld community ambition could be turned into reality.
In the complex business of governing cities, there is no single correct way to do things, and trials can be useful to test the viability of proposals. I observed the Kurrawa Beach Club trial closely and if I were asked to objectively rate it out of 10, I would give it a 3. It’s inconceivable to me how the council has determined that it was successful enough to persist with. If people in decision-making roles boost the local economy, enhance appreciation of our beaches and strengthen the image and cultural identity of the Gold Coast, there are better ways to achieve this.