BEACH IS OUR SACRED SITE
WHETHER the city should allow commercialisation of its beaches is a debate that’s been around for years.
Surveys have shown some public and business support for limited commercialisation, but the council has understandably baulked at any open slather approach.
One argument is that beaches at international destinations in Spain, France, the UK, and Hawaii for example are open for business and ours should be too if the city is to compete. The fallacy of that is evident in a rewording of the pitch. In fact they’re often closed because of business, with large areas of sand fenced off and only for the use of hotel or restaurant guests.
This is our Gold Coast’s major point of difference. Instead of people bleating about how wonderful it is that hotels, restaurants and other businesses “on The Continent’’ or in Hawaii are able to set up shop and monopolise stretches of sand, forcing the public to troop single file between the fence and the water, the Gold Coast should be telling the world that our beaches remain open to all.
This is what sets us apart from tourism meccas elsewhere. We retain common law access to the beaches and the surf.
Our beaches must never be partitioned. That 52km stretch of open space is the very reason why the Gold Coast is the nation’s tourism capital. It is on the sand and in the surf that one of the great qualities of our nation – egalitarianism – is at play. The beach is where captains of industry rub shoulders with ordinary joes, and meet and talk as equals.
Our beaches are sacred and as such, any move to allow businesses to operate on the sand has to be carefully vetted.
That said, there should be some latitude granted to reasonable operations that enrich the beach experience and so help the economy. It should be acceptable for waiters from established beachside businesses to deliver food hampers or cool drinks to beachgoers, or for small operators or surf clubs to set up chairs and umbrellas, provided the beach remains open to all.
But traders who have invested in bricks and mortar businesses should not be disadvantaged by operators who just turn up with a bike or barrow. There should be none of the relentless hawking that annoys tourists in Asia. There should be no litter.
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