Surfers copping a blast of criticism
A month ago, failed Surfers Paradise council candidate Mona Hecke controversially branded the tourism magnet suburb as “smelling like a toilet”.
Four weeks on, some Gold Coast residents agree with her in fresh criticism of what is supposed to be one of the jewels of he city.
Online, residents branded Surfers Paradise “grubby”, “smelly” and filled with clubbers “urinating in doorways”, weeks after Ms Hecke appeared on the Bulletin front page with a cleaning crew, saying the precinct needed a good “Gerni”.
Despite losing to incumbent councillor Darren Taylor at the election, the latest social media criticism has gone viral on Facebook this week, with locals saying the Glitter Strip hub was “a total embarrassment”.
“I see the guys cleaning each morning, but it just isn’t enough,” one user commented.
Another suggested its “disgusting” state was a deterrent for tourists.
“Think someone needs to take a hard look how this looks for tourists as well as residents,” they added.
During his first term, Cr Taylor pitched a $138m masterplan for Surfers but it was rejected by his fellow councillors who voted to approve only $40m for Cavill Mall upgrades and recommended community consultation on the rest of the masterplan upgrades west to the Nerang River.
Cr Taylor said his revitalisation plan would attract better business offerings to the strip, improving the suburb overall.
“There’s a lot of investment coming into the area and part of the conversation we can have is the improvement of our public realm and these businesses improving their product,” he said.
The revitalisation plan will focus on revamping Surfers Paradise’s Cavill Mall, Cavill Avenue and The Esplanade through to the riverfront by Nerang River with more seating, meeting places, greenery and beachside pavilions.
Cr Taylor called it a body of work that would enhance the area.
“That means we’ve got improvements of public realm which will then help to encourage business to improve private enterprise areas, a bit like Pacific Fair,” he said.
“When they did the upgrade to Pacific Fair it brought better offerings to the shopping centre. We need to improve our public realm – it’s tired and it needs that investment.”
In August a proposal was submitted to transform the city-owned Surfers Paradise Transit Centre into an entertainment venue.
Cr Taylor said the proposed works would draw people into what was a “ghost town” zone of Surfers Paradise.
“Instead of people just coming down Cavill Mall and Orchid Ave it will pull people through that western side – which then will go down that north-south corridor. It’s all about activation and that way hopefully business will activate through those areas that have been a ghost town for the last 10 years,” he said.
Cr Taylor said the Gold Coast had shifted from “just being” a tourist attraction and with it further investment was a necessity.
“Broadbeach has got the casino, the restaurants – we’ve got HOTA over the river, we’ve got our Spit that I call our central park of the city,” he said.
“Surfers Paradise is the heart everyone goes to and that’s where the investment needs to go.
“If you look at all those other areas, we’re doing a great job – but Surfers needs that investment back in there and done properly.”