Who Wins
- A dozen cafés & restaurants facing the closed strip (≈ 0.4% of Surfers businesses), maybe.
- The Surf Club has better access to the beach.
- A handful of event operators who occasionally use the space.
- Some pedestrians who enjoy a car-free walkway right beside the beach.
That’s it. It is yet to be established if the number of regular visitors to the Esplanade and Cavill Mall will increase, decrease or stay the same. Councils reports give no targets or estimations.
Who Pays
- Approximately 3,000 other Surfers Paradise businesses who face losing customers and more difficult trade.
- 30,000 residents now facing longer trips, traffic chaos, higher costs, and access problems.
- Emergency services delayed by congestion and blocked access.
- Visitors and locals who avoid Surfers because of the jams.
- The city’s reputation as Australia’s most accessible beachfront playground.
Lost Revenue – Turning the Customers Away
Closure removes ≈3,000 sightseeing car visits per day – prime customers being told to go somewhere else. The Esplanade is both a stage for parade and a platform to browse from. It is a popular destination for well heeled, touring, browsing customers.
If we look at 3,000 cars a day as a single person in the car no longer spending in Surfers Paradise then the costs of lost revenue can be looked at this way.
If its $20 → $60,000/day → $21.9M/year
If its $50 → $150,000/day → $54.7M/year
If its $100 → $300,000/day → $109.5M/year
The Costs
- Traffic gridlock choking Ferny Ave, Orchid Ave, the Boulevard & quiet side streets.
- Emergency response delays: slower fire, ambulance & police access.
- Pedestrian safety risks: in the night club strip and across the suburb
- Resident frustration: north–south divide, daily delays, higher transport costs.
- Economic leakage: visitors spend their money elsewhere.
The Balance
Less than 1% of businesses gain.
Everyone else — businesses, residents, ratepayers — pay.
The Question
Why sacrifice the prosperity of around 3,000 businesses, the amenity of 30,000 residents, and Surfers Paradise’s reputation for the benefit of just 12 cafés?
This trial isn’t fair. It’s not balanced. It’s no fun. It’s not Surfers Paradise.
What can you do?
The 2 Minute Business Survey
A small action, but powerful if many of us do it. The results will give us real data to show the impact this closure is having on local business.
Once completed, the survey returns you to this page.
Go to the Actions and Contacts Page
Call, write or take a survey, we provide links and resources to make it easy for you to have your opinion heard.
Go to the Business Actions Page
There are many businesses in Surfers Paradise who have seen a downturn. It is time for us to band together and show up in numbers. The time is now. Join us.
Call Council, lodge a complaint.
This is their administrative line and they may advise you to lodge your complaint online. Below is a link to Council’s Complaints page where you can submit online.
Contact the Division 10 Council
Send your story to In Surfers Paradise
Sending a letter to Council can be backed up by forwarding a copy to us. With your permission we can also put it on this website as an open letter.
Send your letter to the Federal member for Surfers Paradise
Contact the Stakeholder Engagement Team
This is the address supplied for business owners and property managers and anyone looking for more information on the Council’s FAQ page.
GC Have Your Say Survey
Note this survey’s questions are heavily loaded. They have a narrow positive framing focussed on a set of benefits which may not result from this plan. You are permitted to disagree with the premise of the questions and mark as "Not important" anything you do not consider to have a valid premise.
Make good use of the comments section.
Join us!
List of videos
Full Report | https://youtu.be/9ECWXxcSpzQ
Report Summary | https://youtu.be/I7iW_HTrVZs
01 Opening Introduction | https://youtu.be/GYHGkkCX-f8
02 The Esplanade is Already Healthy | https://youtu.be/oaQKPhiy5Rg
03 The Cars on The Esplanade | https://youtu.be/k_2Ky4PLNNU
04 Drove the money away | https://youtu.be/dAlmJ0MZi9c
05 The Bind in the Concept | https://youtu.be/-HYQblzC9eY
06 Road is a Dead Zone | https://youtu.be/asNaRY9pX_g
07 Esplanade Muted | https://youtu.be/Mm1zfUQiM6c
08 Business centre bypassed | https://youtu.be/lon4b5OETdA
09 Surfers Paradise Avoided | https://youtu.be/TyJ5dbglrYs
10 Installing a North South Divide | https://youtu.be/tOG7yXxovng
11 Causing Instant Gridlock | https://youtu.be/T3RAI_nFcY0
12 Risking Our Safety | https://youtu.be/_9ZLZ5Xl7mc
13 Emergency Services | https://youtu.be/z69xPjerw3U
14 Using The Wrong Models | https://youtu.be/o5NFQ3pyFQk
15 Breaking the Fun | https://youtu.be/oDylOU1PC5o
16 Attracting which locals? | https://youtu.be/BqmWRso9AWA
17 Failing their own Strategies | https://youtu.be/tuiMntednDg
18 Bending The 71% | https://youtu.be/iaF_g15nuBc
19 Not listening | https://youtu.be/Lu4kECLlWp8
20 Selling Peace and Quiet | https://youtu.be/j_kC5-4haSY
21 Destroying the Brand | https://youtu.be/wlU-pYtc2yo
22 Who is this for? | https://youtu.be/p8tOC8IsIxE
23 Iconic Design and Disruption | https://youtu.be/HX_ZlaA8aZM
24 No Morning Shade | https://youtu.be/zGDce7Lvtlc
25 The Iconic Scenic Drive | https://youtu.be/DzgeTzWYWJk
26 Alternate Design | https://youtu.be/WjIo8EInrEc
27 Hoons | https://youtu.be/_xaabV16BQo
28 The Missing Piece | https://youtu.be/P6ySApXP33g
Cutting down the Poincianas | https://youtu.be/P8QVWhlGWSU
Contact Us
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The 2 Minute Residents Survey
Please join us in speaking up now. Let us know what its biggest impact has been to you.
Once completed, the survey returns you to this page.
The Division Councillors
The Gold Coast council area is divided into 14 divisions. They have to vote to approve funding coming from the one pot. Here is the page of contacts.