When the Design Doesn’t Deliver
The reports are full of strong words and noble concepts. The idea of connecting HOTA to the ocean through a “grand spine” is to be applauded. Grand boulevards are prized civic assets and Cavill Avenue deserves to be celebrated and elevated to that status. The river narrative as an organising principle is clever.
But the visuals fall flat
Cavill Mall looks like a suburban shopping strip. The Esplanade, while benefiting from new grassy knolls, is cluttered with clip-art furniture, undersized lighting, clumsy pavilions, and beige paving.
The Pavilions: Brutalist Deco
The proposed pavilions dominate the beachfront horizon. They will be the defining man-made elements against the ocean — yet they are glum, clumsy, and charmless. A kind of “Brutalist Deco” supposedly riffing on 1980’s architecture – a reference lost on the many.
Surfers Paradise deserves better. The pavilions should be flamboyant, sculptural, fun — Googie-style icons that celebrate the surf culture and life-saving tradition, not mute slabs of concrete.
Lost Opportunities
Trees identified in planning documents as providing exemplary shade are slated for removal — just to shift the road a metre.
Lighting is underscaled and dated. The illuminated concrete Parisols promise a seen it once “meh”, poor cousin to what people experience at White Night or Vivid.
“Garden moments” resemble cold-war bus shelters.
The exotic character locals and visitors crave is absent, replaced with a generic “mall from anywhere.”
The Cultural Disconnect
The biggest failing is not aesthetic — it’s cultural. The design reflects suburban placemaking rather than the unique energy of Surfers Paradise.
Council’s own research shows people want bold, exotic, and iconic. Instead, the proposed works deliver blandness.
A Better Vision
Surfers Paradise should aim higher. The vision should be nothing less than: “To enhance the Surfers Paradise lifestyle and showcase it to the world.”
Cavil Mall should be reimagined as Cavill Boulevard – one of the world’s great boulevards, where arts, nature, river, city and sea collide.
That means design that is flamboyant, theatrical, tropical, and unmistakably “Surfers.”
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
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