Local issues

Esplanade Road Closure

A trial to mall a section of the Surfers Paradise Esplanade is underway. The trial closure of the Esplanade is part of the 2023 Revitalisation Concept Plan. In this series of articles we reveal some of the many issues that surround the closure and we hope to provide a voice for the residents and business owners that call Surfers Paradise home.

We hope to strengthen your own position and invite you to take part in a survey which asks the questions Council should have asked us. We would like to keep you informed of actions you can take and provide resources you can use.

How malling the Esplanade fails Surfers Paradise

The Esplanade is not just a road to be sketched over; it is the backbone of Surfers Paradise’s urban form, its economy, and its daily life.

Actions you can take

So you want to be heard? Here’s how to make your voice count.

Ten ways the imported models don’t work

They looked to Times Square and we got traffic jams.

Closing the Esplanade to traffic – who wins, who pays

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 eateries?

The direct and indirect costs of closing the Esplanade to traffic

Council’s own experts warned against closing the Esplanade — now Surfers Paradise is split in two with locals and visitors paying the costs.

Surfers Paradise Esplanade closure – what’s at stake?

The Esplanade closure trial was meant to boost Surfers Paradise — but instead it’s causing gridlock, hurting trade and erasing the city’s easygoing culture.

Six strategic blunders in the Surfers Paradise Revitalisation concept

Even if the research had been solid, the strategy behind this plan makes no sense. Here are six fundamental flaws in the concept.

Seven ways the Council dismissed the importance of the Esplanade

In the Council reports they called it a “rat run.” In doing so, they’ve dismissed the artery that runs through the heart of our city.

The Esplanade’s multi-speed experience economy

The Council lists 22 activities their redesign will bring. But we’re already doing them and more. So what are we getting?

The unique car culture of Surfers Paradise

Prestige exotics, muscle cars, hot rods, low riders, vintage beauties, party buses, even Mad Max monsters – an activity and spectacle. A rolling parade unlike anywhere else in Australia.

The one big thing missing from the Surfers Paradise Revitalisation plan

Surfers Paradise is changing. Changing into what? Reading their reports – nobody can quite say.

Revitalisation done right: lessons for Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise can learn from the best of the world’s beaches by re-embracing what made it special in the first place

How the design fails the Council’s own 4 key strategies

Open to All, Supercharge the Experience, Grow the Green, Amplify Brand Surfers – let’s see what those really mean in practice.

They Studied the Pavement, Not the People

A plan that fails to understand its people risks erasing what makes Surfers Paradise one of the world’s great destinations.

Surfers Paradise is Fun City

Six square kilometres packing in more activity than half the nation’s capital cities put together.

Where is the Joy? Surfers Paradise Deserves Better than Beige

What does fun feel like? It is bright, exuberant, unapologetic and joyous. So why is this so deeply disappointing?

From Iconic to Anytown – the malling of the Esplanade

Beige bland and charmless for flamboyant, theatrical and tropical. The great blanding of the beachfront.