A beachside town that attracts millions of visitors every year has been branded a ‘detention centre’ that ‘smells like a toilet’.
Division 10 candidate Mona Hecke launched the scathing attack on Surfers Paradise during a Central Chamber of Commerce Meet the Candidates’ Breakfast.
Her comment came as the upcoming municipal elections heated up, with Ms Hecke targeting her electoral rival and current Division 10 councilor Darren Taylor.
Ms Hecke said Surfers Paradise, the Gold Coast’s tourism hub, needs far more investment despite a $40 million revitalization programme.
“I have spent time with many of the retailers in Surfers Paradise, and many retailers have not seen or spoken to the current councillor,” she said.
‘Walk through Surfers Paradise – (Mr Taylor has) had four years to make improvements and it still smells like a toilet.’
The battle for the upcoming Gold Coast council elections has heated up, with candidates claiming it ‘smells like a toilet’ and ‘looks like a detention centre’. Burleigh Beach is pictured
Surfers Paradise (pictured) on the Gold Coast has been described as ‘ugly’ by a mayoral candidate
Her humiliation followed another attack on the state of the city last week by mayoral candidate Danielle Dunsmore.
At a breakfast at the Southern Chamber of Commerce, she said the city was “ugly” and looked like a “detention center.”
Mr Taylor defended his record and said there would be much more investment for the city and the community would be consulted on the changes.
“At the end of last year, 85 percent of the community endorsed it. So that now gives us the opportunity to inject the full $120 million into the improvements,” he said.
He added that other candidates at the meeting were “all talking… let’s get some action.”
‘It’s a great area, a great city. People are coming back to the Gold Coast. People still love Surfers Paradise,” he said.
However, Ms Hecke said candidates should not ‘walk around with rose-colored glasses’ and that while the Surfers Paradise skyline was ‘the most beautiful in the world… at ground level it’s a different story’.
She said the money spent on the city’s waterfront had led to “more posts than trees, more concrete than shade… There needs to be a damn good stretcher.”
Council candidate Mona Hecke (pictured) said people should not ‘walk around with rose-colored glasses’ about the state of Surfers Paradise
The Gold Coast council and mayoral elections will be held on March 16.
Surfers Paradise is a popular tourist attraction attracting around 4 million visitors annually.
The Gold Coast remains one of the most popular cities for new homeowners, attracting newcomers with its beaches and weather.
“The pandemic (had) stimulated the whole thought process, which was to get away from high-density areas where the risk of Covid-19 infection was higher,” Ray White Surfers Paradise Group CEO Andrew Bell told me. news.com.au.
‘We’re having a second wave because the friends and families of the first people who moved here three or four years ago… are now coming because the people who moved here love it so much they’re telling their friends and family .
“So it’s kind of a second wave that we’re experiencing right now.”