Businesses question impact of new beach festival

"Beaches will be closed and music blaring from 10am to 10pm”

A music festival approved by the Gold Coast City Council at be held on Coolangatta Beach in December next year could see as many as 35,000 people pack the beach.

THE Greater Southern Chamber of Commerce is still waiting for answers to some key questions regarding the planned SandTunes beach concert for Coolangatta at the end of the year.

The two-day event on November 30 and December 1 will be the main subject of focus at the Chambers monthly business breakfast to be held at the Coolangatta Surf Club on Thursday morning.

Chamber president Hilary Jacobs (pictured) said the event had got people talking with many business owners asking "why those dates?” and "why this venue?”.

" Last week there had been suggestions that the headline acts would be announced, but that hasn't come to pass,” Ms Jacobs said.

"And they still haven't started talking to the local residents as far as can be seen.

"The SandTunes event is expecting 35,000 patrons to attend on each of the two days, the logistics of moving that many people into Coolangatta alone leaves people scratching their heads and the traffic plans have the local bus operators taking a keen interest.”

Ms Jacobs said the matter of accommodation was another common question.

"The area is already close to fully booked for NSW Schoolies and the start of the summer holidays, so where will the SandTunes crowd all be staying?” Ms Jacobs asked.

"What about those people who already booked for those dates and were looking forward to some quality time at our world famous beach and access to the World Surfing Reserve?

"They will be faced with access to the beach closed off and music aimed at the 18 plus crowd blaring from 10am to 10 pm - who will be explaining to them that the contents are not what was in the brochure when they booked?”

Ms Jacobs said Tourism and Events Queensland was supporting SandTunes and she was concerned about whether the event would deliver value for the taxpayer dollars to the southern Gold Coast.

"This sort of event is expected to bring extra economic benefits to the area, let's hope that it doesn't drive people away in future,” she said.

"There's the possibility it could deliver a result to everywhere except Coolangatta, which was hit hard by the 2018 Commonwealth Games.”

The Chamber business breakfast on Thursday is a ticket only event starting at 7am at the Coolangatta SLSC.

"If you have a business that maybe impacted, or could benefit, book now at www.gsgc.org.au to get a chance to talk directly to the promoters,” Ms Jacobs said.