Gold Coast’s rainbow staircase a victim of council’s war on graffiti

The fun police have pulled the plug on one of the Coast’s most popular new artworks - the rainbow stairs. Here’s why.

FORGET the candy colours – the Gold Coast fun police have struck again, with the council declaring the rainbow stairs at Miami are “grafitti’’ and using a can of boring grey paint to cover up the work of an anonymous artist.

It didn’t matter that the brightly coloured steps leading up from the beach at Miami to the North Burleigh lookout had become an Instagram hit and were featuring on tourism sites across Australia.

City officials applied a fresh coat of grey paint on Monday – and there has been a widespread backlash from locals ever since.

After the Miami rainbow steps were painted over. Instagram- @ohyessie

The staircase was livened up by a mystery local late last year and quickly became a mecca for Instagrammers and photographers from around Australia.

The stairs were given the seal of approval by tourism websites, described as “vibrant and happy” by Queensland Weekender just last week.

The rainbow steps also got a tick from Channel 7 star Liz Cantor. Instagram- @lizcantor

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But Acting Mayor Donna Gates said the artwork had to go in order to deter other would-be artists from decorating the Coast without permission.

“It sets a poor precedent for the city that someone comes along with a paintbrush and puts a painting on a piece of public infrastructure,” she said.

“We need to keep the rules in place. As a city we can’t allow the random painting of pieces of public infrastructure.”

Miami rainbow steps. Instagram- @davidmoskovic

Cr Gates said the council was committed however to liaising with the community “on their wishes” and was open to suggestions for public artworks, provided they were run by the council first.

“There’s no doubt though that if the community has an idea about painting something, they’re more than welcome to go to a divisional councillor and work towards that outcome,” she said.

But locals are furious, claiming the attraction – which was free to install – attracted tourists and put a smile on people’s faces.

Even dogs have been getting in on the trend. Instagram-@tarn_gc

A council spokeswoman said the paint was removed after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.

However others have criticised the council’s decision – especially amid the furore over spending millions on the failed Yatala light installation. The city is considering a committee recommendation to rip up the Yatala installation, which was supposed to be an entry statement saying “Gold Coast’’ in lights set up on the median strip of the M1 in time for the commonwealth Games.

Miami rainbow steps. Instagram- @amardybaucke

Melissa Thurley was among the hundreds venting their annoyance on social media, and said she was disappointed the “antiquated” council did not consult other members of the public before ordering that the rainbow stairs be repainted.

“How about doing some proper community engagement and collaborative creative projects to illuminate and celebrate iconic spaces like the North Burleigh/Miami steps?” she said.