Ann Wason-Moore: Main Beach finds mojo through a different crowd

How a Gold Coast suburb has found its identity by providing for a different crowd, writes Ann Wason-Moore.

IS Main Beach getting its mojo back?

Driving down Tedder Ave last week I was absolutely shocked by what I saw: people.

After years of shut-up shops and all the ambience of a ghost town, there’s something afoot in the 4217.

Look, I say this with great respect. My extended family have lived in Main Beach for more than half a century, owning businesses along that blue-riband road and maturing alongside the suburb itself.

One of the Gold Coast's most popular brunch cafes Hot Shott. Picture: Jerad Williams

Not only did I holiday there every second summer during the 1980s, but as an early 20-something in the late 90s, Tedder was totally my jam. Back then, it was so packed I could rarely even find a spot to park my purple 1996 Ford Festiva.

Girls night at the Gourmet Pizza place, drinks at Sylvester’s, you wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere else. Although some took this too literally, with a good friend and fellow journalist actually witnessing a stabbing while dining on Tedder.

While we don’t need to return to those heady days of Slain Beach, it does seem there is something of a revival happening in the village. And sure, the vibe is a little ‘retirement village’, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

As the first suburb to suck the attention away from Surfers with its offerings of fine food and drinks, it seems only fitting that Main Beach is leading the pack when it comes to consolidating an appeal to an older audience.

While the bright young things continue to flock to Nobby’s, Burleigh and Palm Beach, it seems like Main Beach now holds a special place for a slightly older crew.

Indeed, while residents from other areas may complain that the dining strip is all but empty by 9.30pm … maybe that’s just how the locals like it?

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After all, in the last census back in 2016, the average age of a Main Beach resident was 51, the average number of people per household was 1.9 and the average number of children per family was 0.2.

Put those figures together and you get the perfect picture of a retired couple.

And why wouldn’t you retire to Main Beach? Beautiful beachside location, great transportation links, low-maintenance high-rise living and a price point that only those who have worked a lifetime can afford.

Tourism Minister Kate Jones dining at the Hot Shott cafe in Main Beach. Picture: Tertius Pickard

There’s no denying though that Main Beach has been through a tough time.

After hitting the heights of its 90s heyday, its fortunes sank in direct relation to soaring rental rates. As we’ve witnessed far too often in this city, it became a victim of its own success.

Five years ago it was making headlines for all the wrong reasons … but the blood on the streets wasn’t from crime, but from mortally wounded businesses.

In mid-2015, six restaurants, four clothing boutiques and the TAB closed in just one month, prompting business leaders to hold urgent talks with the city council about a solution. And while there was plenty of talk, there wasn’t a lot of action.

But in a sense, maybe that was the suburb’s mid-life crisis.

David Hutley, president of the Main Beach Association at Tedder Ave, Gold Coast. Photo: Regi Varghese

Perhaps the past two decades have simply seen the ageing-out of the old brigade and now we’re seeing an influx of the new … which are the old. Well, older.

While the issue of development, or over-development, continues for the area, it does seem like Main Beach at last knows who it is again. Judging by the number of community pages in support of it on social media, it knows what it likes and what it wants and it doesn’t want to be the new Nobby’s or even the former Main Beach.

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And, once again, the secret of its success – or at least the hint of what could be its future success – comes back to identifying, accepting, protecting and promoting the character of our suburbs.

Perhaps a neighbourhood plan for Main Beach could be the solution it needs for both its development and popularity problems.

While it might have been the first recognised ‘village’ of the Coast, it no longer holds that title alone – witness the southern hipster hangouts as well as burgeoning northern neighbours like Labrador and even Paradise Point.

But Main Beach is the only ‘old boy’ on the block, and that point of difference should be celebrated.

After all, just like current fashions, it looks like it could come back stronger than a 90s trend.