Politicians needs to stop cutting Gold Coast small business off at the knees

WHEN will our politicians wake up and realise small business is the lifeblood of the Gold Coast which needs to be built up not cut off at the knees?

Broadbeach businesses suffered through a downturn in trade that still hasn’t picked up. Picture Glenn Hampson

WHEN will our politicians wake up and realise small business is the lifeblood of the Gold Coast?

At least 10 businesses have closed in Broadbeach in recent months after never recovering from a Gold Coast City Council-imposed nine-month road closure of Surf Parade.

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Onyx owner Lauren Hyland says her business never recovered from council-imposed nine-month road closures. Picture Glenn Hampson

Several more restaurants along the city’s dining mecca are expected to collapse in coming weeks.

These struggling restaurants persevered through the painful road closure — coughing up $18,000-a-month rents and council levies — even when trade dropped by 80 per cent because patrons were turned off by scaffolding erected right up to their doors.

Broadbeach icon Onyx will close its doors this Sunday and owner Lauren Hyland summed it up perfectly. “Who would want to come here when you’ve got a digger next to your head?”

A closed business along the Surf Parade strip in Broadbeach. Picture Glenn Hampson

Still, they toughed it out, promised of a golden return when the city’s biggest-ever event, the Commonwealth Games landed on their doorstep.

It never happened. People stayed away and, after a quiet Easter period, Broadbeach resembled a “no-go” zone.

Broadbeach was quiet during the Commonwealth Games. Picture: Alex Coppel.

That pain was magnified when Mayor Tom Tate told struggling businesses to “have a look at your own product” when they raised concerns about the Games ghost town.

Another stake to the heart came weeks later when the Bulletin revealed the Gold Coast City Council had been warned of a downturn in trade during the Games, after all, as part of a detailed report into the impacts and opportunities of the event.

The dire situation Broadbeach eateries find themselves in is just the latest sting in a series of poorly thought out moves that have crippled local business.

Last year, Glitter Strip institution Howl at the Moon closed its doors just three years after relocating to the Surfers Paradise riverfront from their decade-long home in Broadbeach’s Niecon Plaza.

Howl’s owner Lou Cerantonio wrongly believed council promises that the Surfers Riverfront would be revamped into a bustling precinct like Brisbane’s South Bank.

Howl at the Moon nightclub and eatery owner Lou Cerantonio was forced to close after 12 years, including a long stint in Broadbeach before a recent move to Surfers Paradise riverfront.

As he gutted his failed venue, Mr Cerantonio lamented the “slow redevelopment” as hurting his business chances.

And don’t forget the hundreds of shopkeepers who went bust during the years-long construction of the tram line through the heart of Surfers Paradise — and the businesses who still complain they’re losing trade because there’s no parking.

Now Gold Coast City Council is ploughing ahead with plans to sell off Bruce Bishop carpark — one of the few remaining parking options in Surfers — despite loud protests from business owners who say it is crucial to drive trade.

Peter Vakanas of the The Big Cheese Pizza and Kebabs said his business struggled was trade during construction of the light rail.

The council and State Government say they’re all about driving jobs and investment in the city, but then expect small businesses to cop it sweet when they cut access their source of income — customers.

Small business is the engine room of the Gold Coast economy. We have 63,000 of them. City leaders, it is time to start listening to them.