Peter Gleeson: With Covid-19 pandemic and light rail, who’d want to own a small business?

With a global pandemic - and a light rail extension about to begin - who would want to be a small business owner on the Gold Coast these days? Peter Gleeson wants to know.

IN these times of pandemic, who’d want to be a small business owner, maybe running a cafe or restaurant, these days?

Worse, who would want to be a business operator located between Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads stretch with the light rail extension about to begin?

If the pandemic doesn’t get you, the light rail surely will. Progress stops for nobody and the light rail extension is a no brainer.

There’s no doubt the G has well and truly hit the right spot when it comes to making the city a better place to live and play.

It is a 21st century transportation blockbuster that is in tune with the Gold Coast’s desire to be a world-class city, linking Helensvale to Broadbeach, and now, ultimately, the Coolangatta Airport.

In fact, my assessment is that it just might be the most important piece of transport infrastructure since the M1 was commissioned in 1996.

Stage 3 planning is well underway, for a 6.7km extension from Broadbeach to Burleigh with eight new stations including Mermaid Beach, Mermaid Beach South, Nobby Beach, Miami North, Miami, Chrstine Avenue, Second Avenue and Burleigh Heads.

It will create 670 jobs and is expected to cost at least $1 billion, with a construction timeframe from September, taking it through to 2025.

Needless to say, the Gold Coast Highway between Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads will be a busy precinct over the next four years.

Traffic dislocation is inevitable with such a large project. So too will there be business interruption.

Now, one of the great benefits of having worked as a newspaper journalist on the Gold Coast, on and off for the past 30 years, is that certain stories become seared into one’s memory.

For example, when the Robina Town Centre was first built 25 years ago, it took at least five years before businesses became established and locals and visitors started using it properly.

From 1996 to 2001, many fledgling businesses went broke at Robina, and there were reports of suicides as struggling small businesspeople couldn’t make a living.

Look at it now. Robina Town Centre is one of the busiest shopping centres in the country and the ancillary services, particularly medical and light industry, are extraordinary.

The same despondency applied for many businesses affected by the construction of the first and second stages of the light rail project.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 29: Workers pack up at a cafe. (Photo by Jono Searle/Getty Images)

Those businesses on the Helensvale to Southport, and then the Southport to Broadbeach routes, were significantly impacted.

Some reported turnover losses of 90 per cent. Many shut their doors and never re-opened.

There were varying reports of compensation.

Some people said they were properly compensated for loss of business, others merely shrugged their shoulders and closed down, frustratingly moving to another suburb or city.

The lesson is clear. Businesses in the Broadbeach to Burleigh region, particularly those along the coastal strip, must be given every opportunity to survive the four years of construction.

We can’t just take the attitude that they will have to suck it up.

That did not work during previous stages of construction.

Small business is the engine room of the Gold Coast economy. There are more small-to-medium-sized businesses on the Gold Coast, per capita, than anywhere in the country.

With the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc with lockdowns and border closures sending many businesses to the wall, it is essential that the three tiers of government look after these people during the construction phase of Stage 3.

The pandemic has proven one thing. The Palaszczuk Government doesn’t give a fig about the impact of snap lockdowns on businesses that rely on tourism.

The lack of rescue packages for tourism operators since the latest lockdown is appalling. As Business Council boss Jennifer Westacott said this week, it is time to start quoting Covid numbers on hospitalisations, not those who have contracted the virus.

In the UK, where the vaccination rate is over 60 per cent, last week’s seven-day average of new cases was 23,115 people a day. They have had 128,000 deaths.

Australia has had less than 1000 deaths. Wimbledon goes ahead without spectators wearing masks. We close down the state for three days with four new cases. Madness.

Queensland needs to live with the virus.

It is killing our economy, especially the accommodation providers.

Maybe a smart class-action lawyer needs to start testing the water.

Hundreds of businesses that have gone broke because of these draconian lockdowns may well have a strong legal case.

It’s worth a shot.

Originally published as Peter Gleeson: With Covid-19 pandemic and light rail, who’d want to own a small business?