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A seaside town that attracts millions of visitors each year has been branded a “detention centre” that “smells like a toilet”.
Division 10 candidate Mona Hecke launched the scathing attack on Surfers Paradise at the Central Chamber of Commerce’s Meet the Candidates breakfast.
Her comment came as the upcoming municipal election heats up and Ms Hecke takes aim at her election rival and current Division 10 councillor, Darren Taylor.
Mr Hecke said despite a $40 million revitalization programme, Surfers Paradise, which is the center of the Gold Coast’s tourism industry, needs much more investment.
“I have been spending time in Surfers Paradise with many of the retailers, and many of them have not seen or spoken to the current councillor,” he said.
“Walk around Surfers Paradise. (Mr Taylor) has had four years to make improvements and it still smells like a toilet.”
The battle over the upcoming Gold Coast council election has intensified with candidates claiming it “smells like a toilet” and “looks like a detention centre”. Pictured is Burleigh Beach.
Surfers Paradise (pictured) on the Gold Coast has been described as “ugly” by a mayoral candidate
His humiliation came after another attack on the state of the city last week by mayoral candidate Danielle Dunsmore.
At a Southern Chamber of Commerce breakfast, he said the city was “ugly” and looked like a “detention center.”
Taylor defended his record, saying there was much more investment to come for the city and that the community would be consulted on the changes.
‘At the end of last year, 85 per cent of the community backed him. “This gives us the ability now to inject the $120 million into improvements,” he said.
He added that other candidates at the meeting were “all talking…we’re going to act.”
‘It’s a great area, a great city. People are coming back to the Gold Coast. “People still love Surfers Paradise,” he said.
Ms Hecke, however, said candidates should not “walk around with rose-coloured glasses” and that while the Surfers Paradise skyline was “the most beautiful in the world… at ground level it’s another story”.
He said money spent on the city beach had resulted in “more bollards than trees, more concrete than shade… You need a very good stretcher.”
Council candidate Mona Hecke (pictured) said people should not “go around with rose-tinted glasses” about the status of Surfers Paradise.
The Gold Coast council and mayoral elections will be held on March 16.
Surfers Paradise is a popular tourist attraction that attracts around 4 million visitors each year.
The Gold Coast remains one of the most popular cities for new homeowners, attracting newcomers for its beaches and climate.
“The pandemic had stimulated the whole thought process, and that was to move away from high-density areas where there was a higher risk of contracting Covid-19,” Ray White Surfers Paradise Group chief executive Andrew Bell said. news.com.au.
‘We have a second wave, as the friends and family of the first people who moved here three or four years ago… are now coming because the people who moved here love it so much that they tell their friends and family. .
“So what we’re currently experiencing is kind of a second wave.”