Australia’s sands are soon to be graced with a ‘wanky’ monstrosity Australians have rallied against for years.
Beach bars.
That’s right. Though proposals last year for an Amalfi Beach Club to be set up at Bondi were rejected by local authorities, in a surprising episode of ‘whack a mole’ a similar business model is now making legislative headway on the Gold Coast.
Deputy Premier @StevenJMiles will consider a plan for local beach bars. Council is pushing for a 2 year https://t.co/LvyXmKHjpb serve alcohol on selected beaches. A pop up bar has already been touted for just north of the Kurrawa Surf Club. https://t.co/tIEQ9K5sus #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/nbUKaHCtwS
— 7NEWS Gold Coast (@7NewsGoldCoast) March 16, 2021
“In a bid to reinvigorate the hard-hit tourism sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate hopes to establish ‘beach bars’ at select locations along region’s 55km of sandy coastline” in time for Christmas, news.com.au reports.
“These bars, while only in the development stage, would allow beachgoers to have a drink and a light snack without having to walk off the sand to a nearby bar or pub.”
It’s also, perhaps to the horror of those that railed so hard against the notion at Bondi last year, “a concept that’s already working for Adelaide, which launched the European-inspired ‘Mosley Beach Club’ for South Australians to visit and enjoy during the summer months,” news.com.au reports.
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The beach bars are set to be reminiscent of Greece (i.e. removable) and will be established as part of a two year trial, in select locations. The initial concept design, however, still has a way to go before it gets the green light.
The Moseley beach club in Adelaide (pictured below) has been up and running for some time, and has been received, DMARGE understands, positively by the community, due to the lack of the same ‘premium for space’ limitations as say, Sydney’s Bondi.
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Purists will argue it’s a flawed concept, anyhow, and that the whole attraction of Australian beaches is their uncommercial nature. They also point out half the reason such concepts flourish in Europe (perhaps Adelaide fits into this category too…) is that their beaches are not as soft and silky.
“Why don’t you people go away… You don’t get the right to sequester part of it to make money,” one commenter wrote on Facebook, about this issue, last year.
Proponents will undoubtedly spout economic figures and engage you in a conversation about their massive, unrequited crush on Europe, and how epic it is to sip $12 Daquiris out of glassware on the beach.
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“Sydney is looking more backwards than us [Adelaide] with their outcry over this,” another wrote on Facebook, regarding last year’s Bondi beach club proposal.
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As DMARGE reported earlier this week, this is not the first time in the last few years Adelaide has proven ahead of the curve, with its Gluttony festival and Spanish-style dining putting Sydney’s deathly quiet Kings Cross to shame.
Will the Gold Coast iteration of this concept succeed? Only time and strange tan lines will tell.