Beach bars could become a permanent tourist attraction on the Gold Coast from next year, but an environmental researcher warns the city's eroded beaches are in no shape to accommodate them.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he would like the first venue to be set up at Broadbeach in the 2026 summer and packed up in winter.


"The ideal beach bar is that I can go down there and enjoy the surf," Cr Tate said.

"I'll have my XXXX Gold [beer] with my wife next to me … and then enjoy the best assets we have on the Gold Coast among friends and family."


A beach bar was successfully trialled at Broadbeach during the 2021–22 Christmas school holidays.

Gold Coast City Council endorsed a three-year extension of the Kurrawa Beach Bar trial, but it was blocked by the Department of Natural Resources in 2022 after complaints from environmental groups.

Councillor Tate said a resurrected beach bar would need to be affordable and accessible to the public, unlike some European beach clubs.


"I'll be keen to make sure that the price is a normal price, not a south-of-France price," he said.

Eroded beaches 'pretty dire'

Bond University coastal erosion researcher Mark Ellis said the venture wouldn't be viable given the city's beaches still bore the scars of damage inflicted during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

"The issue is you actually need to have a beach to have it on," Mr Ellis said.

"The state of the beaches are pretty bad … they've all been stripped back by about 30 metres."
An estimated 6 million cubic metres of sand, the equivalent of 2,000 Olympic swimming pools, was washed away from beaches across the city.

The Gold Coast City Council predicts it could take up to three years to recover from the storm, with more than $30 million already spent on a sand-pumping barge to help speed up the process.

Several major events have been relocated or cancelled, including the Pacific Airshow, because of the erosion.

Mr Ellis said any planned beach bar would be vulnerable to future storm threats.


"I think from an environmental point of view and a climate and modelling point of view, it's not really a good long-term business model because the next storm surge is going to increase," he said.

"I think we're going into a La Niña summer and La Niñas are usually profound for bringing in more storms and, when more storms come in, that leads to more erosion.

"So you might not have your feet in the sand, you might actually have [them] in the water."

Premier backs beach bars​

While councils pay to maintain and manage Queensland beaches, the state government owns them.

There has been a change of government since the Kurrawa Beach Club was shut down, and Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has publicly supported its revival.


But the Gold Coast City Council would have to apply for a trustee lease if it wanted to operate a beach club long term.

The Gold Coast Council has been drafting a land-management plan for the Broadbeach foreshore and it carried out community consultation last year.

A city spokesperson said the final report would be ready in the coming months.

While residents and businesses have previously opposed commercial activities on the beach because of noise and pollution, Cr Tate said the new proposal would have minimal impact on the community.

"This is only taking a small part of the beach, not even 50 metres," he said.

"We've got 66 kilometres of beach so, if you don't want to go to the beach bar, you've got [plenty of beach] to choose from."

By Danielle Mahe, Mackenzie Colahan and Sarah Howells