iPlan - a NSW Government initiative coordinated by
Department of Planning

A variety of stakeholders in and around the town centre precinct were interviewed to ascertain their views regarding the current deficiencies in the town centre precinct and the changes that should be made. The stakeholders interviewed are listed in Appendix 2. Following is a summary of their conclusions:

Among stakeholders interviewed, there is unanimous agreement that a major revitalisation of the precinct is much needed. The key problems and challenges are as follows:

Functions

• The town centre area currently has no particular function, purpose or identity, as a part of Tweed Heads, the Coolangatta - Tweed area, or the Gold Coast - Tweed Region. With the exception of several major facilities within the area that are self-contained and operate independently (refer to the next point), the area is a secondary location for retail, commercial and accommodation facilities, characterised by relatively low rents and mediocre quality.
• While the town centre area hosts several very successful commercial and institutional facilities, they effectively operate in isolation. They do not particularly benefit from locations within the town centre, nor do they contribute significantly to the vitality of adjacent areas of the town centre. It would not be practical or economically sustainable for these facilities to unilaterally attempt a revitalisation of surrounding areas.
• The part of the town centre precinct that is probably best known is not a place, but the Wharf Street thoroughfare, used mainly to get people through the area, and to host highway-commercial uses such as car dealerships, petrol stations and fast food outlets.
• The area has no community, social or economic heart. There is no location that is readily identifiable as the natural focus or CBD of Tweed Heads.

Local Markets

• There is an insufficient number and density of local residents or workers to support local shops and services, and to generate pedestrian traffic.
• The local resident population is dominated by retirees and is located mainly on the fringes of the town centre area. Therefore it generates little activity in the traditional town centre in and around Bay Street.
• The small numbers of local residents and workers also mean that little street activity is generated, which severely compromises the viability of local shops and services.

Attractions

• The area has significant potential attractions, most notably the Jack Evans Boatharbour and the adjacent waterfront park. These are underutilised due to an insufficient number of local residents, limited destination appeal, and minimal inherent pedestrian traffic. Consequently, they have become a haven for the homeless and are perceived at best as uninviting and at worst as dangerous.
• There are no attractions or activities that entice visitors to stop. Although a large number of visitors come to the area, they either travel through or stop at the major self-contained attractions such as Twin Towns, Tweed Mall and the Bowls Club.
• Many visitors staying at Tweed Heads area motels do so to take advantage of budget accommodation rather than to patronise local attractions.

Accessibility

• Despite its proximity, the town centre area is isolated from Coolangatta, and major precincts within the area are segregated from each other by their internal orientation and a lack of strong pedestrian links.

The stakeholders interviewed identified a small number of important requirements within the Town Centre, which are summarised as follows:

Facilities

The required facilities most identified by stakeholders are specialised accommodation venues for specific market segments that currently are not adequately catered for in the region:

• The Tweed Bowls Club requires a moderately priced venue for international players who stay for 2 weeks at a time.
• Southern Cross University sees the need for local student accommodation in each trimester, plus shorter term accommodation for special courses and seminars.
• The Tweed District Hospital has a regular shortage for units to accommodate permanent staff. It also has frequent demand for moderately priced accommodation for medical students attending courses of one or more weeks. Demand is expected to increase as the hospital is increasingly used more as a training venue.

Managers of all of these facilities note that existing local motels are inappropriate for stays of two or more weeks, accommodation in Coolangatta is too expensive, and alternative accommodation is widely dispersed and not available for shorter-term rentals. As a result, accommodation must be found elsewhere at the Gold Coast, which is inefficient and represents a loss of potential local business.

It is recognised by the stakeholders that many other desired facilities within the town centre, such as offices, retail shops and services, will not be viable until local market conditions are appropriate to support them.

Activity Generators

A requirement commonly identified by the stakeholders is the need to attract more visitation and generate more activity within the town centre. At present, there are minimal numbers of pedestrians on streets or in any public spaces within the town centre area. This has direct adverse consequences for both large and small stakeholders in the area including the following:

• Limited viability of shops and services, as demonstrated by substantial vacancies, low rents and many tenanted shops containing lower-order uses. For example, Twin Towns management noted that it developed five new retail premises along Wharf Street as a condition of development of the hotel, and none of the restaurants or shops in these premises has been viable.
• Lack of safety and security, due principally to homeless people congregating in Chris Cunningham Park. This is reducing the safety and cleanliness of the park, and has contributed to vandalism of the park and the adjacent Tweed Mall.
• Isolation of the major commercial and institutional facilities within the town centre area. Visitation to all of these facilities is overwhelmingly by car or public transport. There is little evidence of cross-patronage between these major nodes, and there is virtually no flow-on patronage to adjacent streets and public areas.

All of the companies and institutions surveyed generally expressed:

• A strong desire to see major changes in the town centre area
• Desire to create a cohesive town centre precinct because of the resulting benefits to all stakeholders
• Willingness to consider financial or other support that would contribute to improvements

However, the management of existing major private sector facilities within the town centre area generally conclude that:

• Change must be initiated by the public sector.
• There must be a practical redevelopment plan, supported by public sector investment and creation of planning instruments that will facilitate viable development.
• Financial investments by the private sector stakeholders must be economically justified and will mainly comprise improved linkages and interfaces with adjacent land uses.
• Significant private sector investment is unlikely to occur until the public sector:
• Publishes a firm development program and implementation strategy
• Initiates major changes
• Guarantees completion of all planned improvements under its control