August 9th, 2026Welcome to The Local for Northern Gold Coast

Welcome to the first edition of The Local for the Northern Gold Coast.
The Local is a monthly publication, August is the first, full of good news, and in print and online at www.thelocal.net.au
You can find copies, left in bundles or dropped at cafes and restaurants, around the Northern Gold Coast from Main Beach to Paradise Point and everywhere in between. If you can’t find a copy then just head online – or drop us an email about where we should be leaving it. Oh, if you run a business and wouldn’t mind being a drop-off point we would love to hear from you.
The directors are myself, Donna Kelly, and Kyle Barnes. I am also the editor and Kyle, the manager. Sales are taken care of by Tanya Remedios – and ourselves. If you know small business, you know it is all hands on deck.

Now, it is quite a big thing to start a publication from scratch but it is not our first rodeo and you can read more about us, if you want, down the back in our columns.
I am a journalist by trade, with a few career changes (missteps perhaps) along the way, while Kyle is a certified skipper who also happens to be a fabulous photographer and has a keen business mind. That is what he tells me.
So it is quite a big thing to step into an empty void and fill it up – although we have found there are so many stories begging to be told by people living in this amazing region. Inspiring, quirky, fun, festive…you name it and they are there. We have only just started on this journey.
And I would like to really thank the advertisers who came onboard for the inaugural edition. That could be a big risk so we appreciate them putting their faith in us and that we were the real deal. Thank you.
In return for the free read, we ask our readers to read the adverts as well as the articles and, if possible, support those advertisers. They are the only reason you are reading this for free.
And thank you to those people who agreed to be interviewed, or ‘chatted with’ as I prefer to call it, and share their stories in The Local.
It is not always easy to have a spotlight shone on you and what you do, especially with a new publication that you know nothing about, but these people also put their faith in us and our abilities and we really appreciate that.
Now, as Taylor Swift says: “The haters are gonna hate.” And for some reason there are always naysayers around. So, please, if you don’t like what we do, just pop the publication down and move on. No-one has to read this – but if you do, and you like it, please tell your friends and family.
And now from Kyle.
“Thirteen years ago in Victoria, we made a deliberate call. We went looking for older journalists and content creators — people who’d been pushed out by the corporates and told, politely or otherwise, that their time was up.
“As it turned out, they were exactly the team we needed. Real world experience, genuine empathy and the kind of instinct that means you go to one interview and walk out with two more leads before you’ve even left the car park.
“In a world where everyone has access to 24/7 news that skims the surface and moves on, there’s a growing gap where the real stories live. The hyper-local ones. The ones that matter to the people actually living there.
“Now it’s the Northern Gold Coast’s turn. A proper sit-down read — two cups of tea worth — about people doing good things in this community. We’re still building the team up here, but we’re already quietly amazed by who we have found.
“Now, cards on the table. We’re a business and we need advertising to keep the lights on. If you’ve enjoyed this read and you run a business, we’d love to hear from you. No swank, no nonsense — just good old-fashioned print advertising that actually works.
(If you just enjoy a good read maybe you would to donate to great journalism using the QR code below…)
“We hear it constantly from our advertisers: hundreds of dollars a week disappearing into social media with mixed results. Someone put it to me recently better than I could have — social media is like trying to fill a cup from a waterfall. A quarter page in this magazine costs $250 a month. We print 10,000 copies, each one passing through roughly 25 pairs of hands over its lifetime — that’s around 250,000 interactions per edition, with readers who actually have the wherewithal to spend money in your business.
“Print is a premium product again. Food for thought.”
And now from City of Gold Coast Division 4 Councillor Shelley Curtis.
“Communities are built through shared experiences, familiar faces and the stories that connect us. While major headlines have their place, it is often the local stories that shape how we feel about where we live.
“That’s why local publications matter.
“They shine a light on the volunteers who quietly give their time, the small businesses taking a chance, the community groups bringing people together, and the everyday acts of kindness that help make a neighbourhood feel like home. They remind us that despite the challenges we occasionally face, there is far more that unites us than divides us.
“I recently had the pleasure of meeting Donna and her husband Kyle and hearing about their vision for The Local. Their passion for community storytelling was immediately apparent. Having successfully operated a local publication elsewhere for many years, they bring both experience and a genuine appreciation for the value of strong local connections. Thankfully, they’ve now seen the light and chosen to bring those talents to our own slice of paradise.
“I wish Donna, Kyle and the entire team every success with this exciting new venture and look forward to seeing the stories, people and achievements of our Northern Gold Coast community celebrated in its pages.”

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Contributed

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