If you’ve lived on the Gold Coast for any length of time, you’ll know The Spit has been a political football for decades. Developers wanted it, locals wanted it protected, governments kept kicking the can down the road, and the whole conversation went around in circles for the better part of 30 years.
Then in 2019, the Queensland Government released The Spit Master Plan – 201 hectares, seven precincts, 23,000-plus pieces of community feedback and a clear blueprint for what the peninsula was actually going to become.
One of the things it called for explicitly was bigger marina berths for superyachts and the infrastructure to support them, as well as public access. And five years on, that’s exactly what’s starting to arrive the first of a stream of superyacht facilities to the north of the Southport Yacht Club along with public access.
The Mantaray Marina opened officially on August 1 this year and it is, without doubt, a serious piece of waterfront infrastructure. Sixty-seven premium berths for vessels between 10 and 60 metres, including 19 dedicated superyacht berths, a floating marina stretching 300 metres out into the Broadwater and walkways wide enough (4.5m) to drive a golf buggy down, which is exactly what they do.

I had a chat with Marina Manager Hugo Littlejohn recently and what struck me most was how thoroughly the whole operation has been thought through.
The walkways aren’t 4.5m by accident, they’re built to superyacht standard, which also means fire engines can get down them if needed. And what a backdrop for a luxury car photo shoot, which according to Hugo, has been recently discussed.
There are two golf buggies, a six-seater for ferrying people to and from their boats, and a utility buggy for provisioning – getting supplies on and rubbish off – the kind of vessels which have considerable amounts of both. “It’s 300 metres out into the Broadwater,” Hugo said. “Being able to drive up and down just takes away the hassle of trolleys.”

Berthing
The berth line-up runs from 18 metres on the northern side up to a 60-metre berth on the outside edge facing the Broadwater, the biggest in the marina’s fleet of 20 berths that are 40 metres or larger. For context, a 60-metre superyacht is roughly the size of two Brisbane CityCats and almost one cross river KittyCat parked nose to stern.
These are serious vessels, and the infrastructure matches them. Every berth has electronically metered power and water, and Hugo can check any berth’s consumption from his computer and bill accordingly. The blackwater pump-out is done in-berth with a mobile trolley rather than requiring boats to leave their berth and go to a central point. Wi-Fi runs throughout. A concierge manager handles everything from provisioning and restaurant bookings to organising trades.
“We position ourselves high on the customer service end,” Hugo said. An understatement. A private Captain’s Lounge, 24-hour security, on-site parking and secure access round out the offer. Fuel bunkering is coordinated through local partner facilities.

What’s next?
And then there’s what’s coming. The wider Mantaray precinct will include waterfront dining and retail, anchored by The Mantaray Club, a two-storey floating lounge venue with restaurant and bar, private function spaces, and a Captain’s Lounge. It sits as the centrepiece of the marina and precinct, the kind of destination that gives crew and guests somewhere to actually go when they come ashore.
Which raises the bigger question and the one the PR team from Gordon Corp answered rather well. Does this put the Gold Coast on the world map for superyachts?
The honest answer is that the Gold Coast has always been on that map, but mainly as a transit point. The traditional route has been superyachts heading north from Sydney toward the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef, stopping at the Gold Coast for a refit or a refuel before pushing on.
What Mantaray changes in the narrative is the infrastructure that gives owners and captains a reason to stay, to make the Gold Coast the destination rather than the stop in between. With the 2032 Olympic Games on the horizon, the timing is deliberate and the ambition is clear.
For locals, the immediate benefits are more tangible than Olympic legacy conversations. New jobs, new waterfront dining, new life breathed into a stretch of the Broadwater that has been underperforming on its potential for a long time. The Spit Master Plan envisioned exactly this kind of development – the kind that serves the water, serves visitors and serves the community without paving over the parkland and dunes that make The Spit worth visiting in the first place.
Hugo is clearly proud of what’s been built, and after walking the marina with him, it’s easy to see why. The Broadwater has always been one of the Gold Coast’s best assets. It’s good to see someone treating it that way.
This is a Gold Coast story worth watching.

Words: Kyle Barnes | Images: Contributed

Osso Bucco

Serves: 6
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 6 hours and 10 minutes

Ingredients
6 pieces osso bucco (cross-cut beef shanks with bone in)
Flour for dusting
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¾ cups white wine
3 carrots, diced
1 thin eggplant, diced
2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes
¼ cup fresh herbs (thyme and parsley or basil and oregano)
Cracked pepper to taste
1 large zucchini, diced
½ cup green beans

To serve (optional):
Polenta or mashed potato
Garden salad

Method:
Dust osso bucco pieces with flour.
Heat pan on high then add oil once hot. Brown the osso bucco pieces on both sides then remove from the pan.
Add the onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes. When the onion has softened add the white wine. Let it sizzle and reduce by about half.
Add carrots, eggplants, tomatoes and herbs to the pan and season with pepper.
Transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low for approximately 6 hours (or cook in oven at 120°C). In the last hour add in the chopped zucchini and whole beans.
Serve with a side of polenta or mashed potato and a garden salad.

Recipe courtesy of Tracey Hacon, Nelia Branch

Funded through Division 4 Local Area Allocations it forms part of the City of Gold Coast’s Beach Access Program, which aims to improve access to the coast for people with disability, reduced mobility, seniors and visitors.
Offering free community access, users can access the wheelchair independently via the lockbox QR code system with an instructional video at the city website. So there is no need for advance bookings or having to go through clubs/volunteers.

The lockbox is next to the Paradise Point swimming enclosure near the corner of Ephraim Island Bridge and The Esplanade.
The beach wheelchair is a Hippocampe model; with beach matting providing a practical pathway towards the water along with a beach access ramp and nearby accessible parking spaces.
As part of a broader accessible and inclusive space Paradise Point Parklands is also home to a Changing Places facility located near the lockbox, providing: a height-adjustable change bench; ceiling tracking hoist; accessible shower and toilet; and facilities for people with high support needs.
Meanwhile the upgraded Paradise Point Playground will reopen next month, with inclusive equipment for children of all abilities. The parklands are also a regular base for Cycling Without Age, a volunteer-led program providing trishaw rides for people who can no longer ride independently.
Division 4’s Councillor Shelley Curtis said everyone should be able to enjoy the region’s beautiful shared spaces. “This project helps remove barriers and makes it easier for more people in our community to experience everything Paradise Point has to offer.”

Above, Division 4 Councillor Shelley Curtis with Gemma Heslin, trying out the new beach wheelchair, right, the Hippocampe model beach wheelchair

Images: Contributed

The Pacific Airshow Gold Coast is a three-day weekend event and will run from Friday, August 14 to Sunday, August 16 featuring heart-pumping aerobatic demonstrations by the world’s finest aviators, VIP meet and greet events, social parties, family fun, licensed ticket precinct and more.

It will feature some of the best civilian performers and military aviators from around the globe. The Pacific Airshow Gold Coast is the largest airshow event to ever take place in Australia with more than 270,000 spectators. Link: www.pacificairshowaus.com

The City of Gold Coast has strengthened its relationship with Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, signing a new agreement that will facilitate knowledge-sharing and help establish the region’s first professional lifeguard service.
The city’s Lifeguard Service and the Kanagawa Lifesaving Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding during a recent visit to Japan. The MoU builds on a Friendship Agreement that has connected the two regions since 1990. Kanagawa Lifesaving Association president Yuki Shirai said the new agreement further strengthened the long-standing relationship. “Our ultimate goal is achieving zero water-related accidents in Kanagawa,” Mr Shirai said.

The state government has approved the Dreamworld Masterplan, delivering certainty for one of Queensland’s most iconic tourism destinations and paving the way for a major new mixed-use tourism and housing development that will transform the Northern Gold Coast over the coming decade.
The approved 55.3-hectare masterplan covers land including and adjacent to Dreamworld and WhiteWater World and will guide future development across four key precincts including: continued operation and expansion of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World theme parks; low-impact eco-tourism experiences including viewing platforms, boardwalks and guided tours; tourist attractions, theme park rides, short-term accommodation, resort complexes, hospitality and entertainment venues; and high-density residential and mixed-use development, including multiple dwellings, residential care facilities, retirement facilities, rooming accommodation, short-term accommodation, resort complexes, alongside tourist attractions, retail, business and hospitality uses.

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

Scan the QR code if you would like to donate to our journalism.

The state government is delivering on Destination 2045, with international visitors contributing a record $8.2 billion to Queensland’s economy in the past year—17.3 per cent ahead of projections.

Tourism Research Australia data shows Queensland outpacing the national average, with international visitor expenditure up 35.2 per cent year on year, compared to 20.5 per cent nationally.

Queensland welcomed 2.4 million international visitors (up 12.7 per cent), including 1.4 million holidaymakers (up 11.0 per cent) who spent a record $3.8 billion (up 32.5 per cent). Education-related travel also reached a record $2.2 billion, up 72.6 per cent.

China was the top market by expenditure at $1.6 billion (up 90.6 per cent), followed by New Zealand ($986.3 million, up 19.1 per cent) and the United Kingdom ($634.9 million, up 20.8 per cent). Japan ($579.9 million), the United States ($494.8 million), Korea ($398.3 million) and France ($213.3 million) also recorded strong or record results.

UK holiday visitors spend was supported by an increased focus on Queensland’s mega events pipeline, including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, 2025 British and Irish Lions Tour, and the Ashes Test Series in Brisbane.

Record international visitor expenditure was achieved across five Queensland tourism regions, with Brisbane hitting a record $4.1 billion in international visitor expenditure, followed by the Gold Coast ($1.5 billion), Tropical North Queensland ($1.3 billion), the Whitsundays ($271.8 million) and the Southern Great Barrier Reef ($143.1 million).

Queensland achieved $45.5 billion in Total Visitor Expenditure (international and domestic), 4.4 per cent or $1.93 billion above the Destination 2045 projection.

Domestic tourism continued to underpin Queensland’s visitor economy, contributing $37.3 billion in visitor expenditure and also exceeding Destination 2045 projections by 2 per cent.

Queensland welcomed 26.1 million domestic overnight visitors during the period, while daytrip expenditure surged to a record $10 billion.

Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell said the results highlighted the strength of the government’s Destination 2045 plan.

“We are backing Queensland to be Australia’s home of the holiday—investing in world-class experiences and securing major events to bring more visitors through the door,” Minister Powell said.

“Queensland is leading the nation, and these results show our tourism industry is growing strongly – supporting jobs, businesses and communities right across the state.”

Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Craig Davidson said the strong international demand and results reflected the appeal and resilience of Queensland’s tourism industry.

“Record international visitor expenditure, supported by steady domestic demand, is underpinning Queensland’s $45.5 billion visitor economy,” Mr Davidson said.

“We are seeing the benefits of increased aviation connectivity, targeted marketing and continued investment in experiences and events that are converting demand into visitation.”

The state government is making Queensland safer this winter, launching a statewide road safety crackdown with police set to flood Queensland’s roads during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Operation Cold Snap – an annual high-visibility police operation aimed at reducing road trauma and saving lives – begins this Saturday, June 27 and will run throughout the June/July school holidays.

Motorists are being urged to make safe choices behind the wheel, with 305 lives tragically lost on Queensland roads in 2025.

Police will be out in force across the State targeting the dangerous driving behaviours that cause serious crashes – speeding, drink driving, drug driving, distraction and failure to wear seatbelts.

The operation comes as the government continues delivering more police to the frontline to make Queensland safer, with more than 1,600 new police recruits delivered as promised before the election.

Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie urged Queensland motorists to make safer choices and follow road rules over the busy winter school holidays.

“Every road death is one too many, and while Labor spend a decade neglecting frontline policing, the government is backing officers with more resources to save lives and keep Queenslanders safe,” Minister Purdie said.

“Police will be highly visible on roads across the state this winter, and if you choose to speed, drive distracted or get behind the wheel impaired, you will be caught.”

Assistant Police Commissioner Rhys Wildman urged motorists to slow down, drive to the conditions and make safe choices.

“Our officers see firsthand the devastating impact road crashes have on families, friends and communities,” Assistant Commissioner Wildman said.

“Too often, these crashes are preventable and caused by poor decisions on our roads.

“Police will do everything we can to keep Queenslanders safe, but road safety is a shared responsibility.”

To learn more about road safety and QPS’ initiatives to help make Queensland safer, visit: www.police.qld.gov.au/initiatives/road-safety