{"id":483838,"date":"2026-02-16T14:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483838\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T14:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:46:14","slug":"gold-coast-cant-stop-growth-but-needs-185000-new-homes-according-to-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483838\/","title":{"rendered":"Gold Coast ‘can’t stop growth’ but needs 185,000 new homes, according to council"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Gold Coast will need 185,000 new homes in the next two decades, according to the council, with high-rise developments along the coast set to spread further inland.<\/p>\n

The City of Gold Coast has unveiled a 20-year vision for managing its surging population \u2014 expected to reach 1 million residents by 2046 \u2014 called the Local Growth Management Strategy (LGMS).<\/p>\n

The proposal would see more medium to high-density housing built along the city’s “inland spine” in suburbs such as Robina, Helensvale and Coomera, which are more accustomed to single-storey detached houses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We can’t stop growth,” Acting Mayor Mark Hammel said.<\/p>\n

“There is no ability to put a gate on the highway and stop people from coming here.<\/p>\n

“I’m not scared of 1 million people \u2014 we have got the room and the capacity to take more people.”<\/p>\n

Cr Hammel said the strategy should open a “robust, transparent conversation” about the Gold Coast’s future, with the council set to vote on its adoption next month.<\/p>\n

“It’s a 20-year horizon; it’s not suggesting that you’re going to see density occurring in those areas tomorrow,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mark Hammel\u00a0says the Gold Coast “can’t stop growth”. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)<\/p>\n

Higher density further inland<\/p>\n

The Gold Coast features a long strip of high-rises built right next to its iconic beaches.<\/p>\n

That skyline has spread up and down the coast, with plans even lodged for the tallest residential tower in the southern hemisphere<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this spread of high-rises has created some opposition in coastal communities such as Palm Beach, which has seen a spate of towers in recent years, spurning concerns about overdevelopment.<\/p>\n

“There are people who would say, ‘We don\u2019t want anything to change in our area’ \u2014 that’s not an option,” Cr Hammel said.<\/p>\n

“We want our kids and grandkids to be able to afford to live in the city.”<\/p>\n

The strategy would inform the city’s new planning scheme, set to be finalised this year, which regulates how the council can approve or reject development applications.<\/p>\n

Cr Hammel said the coastal strip would remain the most sought-after location for new developments but that inland areas with access to public transport, shops, parks and schools should absorb more of the city’s growing population.<\/p>\n

Town centres at Coomera, Helensvale and Robina have been tipped for high-rises.<\/p>\n

“[It is] supply in the right areas where it’s a bit more affordable but it’s well located,” Cr Hammel said.<\/p>\n

The strategy would also favour the construction of medium-rise apartments, townhouses and terraces over houses in most suburbs.<\/p>\n

\"Pimpama,\"Pimpama, Pimpama, Gold Coast, in 2004. \/ Pimpama, Gold Coast, in 2025.<\/p>\n

The Community Alliance Association, an advocacy group for sustainable growth, described the strategy as “sensible”.<\/p>\n

“Medium height might be more appropriate, so buildings up to six storeys,” president John Hicks said.<\/p>\n

“But some centres where there’s the infrastructure \u2014 large supermarkets, transport, schools \u2014 it may be possible to have taller towers.”<\/p>\n

However, Mr Hicks said he remained concerned that population growth was “outpacing” infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

The Gold Coast’s beaches and laidback lifestyle have attracted increased interstate migration.\u00a0 (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)<\/p>\n

“We see that firstly in our road network and then there’s a big lag in provision of public transport,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Hicks said developers had been “focused on high-rise towers along the coastal strip” because that was where they got a “more profitable yield”.<\/p>\n

“In other locations, medium-rise or the missing middle-type developments, they’re much harder for developers to deliver,” he said.<\/p>\n

Public transport and construction gaps<\/p>\n

The state government cancelled plans to extend the city’s light rail network south from Burleigh Heads to Coolangatta last year.<\/p>\n

It cited local community opposition and cost blowouts for the decision but is yet to outline what public transport will replace the light rail.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the council’s strategy specifies the need for new east-west rapid bus networks connecting Nerang and Robina to the coastal strip.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A bus at the Broadbeach South Station, a major public transport hub on the Gold Coast. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)<\/p>\n

Cr Hammel said that would require state government funding into “the hundreds of millions of dollars”.<\/p>\n

He said “early details” on the state’s plans for the city’s public transport network were discussed at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

“They have made very, very strong commitments to public transport on the Gold Coast,” Cr Hammel said.<\/p>\n

The state government has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

There’s also a gap between the housing needed and what can actually be built.<\/p>\n

\"crane<\/p>\n

More than 9,000 new dwellings would need to be built per year to meet the 2046 target. (ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale)<\/p>\n

To meet council’s 2046 target, 9,250 new dwellings a year would need to be built on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

But only about 4,000 dwellings were approved for construction between 2024 and 2025, according to ABS data.<\/p>\n

Cr Hammel said there was “no point changing the colours on maps” to show where new housing should be built if it was not economically viable for developers.<\/p>\n

“We will focus on working with the development sector to make sure any changes we make in our planning actually achieve dwelling supply,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gold Coast will need 185,000 new homes in the next two decades, according to the council, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61286,9278,16553,2485,208,245109,43,7688,18404,44,1779,63446,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-483838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-approvals","9":"tag-city","10":"tag-development","11":"tag-gold-coast","12":"tag-growth","13":"tag-hammel","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-housing","16":"tag-mayor","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-plan","19":"tag-population","20":"tag-top-news","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-topnews","23":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}