City of Gold Coast’s Lifestyle and Community committee today voted to trial a commercial tandem skydive service on the beach off Philip Park, opposite Sea World, for 12 months. All councillors will still need to vote on the recommendation at a full council meeting.

The decision, that has been panned by local residents’ groups, means a 75-metre-long area will be cordoned off from other beach users to provide a 25-metre square drop zone for skydivers.

It is being seen as a significant dent in current limitations on commercial activity, such as controversial plans for European-style beach bars, clubs and other businesses that have so far been rejected from operating on the golden sands of the Gold Coast’s famous beaches.

In today’s vote, Councillors said the trial was necessary to keep the Gold Coast “famous for fun” or risk Queensland’s holiday jewel becoming “the old Coast instead of the Gold Coast”.

“If we are actually going to be taken seriously as a competitive and interesting tourism city, then we’ve got to give this kind of thing a go,” city planning boss Cameron Caldwell said.

“(Otherwise) we will lose market share over and over again to more exciting, more progressive, more interesting destinations, say like Queenstown, that are prepared to do these things in order to attract business to their city.

“If we don’t try this… we will no longer be famous for fun. We will be boring and dull and that is not the direction that we want our city to head in terms of its tourism offering.”

Gold Coast deputy mayor Donna Gates said, rejecting business operations such as the beach skydive risked the Gold Coast’s number one tourism city status.

“We may well become the ‘old Coast’ rather than the Gold Coast if we don’t keep ahead with our tourism product,” she said.

“We have to remain competitive. We are the capital of tourism in this country, we need to remain at the forefront.”

However Main Beach Association leader Sue Donovan said the decision had angered the local community and gave priority to a business over residents and beach goers.

Over the past five years, annual visitor numbers on the beach where the sky dive drop zone will be trialled range between 790,000 to 960,000 during lifeguard patrol hours, according to the council’s report into the proposal.

“Noise from the helicopters will be devastating for local businesses and people on the beach. The best we can hope for is that the weather won’t allow it to happen very often, it’s pretty windy there,” Donovan said.

While there is already a similar skydiving service that lands on the beach at Kirra on the southern Gold Coast, the trial at The Spit is significant as it may pave the way for other commercial operators on the city’s popular tourist beaches around Surfers Paradise.