Upper Coomera is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Upper Coomera and Coomera have long been the main centre of urban development on the Gold Coast and are considered to be, along with Southport and Robina, one of the Gold Coast's three urban centres. Upper Coomera is a heavily suburbanised suburb consisting of many large residential developments and commercial centres. Despite already being heavily developed and having a large population, Upper Coomera is predicted by both the Queensland Government and Gold Coast City Council to grow and develop at an exponential rate well into the next decade. Upper Coomera is a popular place of residence for dual-city commuters as it is placed roughly halfway between the central commercial districts of Southport and Beenleigh and within reasonable travelling distance to Brisbane CBD.
Geography
Upper Coomera is located on the northern side of the Gold Coast on the western side of the M1Pacific Motorway. It borders Willow Vale in the north, the Coomera River on the south which separates it from Oxenford and the Pacific Highway on the east which separates it from Coomera.
History
The name Coomera comes from the Yugambeh word kumera, a species of wattle. The Coomera River was used by early timber-getters to reach the hinterland. In 1865 the Binstead family settled in Upper Coomera near a ford in the river that later formed part of a mail run. A ferry service was set up downstream which later became known as Coomera. The first bridge across the Coomera river was built in the 1930s. The Upper Coomera Cemetery was first surveyed in 1871 and it opened in 1885, but it was not until 3 years later that someone was buried there. The Upper Coomera Shire War Memorial is on the corner of Oxenford and Tamborine Road and was unveiled on 18 May 1918. The memorial originally only honoured those from the district who fell in World War I; however, the names of those who perished during World War II were added later. The inscriptions on the memorial read:
"This memorial was erected by the residents, in honour of the brave lads of the Coomera district who fell in the Great War 1914-19. They gave their all. Let you who pass, saluting here their names,See that through you no slur, nor stain, nor shame Falls on the land for which they gave their lives - AUSTRALIA."
Saint Stephen's College is a private primary and secondary school for boys and girls at 31 Reserve Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 1294 students with 97 teachers and 76 non-teaching staff.
Coomera Anglican College is a private primary and secondary school for boys and girls at 8 Days Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 1407 students with 92 teachers and 61 non-teaching staff. It also offers child care on the same campus. It has a sports centre, which includes two full size netball courts as well as a full commercial gym operated by Coomera Focus on Fitness and available for use by the local community. The current principal is Mark D Sly.
The Upper Coomera Community Centre is located on Reserve Road and contains the office of Councillor Donna Gates, Customer Service Office, Aquatic Centre, and Upper Coomera Branch Library. The community centre opened on 14 June 2013. The Upper Coomera Branch Library opened in April 2013 and is the newest branch of the Gold Coast libraries. The Upper Coomera School of Arts was established in 1896. It is used for public meetings and other community purposes. According to the, Upper Coomera includes the largest communities of both New Zealand Australians and Māori Australians of any suburb in Queensland.
Upper Coomera has a number of hotels, cafes and restaurants, catering to families.
Public transport
Upper Coomera is well serviced by a variety of bus routes provided by Surfside Bus Lines and operated by Translink. There is also a train station on Foxwell Road in the neighbouring suburb of Coomera.
