Upper Coomera, Queensland

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 M1 Pacific 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."
Coomera Upper Provisional School opened on 23 October 1876. On 15 July 1878 it became Coomera Upper State School. It closed in 1964.
Fern Hill State School opened on 1910 and closed on 24 March 1914.
Saint Stephen's College opened on 1996.
Coomera Anglican College was established on 27 January 1997 by the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.
Upper Coomera State College opened on 1 January 2003.
Assisi Catholic College opened on 25 January 2005.
Education.
Private schools.
In addition to local schools, the southern parts of the suburb lie within the catchment area of Gaven State School (P-6) and Pacific Pines State High School (7-12) in the neighbouring suburb of Pacific Pines.
Community.
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 (894 people; 3.5%) and Māori Australians (1,549 people; 4.3%) of any suburb in Queensland.
Shopping.
Upper Coomera has several shopping venues, the main ones being Coomera City Centre, Coomera Grand Shopping Centre and The Hub at the junction of Days Road and Old Coach Road. Together they consist of Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, and various other stores. Also located throughout the suburb in smaller shopping villages are Coles supermarkets. Various fast food outlets exist in Upper Coomera including two McDonald's restaurants, Hungry Jack's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Nandos, KFC, Pizza Capers and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
Nearby major shopping centres include Westfield Coomera, Westfield Helensvale, Robina Town Centre, Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Harbour Town Shopping Centre and Australia Fair Shopping Centre. The Westfield Coomera shopping centre in the neighbouring suburb of Coomera is a new addition to the local area.
Entertainment.
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.
Heritage listings.
Upper Coomera has a number of heritage sites, including: