Like many small Australian beachside holiday towns, Crescent Head — with its popular surf break — heaves under a huge population surge every summer.
Its enduring small-town charm and surf culture on New South Wales' Mid North Coast has captured the attention of Sydney-born designer and hotelier George Gorrow.
With his wife and German model Cisco Tschurtschenthaler, the pair are transforming an old motel at Crescent Head into a 1970s-inspired surf club hotel to be opened later this year.
However, some locals who are already managing the annual tourist congestion are unhappy, especially as there is another motel redevelopment proposal under consideration for the town.
From Bali to Crescent Head
Mr Gorrow co-founded streetwear fashion label Ksubi and has spent the past decade living in Bali, where he and Ms Tschurtschenthaler opened a successful hotel and gallery in the surf town of Canggu.
Now parents of two young boys, they have returned to Australia and to a town holding fond memories for Mr Gorrow.
"Crescent Head still feels like that place you visited as a child, still feels so pure " Mr Gorrow said.
"I love surfing. So does my wife, and Crescent Head is one of the most iconic surf breaks on the north coast, so we are trying to keep in with that [theme].
"My vision of a surf club hotel comes from when I was young and used to travel around the coast with my dad, who was an avid surfer.
"We would always stay in different cabins."
Mr Gorrow also loves "original Aussie pubs overflowing with culture".
"So I want to bring that into the place, where everything you look at tells a story," he said.
The hotel, on Pacific Street, will also include a gallery, music and restaurant, and locally shaped surfboards.
Mr Gorrow said the external structure would not change much in a bid to "keep a lot of the uniqueness of the building" and its footprint will be reduced to 24 rooms.
"The Macleay region is so rich in culture; we will also be partnering with local farms and producers to showcase the region," he said.
A village 'under incredible stress'
The other motel redevelopment proposal in the works is for a property on nearby Baker Drive.
The development application for a three-storey building is with Kempsey Shire Council and on public display for feedback.
It has sparked concerns among some locals that the character of their seaside community risks being lost among new and upmarket developments.
Crescent Head Malibu Club president and resident of 30 years Roger Fergusson says the village community is "under incredible stress".
"Coastal villages are under threat everywhere, the ethos, the history of village lifestyle that makes up the north coast of NSW," he said.
"We have an incredible surge of traffic and people this summer, a huge volume of illegal campers, our water is under threat, our sewerage is under threat and parking is over the top."
The town 'needs tourism'
Robyn Harvey, 72, a former Australian longboard surfer who grew up in Crescent Head, said there was a positive side to new developments.
"We need tourism for the shops to survive and get through our winter … this will just sparkle it up a little bit," she said.
"I've seen the town back in the 1950s right through to now.
"It was great then and now. We all have to learn to share and get along with every generation."
A public meeting to discuss the latest Baker Drive development proposal will be held locally on January 12.
Finding the right balance
Kempsey Shire Councillor and resident Alexandra Wyatt said finding the balance between maintaining small town character and embracing expansion was a challenge.
Visitors were recently turned away from the Mid North Coast holiday town of Seal Rocks due to safety concerns over gridlocked roads.
"I find opinion in Crescent Head very divided," Cr Wyatt said.
"Things can't stay the same as they were in the 1970s, '80s, '90s … and we need to make sure they evolve in a way that is aesthetically pleasing, that maintains environmental values and the character of the landscape.
"I would also like to see some social equity in there, so we don't just kick out everyone who can't afford to be there.
"We cannot love these places to death."
