An island divided: What residents say about Keswick’s new leaseholder China Bloom

A tropical Queensland island paradise has become a community divided with some claiming its lease holder – a Chinese developer – is making life difficult for locals, while others say life there has “never been better”.

A tropical island paradise on the Great Barrier Reef has become divided over the controversial takeover of its lease by a Chinese developer, with an online petition pleading for action attracting 13,000 signatures while other residents label their claims “rubbish.”

China Bloom took over the head lease of Keswick Island, located in the Whitsundays, in March 2019.

However, the new owners have since been accused of restricting access of sublessees who have homes on the island, with a petition established to “claim back Keswick Island” attracting significant attention.

It comes after some sublessees on the island claimed access to Keswick’s only airstrip and helipad had been curtailed and roads to the National Park intentionally blocked.

Outrage over these reports led to plans for a mass Australia Day protest in Mackay to ‘Reclaim Keswick Island’, but these were cancelled over concerns about crowd numbers.

Rachael Cameron, who founded the petition to scupper the lease, said she was worried about plans to redevelop the island’s beach, which reportedly is a nesting site for turtles.

“To be told that turtles no longer nested on Keswick Island and that there had been no human intervention was an absolute disgrace and an insult to our intelligence,” she said.

Keswick Island sublessee Rayna Asbury said access to the island had become more difficult.

Another resident, Rayna Asbury, said accessing the island became “much more difficult” after China Bloom took over.

“One of the first things they did was stop private planes from flying onto the airstrip,” Ms Asbury said.

She also claimed China Bloom forced her to stop renting her holiday home on AIRBNB, only to learn later that holiday renting was allowed.

“We’ve now lost 18 months of rent because of their interpretation of the sublease,” Ms Asbury said.

“There’s just no transparency, I have no idea what they’re trying to achieve,” she said.

However, when contacted by The Courier-Mail, some residents have leapt to China Bloom’s defence.

Locals fighting the Chinese lessees of this island about a sign the Chinese recently put up on Basil Bay Keswick Island – Photo supplied

“I think the place has never been better,” one resident, who wished only to be identified as Bill, said.

Glenn Leigh-Smith, who operated the airline between the island and the mainland for six years 2010 and 2016 and owns a lot on Keswick, also defended China Bloom.

“I’ve been there since 1999,” Mr Leigh-Smith said.

The Change.org petition urging China Bloom be stripped of its 99-year lease over the island has reached over 13,000 signatures.

“All they’ve done is maintain the island. If you go fly there, you’ll see the place is impeccable,” he said.

Mr Leigh-Smith said China Bloom impact on the island had been overstated, with little accomplished due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on tourism numbers.

“These (protesters) were right on their back from day one, and I don’t think that’s fair,” he said.

Locals fighting the Chinese lessees of this island about a sign the Chinese recently put up at Keswick Island – Photo Supplied,

“It’s a bit like Adani, as soon as it was finished they all went away and found another cause.”

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous but had built a holiday home since buying a lot on the island in 2003, said he had “never had a problem” with travel to and from Keswick since China Bloom took over.

The resident also described reports that access to the national park being blocked was “rubbish.”

Keswick Island’s owners China Bloom said there were 21 houses on the island with only four permanent residents, and denied any closure of the airfield or national parks.

“In the first quarter of 2021, the island’s plane service, which was paused as with the aviation plane industry with the COVID-19 pandemic, will be reinstated to increase capacity,” the developer said in a statement.

“A resident with a recreational pilot’s license has recently been prevented from using the private airstrip following a safety issue.”

China Bloom also claimed Queensland Parks and Wildlife had found no turtles had resided on the island over a 10-year period.

“The beach where they used to nest was not graded by the current developer, but by a previous headlessee over ten years ago.”