Bundaberg Council approves Club Bargara development despite public concerns over impact on nesting turtles

A six-storey Bargara unit complex and clubhouse has received the green light despite the Bundaberg council’s lighting expert providing no input on its assessment.

Bundaberg Council has approved the Club Bargara development despite public concerns over its impact on nesting turtles.

Bundaberg Regional Council has given the green light to the controversial Club Bargara development despite public concerns about its impact on nesting turtles at nearby Kellys Beach.

The proposal submitted by the Bargara Golf Club for a six storey building including a licensed club facility and 57 apartments for short-term accommodation was approved at the Bundaberg Regional Council meeting on Monday, April 24.

The new building will replace the existing clubhouse at 120 Miller Street Bargara overlooking the northern end of Kellys Beach.

A new clubhouse and retirement facility with 48 units proposed by the Bargara Golf Club for Bauer St, away from the foreshore, was also approved.

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Three threatened species of turtles are known to use Kellys Beach for nesting between the months of October and April.

The development application was lodged in August 2022 by Brisbane developer Ethos Urban on behalf of the Bargara Golf Club.

The proposal includes a licensed club facility and 57 apartments located on the Bargara foreshore.

The initial application did not include a plan for mitigation of light pollution on the turtles, despite acknowledging that the council had requested a lighting management plan to be included.

Instead, the application included a letter from environmental consultancy Pendoley Environmental proposing that a detailed lighting plan be provided after the development application had been approved.

Pendoley Environmental has consulted for various clients around Australia including Chevron Australia, Queensland Gas Company and Rio Tinto.

The majority of public submissions received regarding the application were opposed to the development.

A total of 42 from 60 properly made submissions were opposed, with 40 expressing concerns about the effect on nesting turtles.

The top two storeys of the facility have direct line of sight to Kellys Beach.

All personal details have been redacted from the submissions so their authors cannot be identified.

“As Bundaberg Regional Council is aware, Kellys Beach is a known sea turtle nesting beach,” one submission said.

“Disruptions to nesting and hatching activities at this beach from artificial lighting … is an ongoing issue, and the proposed development will contribute to this problem.”

Another submission said that the application “has not sufficiently addressed the issue of light mitigation”.

Following the public backlash, the council asked Ethos Urban to provide more details demonstrating that the development would be compliant with the Sea Turtle Sensitive Areas overlay code.

In response, the developers submitted a Marine Turtle Light Management Plan with measures including use of non-reflective tinting, shielding of windows and glass doors by external screens and louvres and use of timers to deactivate lighting in external areas during turtle nesting months.

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The plan also proposes building lighting-specific conditions into the residential body corporate agreement for regulation of apartment owners and short-term guests.

Councillor Wayne Honor opposed the application, giving concerns about the site’s ‘glow effect’.

The development application including the revised Marine Turtle Light Management Plan was approved in the Council meeting on Monday with only councillor Wayne Honor opposing.

Mr Honor spoke of the “glow effect” that may derive from the site, and asked if the officer leading the council’s Reducing Urban Glow project, Andrew Beckenhaur, had provided input into the assessment of the development application.

The Reducing Urban Glow project aims to minimise the impact of lighting on nesting turtles along the Bundaberg coast.

Council chief executive Steve Johnston confirmed that Mr Beckenhaur was not part of the planning team that assessed the application, saying that the application “was assessed against the Council’s planning schemes and policies”.

Bargara resident and former town planner George Martin said not including Mr Beckenhaur in the planning team was “crazy”.

Bargara resident and former town planner George Martin has advocated against the Club Bargara development.

“It would seem crazy if you had somebody who has been working on a strategy like that at the council and the team of planners who are assessing the application wouldn’t call on his expertise – it seems a bit bizarre to me,” he said.

Mr Martin has advocated against the development, making repeated submissions to the Minister Planning and Local Government Steven Miles and the council on what he sees as a failure of correct processes in evaluating the application.

Beyond the impact on nesting turtles, Mr Martin has concerns that the six storey building will set a precedent for construction of more multistorey buildings in Bargara.

“One of my concerns all along has been that a six storey building on that location sets a very ugly precedent for what might happen in the future of Kellys Beach,” he said.

“I think the community will suffer the consequences, and the consequences will be increased congestion, more light and possible the ugly precedent of six stories on Kellys Beach.”

In response to questions seeking confirmation that council is satisfied that the lighting plan is sufficient to minimise impact on nesting turtles, a Bundaberg Regional Council spokesman referred back to Mr Johnston’s statement in the council meeting that the application was assessed against the Council’s planning schemes and policies.