Bubbling Springs tourism facility: Turners to spend $8 million and create 20 jobs at Spicers Hidden Vale camp site

About 20 jobs will be created at the eco-tourism development on the outskirts of Ipswich. Here’s when it is expected to welcome its first guests.

Jude and Graham Turner are investing $8 million into their new Bubbling Springs development in Grandchester.

THE owners of Spicers Retreats will pump $8 million into a new tourism development near their country resort in Ipswich with works set to begin within the next three months.

As first reported by the Queensland Times last week, Flight Centre and Spicers power couple Graham and Jude Turner had plans for Bubbling Springs facility green lit by Ipswich City Council after four years in the approval process.

Works are set to start in October and it is hoped it will be open by mid next year.

It will include grass tent sites, semi-permanent glamping structures and communal-use eco facilities to accommodate up to 290 people and facilities for the Hidden Vale Adventure Park, which is primarily used for mountain biking and trail running.

The first stage of the project will include extending the existing 130 kilometres of trails by 20 kilometres, with a cafe and restaurant, public function area that can be used for weddings, bike shed, first aid room and shop also planned.

According to managing director David Assef, about 20 tourism and hospitality jobs will need to be filled at Bubbling Springs once it is open.

He said the approval process “took longer than expected” due to the complexity of the application, which was first submitted in 2017.

“This project presents the opportunity for a quality nature based eco-tourism development for the Ipswich region,” Mr Assef said.

“The Turners want to keep as much natural land as possible, yet still keep it useful and accessible to the public.

The site will be able to accommodate up to 290 people.

“Protecting the wildlife population and improving the state of the land itself is very important to them.

“They believe people should be able to access and enjoy the land in its natural state.

“The campground will be designed to operate as a low tech and highly sustainable campground.”

The facility will be powered by an onsite small scale solar farm, wastewater will be treated to class A quality for irrigation, rainwater will be collected for drinking and no single use plastic water bottles will be sold.

“We aim to be a zero landfill waste site through composting and recycling programs,” Mr Assef said.

The site will be made up of 60 single campsites, three group sites accommodating eight individual tents each, seven caravan sites serviced with water and power and eight permanent ‘eco tents’.

The camping site will be supported by five barbecue pavilions, four amenities blocks and two camp kitchens.

Mr Assef said Spicers resorts had been backed strongly over the past 18 months with high occupancy rates during Covid-19 except for during lockdown periods.

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