Calls to demolish Brampton, Lindeman, Hook, South Molle, Long Island resorts

Gutted rooms and mouldy pools showcase “dilapidated and abandoned” island resorts in north Queensland with new calls to urgently demolish five. SEE THE PHOTOS

There are new calls to demolish resorts at five Mackay Whitsunday region islands.

There are calls to demolish “dilapidated and abandoned” island resorts in Queensland instead of renovating them with claims the heydays are long gone.

Former Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger Elmer Ten-Haken has slammed five languishing resorts he says are detracting from what tourism operators “like to convey” as “unspoilt wilderness”.

They include resorts at Brampton and Lindeman Islands in the Mackay region, and at Hook, Long, and South Molle Islands in the Whitsundays.

In his submission to a state parliament inquiry, Mr Ten-Haken said changing tourist wishlists made reviving resorts commercially unviable, instead suggesting they be destroyed.

“The original Whitsunday Island(s)’ resorts, built on places like Lindeman Island in the 1930s were cheap and cheerful and attracted guests who would put up with (grass huts) in exchange for a great experience in the then unspoiled Whitsundays,” Mr Ten-Haken stated.

The now-abandoned resorts on Brampton, Lindeman, Hook, Long, and South Molle Islands were once thriving as these retro advertisements show. Pictures: Centre for the Government of Queensland; eBay

“They were seasonal and were operated in addition to the grazing leases … if these places failed, there was little impact – they did not leave a large blot on the landscape.

20th century tourists ‘expect’ more

“Late 20th century tourists expected so much more; high-standard accommodation and gourmet meals, airconditioning and Hollywood showers – all of which is incredibly difficult and expensive to provide on an offshore island.

“It was perceived that the only way to do this was to go big – big corporations building big resorts and hoping to attract big crowds.”

Mr Ten-Haken said while this mindset achieved initial success, it later withered under high operating costs, “logistical difficulties”, “notoriously unpleasant” boat trips, cyclones, the declining health of fringing reefs, and tourists wanting more environmentally-conscious and boutique experiences.

Damage unleashed to the resort on South Molle Island during Cyclone Debbie in March, 2017.

He now wants new laws giving authorities power to resume resorts that hadn’t turned a profit for five years, adding any future development applications should include provisions to remove resorts and complete remedial works should they fail.

He further said wildlife rangers were dealing with the fallout from dilapidated resorts including asbestos contamination.

The cost of closed resorts

The Department of Resources in its submission said abandoned resorts could harm wildlife, the Queensland tourism brand, and public perception of the Great Barrier Reef.

It stated there were 980 Queensland islands in the GBR, of which 26 had resorts “rang(ing) from low impact eco-tourism to large scale operations”.

It said these resorts faced unique viability issues like getting insurance cover and capital investment while dealing with labour shortages, operating costs, insufficient telecommunication infrastructure and a target market drawn towards cruises or low-cost Asian destinations.

Brampton Island off Mackay, as it used to be in the heydays of island tourism. Picture: Save Brampton Island, Facebook

To help bolster island tourism, the state government rolled out a $25m rejuvenation program in 2018 to “stimulate reinvestment and reinvigoration of GBR island resorts”.

One objective was to remove “decommissioned buildings and legacy waste” leftover from destructive tropical cyclones.

Rubbish removed but what about redevelopment?

This goal was achieved for China Capital Investment Group’s South Molle Island as well as Meridian Australia’s Hook Island yet there are still no resolute movement on renovations or new works at either island.

This is despite CCIG in 2020 refurbishing its nearby resort at Daydream Island, and Meridian required to start work on its approved development at Hook by 2025.

This publication has twice invited CCIG to comment but no replies were received while Meridian responded it could not comment by deadline.

South Molle Island is owned by China Capital Investment Group.

Whitsunday Regional Council development services director Neil McGaffin said the level of inquiries sent to the council showed there was interest in developing Hook Island “even if it (was) not under way at present”.

Hook Island in the Whitsundays.

Mr McGaffin added the council was working with the Long Island’s Happy Bay Resort’s new owners, Sydney-based Oscars Hotel Group, as well as with the DOR to realign boundaries of multiple land parcels and public lands based on requested development outcomes.

He said there was an aim to have the resort operational in “the short to medium term”.

Happy Bay Resort on Long Island, circa 1970s. Picture: Contributed

He added CCIG had not submitted plans for its resort on South Molle Island since buying the lease for $24m in 2016.

Allegations island resort owners are ‘landbanking’

Several inquiry submissions alleged resort owners, particularly those based in China, were ‘landbanking’ with no intentions to resurrect resorts.

This is despite the DoR stating the Land Act 1994 guided a government policy to ensure this did not happen.

The Mackay Regional Council was particularly scathing in its submission as it highlighted the alleged empty promises hanging over Lindeman, Brampton and Keswick Islands.

“(The) council strongly objects to the landbanking and lack of intent surrounding current long standing development approvals which we believe have no chance of being delivered,” Development Services Director Aletta Nugent wrote.

Artist's impressions of the seven star resort Mackay Regional Council approved to be built on Brampton Island.

Ms Nugent said the last time Lindeman Island was upgraded was in 1992 with the resort shutting permanently in 2012 after Cyclone Yasi the year prior.

“In 2015, the Queensland Government … declared the proposed $600m redevelopment of the island as a special project,” she said.

“Recently the C0-ordinator General decided to extend the lapsing date for the (Environmental Impact Statement) evaluation report for a further two years to 26 March 2024.

An artist's impression of the $600m upgrade to Lindeman Island resort. Picture: Contributed.

“It is our belief that if the owner of the tourism lease had any intent to deliver a tourism product on the island, the evaluation report lapsing date would have triggered a tourism outcome before 2018.

Deadline extensions a slap to Queensland tourism

“A deadline extension until 2024 is a slap … to the detriment of the Queensland tourism industry”.

MRC Mayor Greg Williamson said approvals for island lease agreements should outline requirements for resort developments to start within a set time frame, and once open, continue to operate for leases to remain valid.

But it remains to be seen whether Lindeman’s new owner will make progress on the $600m special project.

CBRE Hotels brokered a sale on behalf of current owner, Chinese-based developer White Horse, with settlement expected early next year, the ABC on Tuesday reported.

The buyer’s identity was not disclosed.

Lindeman Island on the Great Barrier Reef off Mackay.

Taking a slightly different approach to the inquiry was Whitsunday Regional Council.

Mr McGaffin stated island resort leases could be “significantly rigid and restrict development and approval time frames” based on feedback from private sector interests seeking to invest.

Whitsunday Regional Council development services director Neil McGaffin.

He wrote WRC was calling for a streamlined process placing local governments as the “single assessment manager”.

“As the level of government closest to the local community, WRC is responsible for land use planning and development assessment within the WRC local government area,” Mr McGaffin stated.

“The intervention by the state in these processes is seen as unnecessary and duplicative.”

The WRC is further requesting the inquiry committee consider alternate landholder arrangements.

“(This) can involve assessing whether owning public land on the islands to the current extent is essential,” Mr McGaffin said.