Tricare Communities address odour concerns on $21m Beerwah block

The Sunshine Coast Council has raised “adverse odour” concerns as plans are revealed for a $21m block near chicken farms to become a luxury retirement community.

The site of proposed Tricare Communities' retirement village is 500m from intensive chicken farming.

Plans for a luxury retirement village on dilapidated farmland in Beerwah have been submitted to the Sunshine Coast Council, despite concerns over the “adverse odours” emanating from surrounding chicken farms.

Development plans for a retirement village on Newell, Rd, Beerwah were submitted by Tricare Communities to the Sunshine Coast Council on May 1, 2024.

If approved, the village development would include 235 homes, two swimming pools and a community centre equipped with lawn bowls and a cinema.

The site would also accommodate more than 60 van spots and an outdoor recreation area with four pickleball courts.

Tricare Communities has revealed plans for a luxury retirement village in Beerwah, equipped with a cinema, multiple swimming pools and lawn bowls.

More than 230 homes are proposed for the former farmland.

Tricare Communities bought the 31ha block at 68 Newell Rd, Beerwah from the Newell family in September last year for $21.5m, according to property data.

The retirement company then bought the adjoining residential property at 44 Newell Rd for $1.4m three months later.

Reports submitted to the council described the property as previously being multigenerational farmland with various uses including cattle grazing and chicken farming since the 1950s.

The farm is now described as being in a “dilapidated” state.

Subdivision plans for Tricare Communities' Beerwah retirement village proposal.

According to the development application documents, 500m to the north and west of the proposed retirement village are five intensive chicken farms, which the documents claim each holds more than 100,000 birds.

In response to the council’s concerns of the odour impact the farms could have on the retirement village, Tricare Communities commissioned a report into the farms and the ventilation systems within the sheds.

Ultimately, the report stated the likelihood of the retirement village being impacted by the odours of the 65 chicken sheds spread across five farms was “very low”.