Port of Airlie high rise hotel public submissions close on Monday

This weekend is your final chance to comment on the proposed hotel developers say will ‘revitalise the Whitsundays’.

The Balmain Group wants to develop a "luxury precinct" at 24 Coconut Grove, Airlie Beach, complete with an international branded hotel, state-of-the-art apartments and new shopping, food and beverage, and entertainment activities, including a cinema and bowling complex. Picture: Supplied.

Time is running out to have your say on a multimillion dollar Airlie Beach development proposal before the council makes its decision.

The public notification period for a 12-storey luxury hotel development at the Port of Airlie ends on Monday, June 7, and the advice from Division 1 Councillor Jan Clifford is: “Love it or hate it – make a submission.”

Ms Clifford was unable to comment any further on an active development application but other community members have had no hesitation in making their thoughts known.

The ‘Fight for Airlie’ and ‘Save our Foreshore’ groups have campaigned against the application and sent representative Clay Baumann to the May 26 council meeting in Collinsville to present a stack of written objections they planned to formally submit.

Mr Baumann said more than 1000 people had signed individual objection letters or petitions relating to the Port of Airlie proposal, as well as a 14-storey Cannonvale resort proposal, and changes to the planning scheme around increasing maximum building heights.

Objectors’ concerns centred around “disadvantaging the community in favour of private commercial interests”, with Mr Baumann stressing he was “not at all against development and the prosperity of our area” but “just truly believe[s] high-rise will not give us the best short or long term outcomes”.

Save our Foreshore’s Suzette Pelt said the groups wanted “height and density limits kept to acceptable levels that would integrate with, and not detract from, the dominant Airlie Beach town centre”.

On the other hand, the proponents say their plans for the Port of Airlie will bring “enormous” economic benefits including more than 600 jobs, and $3.6 million a year in tourism.

Balmain Asset Management (appointed by Meridien) head Murry Offord said the hotel’s 12-storey design would “be sure to attract a premium international hotel brand” with Accor, Hilton, Hyatt Regency, Radisson, Sheraton and Marriott all in contention.

Mr Offord said the hotel would provide “much needed” conference and function facilities to the local and tourist markets, and “more than adequate” on-site car parking for guests, residents, staff and customers.

Planning documents submitted to council stated that exceeding the area’s maximum building height for the 12-storey design was “justified on the basis that there is an overriding need for an integrated luxury hotel development on the Whitsundays mainland that cannot feasibly be realised within the constraint of an absolute height limitation of 18m”.

If the proposed 10 lot subdivision is approved, Balmain Group wants to have the hotel up and running by January 2024.

Any person can view the plans via Whitsunday Regional Council’s online portal, and make a signed and written submission to Whitsunday Regional Council’s Chief Executive Officer, P0 Box 104, Proserpine QLD 4800, on or before June 7.

The application will be submitted to the council for consideration once all submissions have been analysed.

The council declined to comment on the number of submissions received to date.