‘Premium’ hotel development promises to open Airlie Beach to new markets

The 14-storey resort would incorporate multiple pool areas, 15 penthouses, and spa facilities. But some in the community are concerned about its size and location

A development application for a massive resort complex on Shingley Drive has been submitted to the Whitsunday Regional Council. Photo: One Whitsunday Developments Pty Ltd.

Developers have their sights set on the Airlie Beach foreshore as the “ideal” location for the Whitsundays’ newest luxury resort.

A vacant 1.01ha site at 125 Shingley Drive is the proposed location for a new 14 storey resort, comprising 175 rooms, a 480sq m function centre, multiple pool areas, and spa facilities.

Planning documents before the Whitsunday Regional Council and released for public notification this week reveal a number of premium hotel operators have been identified as potential managers, including Hilton, Accor, and Marriott International.

Proponents One Whitsunday Development Pty Ltd say they can build the $80m complex within two years, and have it up and running by 2024, generating 125 jobs and $12m annual economic benefit to the region once operational, in addition to the 166 jobs and $56 million economic benefit generated during construction.

The proposed development requires council approval as it exceeds the maximum building height allowed for the site under the planning scheme.

One Whitsunday argues an exception is justified by the scale of economic and community benefits the development would bring to the region by meeting demand for premium short term accommodation on the mainland.

The Economic Needs Assessment submitted to the council notes that no resorts have been built in the Airlie Beach area since 2012, and none of the existing options qualifies as a premium hotel or resort.

“While the Whitsunday Islands have been successful in providing a range of resort accommodation forms, the mainland, centred around Airlie Beach, is dominated by serviced apartments and backpacker accommodation,” the report states.

“This is considered to have restricted the mainland’s ability to attract trade from the full complement of potential visitors, particularly from travellers seeking high standard hotels, including the incentives and function markets.”

The proposal has received letters of support from the council’s own Economic Development Coordinator as well as the State Development, Tourism and Innovation minister.

But there has also been backlash from other sectors of the community, such as the Save Our Foreshore and Fight For Airlie groups led by Suzette Pelt and Clay Baumann.

Mr Baumann said in a statement this week a recent “deluge” of high rise development applications was “out of control,” and questioned the council’s ability to properly assess applications of this scale.

“Port of Airlie, in receivership, has lodged eight development applications with council, amounting to thousands of pages,” Mr Baumann said.

“Now, another 14 storey application for Shingley Beach has opened for public submissions just days after hundreds of pages were delivered.

“How is a small regional council supposed to properly assess and manage this level of complex applications, all at once, and especially as it appears not a single one complies with our town plan?”

Voicing similar concerns at the May council meeting in Proserpine, Mr Baumann said the future of Airlie Beach would be better served by maintaining its “low rise ambience”.

“I’m certainly not against development,” he said.

“It should be about quality over quantity.”

One Whitsunday listed a number of other locations for the resort if it could not get approval for the Shingley Drive site, including the large 422 Shute Harbour Road site that could provide premium water views for at least 200 rooms.

It noted that tall buildings on any of the alternative sites would be more visually obtrusive and likely to more severely impact on the views from existing dwellings in Airlie Beach than the proposed development on the preferred site.

The development proposal is on public notification until June 30 2021, with plans accessible via Whitsunday Regional Council’s online portal.

Any person can make a signed and written submission to Whitsunday Regional Council’s Chief Executive Officer, P0 Box 104, Proserpine QLD 4800, on or before the closing date.

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

A council spokesman said “at this stage it is unclear exactly when that will occur”.