Whitsunday council affirms high rise limits in Airlie Beach

Whitsunday councillors have made an 11th hour decision to delete changes to its planning scheme amid passionate pleas not to turn Airlie Beach into another “Noosa or Gold Coast”.

Whitsunday councillors, with Mayor Julie Hall (centre) at the helm, have made an 11th hour decision to delete changes to its planning scheme amid passionate pleas not to turn Airlie Beach (left) into another “Noosa or Gold Coast”.

More than 1000 angry residents who fought to keep the village vibe of Airlie Beach and prevent it becoming the next Gold Coast appear to have won the battle. For now at least.

It comes after Whitsunday Regional Council made a “last minute” change to a proposed major update to its planning scheme after a whopping 1331 submissions.

Ambiguous amendments that had not defined maximum building heights were the biggest prickle among the proposed revisions to the Whitsunday Planning Scheme 2017 which included the new Airlie Beach Local Plan.

There were 1283 submissions – described as “petition/template style submissions” – that specifically requested the council to either lower current building heights or “maintain a general ‘low rise’ feel” throughout Airlie Beach.

“We don’t want Airlie Beach to look like the Gold Coast,” one resident submitted to WRC.

Airlie Beach residents are passionate about keeping high rise developments out of their town. Picture: Tourist and Events Queensland, 2022.

Another wrote they wanted the town to keep its “beautiful sea views for all”.

“All our overseas visitors loved the village atmosphere and beautiful nature of Airlie … more high rises and people will kill this beautiful spot,” they wrote.

Another pleaded with the council to “stop being greedy and just (be) thinking about the cash”.

“If Bowen (wants high-rises), let them have it in their front yard,” the person submitted.

Planned changes to the Bowen region as part of a proposed major amendment to Whitsunday Regional Council's Planning Scheme. Picture: Supplied

Another believed “overdevelopment ha(d) completely changed Noosa for the worse”.

Now, in what could be considered the council scrambling to provide clarity under intense pressure from people power, the council has replied to submissions stating that only Precinct C – parcelled between Waterson Way and Airlie Main St – would have a height limit above five stories or 21m.

Looking down on Airlie Beach with Waterson Way in the foreground sometime in the 1970s. Locals are passionate about keeping Airlie Beach as high-rise free as possible.

“The majority of land within the ABLP area has a height limit of 14m (4 stories),” the council stated in one reply, reaffirming in others that the plan had not proposed any changes to building heights.

The council further said it had deleted its “last minute inclusion” to the Airlie plan “as a result of community comment”.

The now-removed sentence read: “The character of Airlie Beach, which includes its vital, small town scale, tropical climate, pedestrian neighbourhoods, compact Main St form, blue views to the sea and green views to Airlie Hill, visually penetrable buildings and heights in a lush landscape elements, is maintained.”

According to the council, the inclusion was “difficult to articulate clearly”, could be “contradictory”, and “hard to quantify” and so it was “recommended (the) clause be removed”.

It further stated it would generally only support higher density buildings when “there is a community benefit, such as a public laneway to improve accessibility”.

Planned changes to Airlie Beach as part of a proposed major amendment to Whitsunday Regional Council's Planning Scheme. Picture: Supplied

Other amendments to the planning scheme included a new Bowen Local Plan, a Proserpine to Airlie Beach Growth Study and Structure Plan; a draft Whitsunday Open Space Strategy; and codes for Building Heights Overlay, Renewable Energy, and Rural Tourism.

There are also local heritage place cards, regulation of urban sheds, the banning of party houses, items to tackle housing affordability, and changes to advertising devices, zone densities, home-based businesses and waste management to name but a few.

The council first endorsed changes to its planning scheme in March 2021, sending them onwards to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning for a State Interest Review.

Hundreds of Airlie Beach residents spoke out against changes to the planning scheme in fear their town could become the next Gold Coast.

Then throughout 2022, the council modified changes in response to SIR comments, met with residents and invited the public to make submissions.

At the ordinary meeting on Wednesday, councillors voted in favour of the amendments to what will now be Version 4.5 of the Whitsunday Planning Scheme plus Mapping.

Voting in favour were Mayor Julie Hall and councillors Jan Clifford, Clay Bauman, John Collins, and Michelle Wright, and against were councillors Mike Brunker and Gary Simpson.

Mrs Clifford said it was important to keep the “low key” element of Airlie Beach.

“It used to be (that buildings were) no higher than the coconut trees in Coconut Grove,” she said.

Ms Hall said the amendments would not stop development but put in “ticks and checks” to “give people peace of mind”.

A Notice of Request to Adopt will now be sent to DSDILGP Minister Steven Miles, and the council will “report back to the community on the consultation outcomes”.

See the full list of submissions here.