Whitsunday council approves extension on 20-year project Funnel Bay Resort
The councillor for a North Queensland tourist town has asked how many times would developers be permitted extensions on their leases, without ever starting their proposed projects.
Whitsunday
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A Whitsunday councillor has asked how many times would developers be permitted extensions on their leases without ever starting their proposed projects.
This comes as a project that was first presented before the Whitsunday Regional Council almost 20 years ago has secured yet another extension.
The proposed multimillion-dollar six-star eco-tourism Funnel Bay Resort at Langford Rd in Jubilee Pocket had first been proposed back in 2006, but since then, no works have commenced.
The May ordinary meeting was no different to previous council meetings, as an extension request for a period of twenty-four months was approved, bringing the development application validity to November 14, 2025.
The proposed development zone is located on Langford Rd at Funnel Bay, which directly looks onto a not well known spot in the Whitsundays at Funnel Bay Beach.
But as of May 31, 2024 the area still looked like wasteland.
Councillor Jan Clifford asked Director of Development Services Neil McGaffin if a deadline on the start of works had been handed by developer Well Smart Funnel Bay Development.
Mr McGaffin told members of council no time frame was provided as to when works might commence.
“Why can’t we say we’ll give you this extension for, make it two years, but in that time you’ve got to have started works,” Ms Clifford said.
“Otherwise to me, it’s land banking.
“[They’ve] got an approval and it makes [their] property more valuable.”
Mr McGaffin told Cr Clifford to provide deadlines for development activity to commence was not “within council’s responsibilities”.
“They are a lot of things that go into a developer pushing through the room in developing,” he said adding this included a range of economical factors.
“Appropriate enforcement tools” needed, inquiry finds
This is not the first time the question of land banking was asked for the Whitsunday region, and especially the Whitsunday Islands, when projects of redevelopment don’t become a reality.
Land banking is the practice of buying land as an investment, holding it for future use and making no specific plans for its development.
Submissions to a parliamentary inquiry raised the question whether several islands in the Whitsundays were disguising land banking through development applications, while several islands with abandoned resorts on them were left as is or at least not redeveloped.
This was the suspicion for Meridian Hook Island’s Eco resort project, as well as a that of proposed resort on Lindeman island.
The inquiry into the economic and regulatory frameworks for Queensland island resorts had identified 18 recommendations on how to better manage island resorts in future.
Some of the recommendations included for the department to cancel tourism leases, if the lessees are found to be in breach of their agreement and for the department to be given “appropriate enforcement tools” to allow an effective response.
A spokesman for the Department of Resources said 18 out of 25 resort islands managed by the department on the Great Barrier Reef were “operational and thriving”.
“In the last three years we have conducted inspections and lease condition audits on 10 tourism islands, focusing on the non-operational resorts,” the department stated.
“We continue to actively engage with lessees of other island leases and key stakeholders to facilitate redevelopment and rejuvenation of our island resorts.”
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