Whitsunday Paradise dispute prompts calls to remove Whitsunday Regional Council

‘We intend to pay for everything, but we have no intention of paying for it twice’ says the development firm behind a $1b housing project.

The Whitsunday Paradise project at Bowen.

Developers behind a $1b Bowen housing project are sticking to their guns in a long-running dispute over infrastructure charges, calling Whitsunday Regional Council “confused” and “misinformed” in its claims about costs to ratepayers.

GRW Group general manager Blake Thomas issued a statement regarding the Whitsunday Paradise master plan on Thursday after the council’s CEO Rod Ferguson warned the community a proposed infrastructure agreement could “cost ratepayers a lot of money for a long period of time”.

Mr Ferguson earlier this week stated a February 2021 request from GRW Group to amend an existing infrastructure agreement did not represent a good long-term outcome for ratepayers.

He claimed if the council had agreed to the request – to offset 100 per cent of the costs of providing water and sewer infrastructure to the estate and decommissioning of the existing on-site sewerage treatment plant against infrastructure charges – the estimated $20m in infrastructure costs over the life of the project would have to be ratepayer subsidised.

“Every developer pays infrastructure contributions, and based on expert legal advice, councillors unanimously made the decision in February 2021 to reject the request to ensure no financial burden falls on both current and future Whitsunday ratepayers,” Mr Ferguson said.

Mr Thomas however called Mr Ferguson’s claims “misinformed”, and said GRW Group had “in no way risked council or ratepayers’ money”.

He said GRW Group had offered to pay for $20m of water and sewage infrastructure upfront to resolve “shortfalls” in the network and that this was a standard approach under Queensland planning laws in situations where the current council infrastructure is “inadequate”.

The Whitsunday Paradise estate is located 10 minutes drive from Bowen. Picture: Supplied

The issue in dispute, Mr Thomas said, was that this upfront payment was intended to be instead of, not in addition to, ongoing infrastructure contributions.

He claimed the council was trying to make GRW Group pay both.

“We, as the developer intend to pay for everything, but we have no intention of paying for it twice,” Mr Thomas said.

“In a normal situation in Queensland, a developer would pay infrastructure contributions to a council to connect newly developed properties to the council’s trunk infrastructure – like a ‘pay as you go’ system to access the large, shared infrastructure,” Mr Thomas said.

“However, in this case the council’s infrastructure does not meet Bowen’s existing needs, let alone the future needs of the entire growth corridor south of Bowen.

“In this circumstance the Planning Act allows for an ‘offset’ or reduction in the charges payable given part of the council trunk network is paid and delivered by GRW.

“However, the council wants GRW Group to pay both the $20 million upfront and also the make the ‘pay as we go’ contributions.”

Bowen's business community has called to get rid of Whitsunday Regional Council, including Mayor Cr Andrew Willcox, pictured, over its lack of support for the Whitsunday Paradise development.

Mr Ferguson on Monday said the council welcomed development and dealt with multiple developers across the region.

He said the council gave Whitsunday Paradise the green light to stage three in October last year, “subject to conditions, like every other development it has approved in the Whitsunday region”.

“These conditions require the applicant to provide services to their development, such as water supply, sewerage, roads and drainage as well as infrastructure charges towards future community infrastructure needs,” Mr Ferguson said.

“The concept of infrastructure charges applies to all development to ensure that ratepayers are not left with a long-term burden when dealing with demands on infrastructure,” he said.

Call for council’s sacking over $1b development dispute

Mr Ferguson’s comments came after Bowen’s business community backed calls to sack the council over its lack of support for the proposed $1.1 billion development.

Calls to “get rid of the council completely because they’re not doing anything for Bowen at all” rang out at Bowen Chamber of Commerce’s September meeting after GRW Group general manager Blake Thomas provided an update on the stalled Whitsunday Paradise project.

Mr Thomas told the meeting a long-running dispute between his firm and the council over who should pay for the development’s water, sewer, parks and roads infra structure, showed no signs of reaching a resolution except through a lengthy and costly court process.

Recent mediations had addressed some of the other issues in dispute, Mr Thomas said, but the Gold Coast-based firm was still “at loggerheads” with the council over the infrastructure charges.

Mr Thomas said GRW Group was frustrated and disappointed it had not been able to enter into a “partnership” with the council on the project, but confident in its own legal position after consulting multiple experts to “make sure we got this right”.

He claimed the council was “ignoring” expert advice in proceeding with the court battle and could face a court costs order of $1-1.5m if it were to lose that battle.

Audience members spoke up immediately following the presentation to criticise the council’s willingness to spend ratepayers’ money on a court case but not on a development that could help relieve the region’s housing supply shortage.

Bowen business owner Alan Bryson suggested a town-hall meeting and letterbox drop to get the “true facts” out about Whitsunday Paradise to combat the council’s “fear tactics”.

Others voiced concerns about the council’s general approach to development proposals for Bowen, with a comment addressed to Mr Thomas that “you’re not the only one council’s doing it to – they really don’t want development in Bowen,” met with applause across the room.

Mr Bryson said the community was so fed up with the situation, there was “a possibility of a vote of no confidence” in the council.

Rob McCrae of McCrae Property Group agreed.

Bowen business owners Alan Bryson of Harbourside Homestay and David Paddon of Horseshoe Bay Cafe spoke up in support of Whitsunday Paradise at the September 2021 Bowen Chamber of Commerce meeting. Picture: Kirra Grimes

Representing the council at the meeting was development director Neil McGaffin, who, when called on by Mr Thomas to present the council’s case, responded: “I’m not going to debate it with you”.

“There’s two sides to every story and we will put our case on the table in court,” Mr McGaffin said.

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Earlier that day, councillors had briefly discussed Whitsunday Paradise at a meeting at Proserpine, after Deputy Mayor Cr Mike Brunker inquired as to whether the court case was “on track”.

Mr McGaffin responded “the short answer is no” and that the council was waiting for GRW Group to supply information about the infrastructure issues in dispute.

Mr Thomas told the chamber meeting it was “categorically false” to say the firm had not provided sufficient information.

“We’ve submitted thousands of pages over the past two years,” he said.

A directions hearing is scheduled for October 7.