Port of Airlie: Whitsunday council approves 12-storey resort development
Community crusaders have slammed a Queensland council’s handling of a 12-storey resort tower, saying it was ‘so 1980s to have high rises sticking out like sore thumbs’.
Whitsunday
Don't miss out on the headlines from Whitsunday. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Whitsunday community members have slammed their council’s decision to approve a large luxury resort on a prominent waterfront site, calling it out of touch and disrespectful to the thousands of people who submitted objections.
Long-time marine business operator Suzette Pelt was not surprised the majority of Whitsunday Regional councillors voted in favour of the controversial Port of Airlie development proposal at their November 24 meeting, taking it as evidence “the community and visitor experience counts for nothing”.
As president of community group Save Our Foreshore, Ms Pelt was at the forefront of the campaign against the proposed 12-storey resort complex and with fellow objectors is already looking into avenues for appeal.
She said the Wednesday vote demonstrated “the pattern of this council’s lack of respect for community consultation” and that election promises to listen to constituents were “meaningless”.
“We spoke to hundreds of locals and visitors at the markets and listened to what they thought – people said if they wanted high rise, they’d go to the Gold Coast, not Airlie Beach.”
Save Our Foreshore believes it is unlikely a major hotel brand will invest in a development “so out of step with current thinking” and argues a five-star facility is achievable and more suitable for a “small, nature-based tourism area” in a low-rise form.
Ms Pelt said it was “so 1980s to have high rises sticking out like sore thumbs” and that “every indication going forward in the post-Covid era for tourism is that packing people into high rises will be on the nose.”
She maintained a previous approval for maximum five-storey developments at the Port of Airlie was “perfectly fine” as it was, and said increasing the height allowance for the 47-metre resort represented “a monumental failure of the Queensland Government to take control of their own processes”.
Promise of 200+ jobs wins over Whitsunday council
Division 1 representative Jan Clifford was the only councillor to vote against the proposal, likening the building design to “housing commission flats in Richmond, Melbourne” and emphasising that the nature of the approval meant the design could change without community consultation.
Division 2 Cr Al Grundy did not participate in the debate or vote because of a conflict of interest.
Mayor Cr Andrew Willcox, Deputy Mayor Mike Brunker, Division 3 Cr John Collins, Division 4 Cr Michelle Wright, and Division 5 Cr Gary Simpson all supported the proposal for its potential economic benefits and job creation, particularly through the large conference centre included in the plans.
“This decision we’re making here today is for all those kids going into prep, in Cannonvale, next year,” Cr Brunker told the meeting at Bowen.
“By the time they come through Year 12, they should, hopefully, maybe, there’s no guarantees, but hopefully they will have a hotel and convention centre that they could be the manager for, they could be the maître d’, whatever.”
Public submissions based on the belief the high-rise design would destroy the ‘village’ feel of the town failed to convince the majority of councillors, who sided with Cr Brunker’s stance that: “Buildings don’t change communities, people do.”
Mayor Andrew Willcox said the development was “not just a good thing for Airlie Beach, it’s a good thing for the Whitsundays”, highlighting recent tourism-boosting investments adding up to more than $100 million.
“Over 80 per cent of that traffic that comes into the Whitsunday Coast airport is heading down to Airlie Beach,” Cr Willcox said.
“All our economic development strategies that we’ve done, all the plans that we’ve seen, the number one thing that they’ve been asking for is a five-star, fully-serviced resort.
“We need a really, really good offering. We can bring people from all over Australia to run conventions – the job opportunities, what that will do for our tourism industry …”
More than 2000 community members contacted the council to share their views on the proposal during its public notification period, with most of the 1707 properly-made submissions expressing opposition.
Port of Airlie owner Meridien argued exceeding the statutory 18-metre maximum building height with a “tower building format” was “the only viable way to deliver a premium hotel in Airlie Beach in the short-medium term”.
In documents submitted to the council, the company claimed the proposed five-star facility would meet a need for premium accommodation and conference facilities on the mainland, boost visitor expenditure by more than $3 million a year, and create more than 200 ongoing full-time jobs.
It further claimed visual impacts would be mostly “moderate” and would represent the “new urban character” of the Port of Airlie.
The council’s planning department found the project could proceed under a new development code, overriding the existing planning scheme.
The ‘Canal Street Resort’ and its seven attached three-storey townhouses are the centrepiece of a major addition to the Port of Airlie designed to link the marina boardwalk with the Airlie Beach town centre.
A new dining and entertainment precinct also received preliminary approval at the Wednesday council meeting.
Meridien has up to 10 years to complete the approved projects.
Join the conversation
David Crisafulli declares he will fix the Bruce Hwy
David Crisafulli has declared, responding to a question from a Courier-Mail reader, that if the LNP wins goverment at the October 26 election, he can get the Bruce Hwy fixed.
Read more
The 10 young guns you need to watch at NQ U15 Cricket Championships
The region’s top under-15s cricketers will be in Townsville this week battling for NQ supremacy. Find out which players from NQ, Far North and Mackay-Whitsunday are simply unmissable.
Read more