Beef baron’s firm appeals over ‘Australia’s largest gym’ approval

A billionaire beef baron’s company is appealing a judge’s decision to approve “Australia’s largest gym’’ in an industrial zone near its meatworks, claiming the judge made a series of errors.

A billionaire’s meatworks company is appealing a judge’s decision to approve a gym near its prime Brisbane site, partly because she failed to find it would be Australia’s largest gym.

The appeal by Trevor Lee’s Australian Country Choice also raises questions about whether there could be a bid to operate TotalFusion gym at Morningside beyond a two-year limit.

In June, Judge Nicole Kefford dismissed ACC’s appeal against Brisbane City Council’s approval of a 5577sq m gym complex, in an industrial zone.

The judge decided to conditionally approve the TotalFusion gym on blue-chip inner-city Brisbane property on multi-millionaire waste recycling mogul Balfour Irvine’s Rivermakers site.

BMI Group’s Balfour Irvine at Rivermakers site in Morningside. Picture: Richard Walker

Justice Kefford’s orders in June and July gave the long-awaited go-ahead for the 4472sq m TotalFusion gym and 9 Degrees’ 805sq m indoor bouldering gym.

But beef baron Trevor’s Lee’s ACC application for leave to appeal, filed in the Supreme Court on July 15, will further delay the gym opening.

Judge Kefford found Rivermakers had proved its case for the gym development on its The Depot site, near ACC’s meatworks, which employs more than 1000 people.

“Taken in combination, the matters that support approval are compelling,’’ Judge Kefford said in her Planning and Environment Court decision.

The gym can only operate for two years from her final orders on July 8 and gym patrons will be limited to 300 at any one time.

The ACC appeal claims the judge failed to find, “in accordance with undisputed evidence by one of Rivermakers’ witnesses”, that the proposed gym would be the largest in Australia.

It is alleged the judge “erred” in deciding that even if the premature fit-out of the TotalFusion gym involved arrogance and a blatant disregard of the law, that was a matter of private economics.

Millionaire abattoir owner Trevor Lee. Source: Supplied

Another alleged error was “failing to give probative value to the evidence of the fit-out cost on the basis that its was hearsay’’, when the evidence was based upon statements by the proposed operator of the gymnasium “and was admitted without objection” by either BCC or Rivermakers.

Another appeal ground says the judge failed to take into account that the evidence was “all one way’’ that it would not be a commercially rational decision to establish this proposed gym for only a two-year operational period.

The judge allegedly failed to appreciate that the issue was not whether the two-year temporary approval condition would be complied with, but rather whether Rivermakers “would seek to entrench the proposed development by making an application for a preliminary approval which overrode the planning scheme or by taking steps to change the condition”.

The judge also is alleged to have erred in concluding that there was no clearly identifiable non-compliance in the industry zone code, by reason of the nature of the use.

Another ground says the judge erred in characterising the matters supporting approval of the gym as “compelling”.

ACC’s appeal says it will raise questions of law of general importance to the proper application and administration of the Planning Act and BCC’s Planning Scheme.

ACC has asked the court to set aside the judge’s orders, refuse the gym application or send the case back to the Planning and Environment Court for another determination.