Komune: Southern Gold Coast divided on new hotel on the beach
The southern Gold Coast needs a new hotel attraction for tourists but council candidates can’t agree on an appropriate building height, or where it should be built.
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THE southern Gold Coast needs a new hotel attraction for tourists but council candidates are divided about what height the development should be in Coolangatta and Greenmount.
The Bulletin in its You Decide forum for Division 14 staged at the Burleigh Heads and Mowbray Park Surf Life Saving Club on Monday night asked Councillor Gail O’Neill and candidate Gloria Baker about the future trends for development on the southern Coast.
“So let’s get the elephant out of the room — Komune,” Cr O’Neill said, in response.
The planning and development court in a stunning win for residents in late 2018 overturned council’s approval for the 24-storey Komune building after successful legal action was launched by the body corporate at the neighbouring Lindor apartments at Greenmount.
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Judge Michael Rackemann found the proposed development — the project would have 100 five star hotel rooms and 94 apartments overlooking Greenmount Beach — was not in the public interest and did not comply with the 2003 and 2016 City Plans.
Cr O’Neill at the forum in her response said Komune was lodged against a previous Town Plan and was 12-2 in support from councillors.
“I came out and said I thought high rise, and that was 24 levels above ground, in that particular area would fine, and I still actually believe that. I did not I wanted high rise anywhere else in Coolangatta or Rainbow Bay. And certainly not on Greenmount Hill,” she said.
“I do believe we need a hotel in Coolangatta. We do need good short term tourist accommodation. Because we don’t have it at the moment, we have about 70 per cent of owner occupiers in high rise along Marine Parade.
“I don’t advocate for super high rise in Coolangatta at all. But I thought 24 levels when 50 metres up the road there was a 20 and 21 storey building, I didn’t think it was that way off.”
Ms Baker supports a new hotel but not one the size of Komune.
“I totally disagree with what Gail said. That Greenmount precinct is unique. It is a unique gem in the crown of the Gold Coast and should be protected and preserved, for good reason. From that street on, the green hill there it’s a picturesque attraction, it breaks up all the high rise,” she said.
“At the moment Sunland has bought into Greenmount Resort. I’m sure they were waiting to see what would happen with Komune as a precedent. Komune — a 24 storey in a 10 storey precinct doesn’t go.
“They were offered 15 storeys and rejected it. I believe it should stay the way it is. I believe we should have a really good hotel there but a boutique style hotel, not a high rise hotel. “Something that brings value to the area and I’m sure Sunland has the capability to do such a development if they were encouraged by the community and the council.”
Candidates were asked, given the city’s population would increase to one million people and the north of the city could not be expected to accommodate all the new arrivals, where densities could be increased in the south.
Ms Baker was not specific on a location within Division 14.
“We can have increased density but I would be very much against excessive relaxations in density. Because without the accompanying infrastructure, we are talking about increased population but where’s the accompanying infrastructure, where are the roads, where are the hospitals, where are the schools. We need to look at that again and where those densities can be accommodated,” she said.
“There are areas in Division 14 that can accommodate those densities, and with appropriate planning and appropriate design that’s sustainable, I think that can be achieved.”
Cr O’Neill told the forum: “This is already happening in Division 14 and we are seeing densities increased in areas like Bilinga and Kirra. You are seeing low rise beach shacks being turned into apartments.
“Most of them are code assessable, they are not going above the height which is great. We are near the airport, we have to be careful. I think most developers are seeing that.
“We will have to live in a more dense society. I do not want an urban sprawl out in the valleys. Rural communities need to stay rural. The density will be closer to the beachfront.”
Cr O’Neill said the city would get an international airport with a separate terminal and increased air traffic.
“At the moment I’ve heard no reason to believe they are going to lift the curfew. That’s very important not only for our side of the border but Tweed Heads, that’s the other side of the runaway. I can’t see it happening at the moment,” she said.
Ms Baker said the extensions were welcomed to one of the city’s biggest employers.
“I would prefer the curfew stay the way it is,” she said. “The airport at Coolangatta has restrictions from 11pm to 6am.”
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