Southern Gold Coast divided on $380 million hotel resort which will change Kirra forever
The $380m Kirra Hotel redevelopment was approved in a split vote at a Gold Coast City Council planning committee – but councillors admit they are divided and confused by the project.
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The $380 million Kirra Hotel redevelopment was approved in a split vote at a Gold Coast City Council planning committee – but councillors admit they are divided and confused by the project.
The vote at Thursday’s meeting was 4-2 in favour. The application, put forward by developer KTQ, will be considered by full council in a week.
Those councillors giving support were William Owen-Jones, Mark Hammel, Pauline Young and Deputy Mayor Donna Gates who conceded she was “torn” by the project.
“I’m in a more confused state than I have ever been in a development application before us,” Cr Gates told the meeting.
She said her vote had changed from a previous meeting because the officers had made recommendations for changes. Colleague Hermann Vorster on behalf of residents had sought more conditions on reducing rooftop bar noise.
But Cr Gates admitted that “I’m still torn, the departure from the City Plan is so great”.
Area residents had opposed the project on the basis of its height and density, which they argued was not appropriate for the area and in violation of the City Plan
Kirra Residents Association spokeswoman Sue-maree McEnearney, after the vote, told the Bulletin: “This is a massive overdevelopment. And a total disregard for the City Plan.
“City officers are continuing to misrepresent to councillors their legal obligations in relation to assessing the application.
“We will continue to advocate for consideration of the application before council in accordance with the legislation.”
KTQ development director Jeremy Holmes welcomed the decision.
“We are pleased that the planning committee have accepted the recommendations of council officers in approving the next stage of this development, with some modified conditions.”
Those councillors who voted against were Cr Vorster, who dominated the debate questioning officers, and Peter Young.
The Nerang-based councillor told colleagues: “I can’t support the proposed development. There is no way on earth I could. We are faced with a difficult decision. It has divided us.”
Cr Young believes the project, which if approved gives more height to a second and third building, showed “scant regard for the town plan”.
He said he did not believe the conditions set by council gave the community confidence that their rights would be protected on the City Plan.
Outside the meeting, Cr Vorster said it was his personal view that the developer had already achieved its aims with the original approvals rather than the latest request.
“I’m unconvinced by the argument a balance was needed as the scales were already tilted in favour of the developer in the original approval,” he said.
“The residents presented a powerful legal argument that the City Plan should have prevailed but it seemed like an afterthought today.
“This whole process has been a fraught mess, and it must be clarified in State legislation or in written guidance to avoid a repeat.”
Stage one of the project, a 16-level building, is already being built. The developer sought to increase in the height of building 2 from 10 storeys to 13 storeys and building 3 from four storeys to seven storeys.
More than 150 residents have signed a petition opposing the development.
Revealed: What Gold Coasters really think of $380m Kirra towers
The developer behind the $380m Kirra Beach Hotel redevelopment has urged city leaders and opponents to look at the long-term economic benefits of the project.
The Gold Coast City Council will on Thursday vote on the next stage of the multi-tower Kirra Point, which is the largest ever built in Coolangatta.
KTQ Group, which is close to completing construction of the 12-storey first stage, says the project will inject more than $703m into the economy during construction and up to $67.8 million once operational.
The company commissioned a report by Burleigh-based firm Think Economics which was completed in May and breaks down the expected impact of the development on the southern Gold Coast in coming years.
“The development will increase the local residential population, as well as provide additional capacity and attraction for tourists and visitors in the local area,” it reads.
“This increase in resident and visitor activity in the local area will support the local economy through an increase in resident and visitor expenditure, with substantial and ongoing benefits anticipated offsite, largely throughout the Coolangatta/Kirra local area. This project will yield direct and indirect employment and expenditure benefits throughout the Coolangatta and Southern Gold Coast region.”
KTQ development director Jeremy Holmes said the development was a “huge investment” on the company’s behalf which would have long-term benefits.
“The southern Gold Coast has an incredible decade of transformation ahead of itself and this project is a key piece of that,” he said.
“I think we will start to see more investment in the southern Gold Coast across all industries as it evolves and we are happy to be part of it.”
The report’s key findings include:
* The development will support “up to $703m in economic output, $262m gross value add, and $131m in income benefits, based on direct and indirect construction impacts”.
*It will created 220 full-time jobs annually during stage 1 and up to 388 jobs during the second stage.
* Once built, it will create 244 jobs on-site and 78 off-site jobs.
“Upon completion of stage 2, the onsite commercial activities are expected to support up to
$67.8 million in economic output, $34.8 million in gross value add, and $20.9 million in income through direct and indirect benefits combined,” the report reads.
“These benefits are expected to be predominantly realised throughout the Southern Gold Coast region.”
The report claims the short-stay units in the towers will “support 55,407 visitor nights per annum based on stage 1 and 86,724 visitor nights per annum based on stage 2, with a total of 142,131 visitor nights per annum based on the completed development”.
This, the report says, would create $39.5m onsite spending and $32.4m around the city.
While the development has divided the community, some long-term residents say they support the project.
Retired police officer Greg Thurbon said the project was “exactly what the area needs.
“Kirra has always been a thoroughfare, a place you pass through to go somewhere else. There has never been anywhere sophisticated for people to go,” he said.
“I’ve taken time to closely view what the developer has planned for Kirra Point and it ticks a lot of boxes for me as it does for the locals I know.”
Retired dentist Anthony Nest said the southern Gold Coast’s had not fully bounced back from the difficult Covid years.
“Coolangatta businesses have really struggled to get back to business as usual since the pandemic, and we see Kirra Point as essential to revitalising the area,” he said.
“It will become a major destination the likes of which we have never seen on the southern Gold Coast before, and it will keep more visitors in the area for longer.”
Kirra flashpoint: ‘The whole of the Gold Coast can’t be like Surfers’
Kirra is at a development “flashpoint” with residents and developers lobbying city councillors on the eve of a crucial vote on a $380 million hotel project dividing the beachside village.
More than 150 people have signed a petition opposing stages two and three of the Kirra Hotel redevelopment, with organisers aiming to get hundreds more before a final council vote.
Officers at a planning committee meeting on Thursday have recommended approval despite concerns about bulky new towers and noise from a rooftop bar. Councillors are divided.
Developers have met with some councillors and sent out emails explaining the positive impact of the project. They say they known residents prepared to put on record their support.
Cr Hermann Vorster believes developers are caught in a “messy debate” where they rely on rights under the State’s Planning Act, yet residents believe in security under City Plan.
“It has been a veritable labyrinth for councillors to navigate,” he said.
“This will be a flashpoint for the community which will turn its mind to how State legislation pulls the strings that makes their neighbourhoods move.”
Cr Vorster said he sensed both residents and the developer wanted best for Kirra but confusion created by State laws had created a gulf between them.
KTQ development director Jeremy Holmes said stage one of the project would be completed in December with the Kirra Beach Hotel itself reopening in November.
“We feel confident (ahead of the council vote) but we’ll see what happens in the debate on Thursday and what comes out of it but this has been a good process,” he said.
“We think the southern Gold Coast wants (the project) and needs to and these are quality jobs it will create.”
But Kirra Residents Association spokesman Sue-maree McEnearney says residents are convinced the southern beachside community will lose its unique character.
The City Plan recognised Kirra as “neighbourhood centre” and City officers were on the record endorsing the suburb’s unique character, she said.
“The Kirra Beach Hotel redevelopment is not in keeping with Kirra’s unique character, and does not comply with the City Plan. It is a massive overdevelopment of the site,” Ms McEnearney said.
The 2022 change application currently before council was a 35 per cent increase over what was already a massive overdevelopment approved in 2019, she added.
“The whole of the Gold Coast can’t be Surfers Paradise,” Ms McEnearney said.
“All we are asking is that council follow the City Plan and the legislation in
assessing and deciding the change application — this would mean a refusal of the 2022 change application.”
At an earlier planning committee meeting the vote on the project was 3-3 forcing acting chair Donna Gates to use a casting vote and follow officer recommendations for approval.
Developers stalled the approval process as they sought to gain more information to submit to City officers before full council.
An officer’s update for Thursday’s meeting said the development application was supported by an acoustic report which council’s Environmental Health section advised was accurate and complied with relevant noise criteria
The resort hotel roof top communal open space would provide access for hotel guests only and live music would not be permitted.
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