Cairns council waives fees for controversial Arlington Esplanade retirement tower in Clifton Beach

Ratepayers will foot a whopping bill for one of the city’s most controversial developments amid fears a dangerous precedent has been set for the northern beaches.

RATEPAYERS will foot a whopping bill for one of the city’s most controversial developments amid fears a dangerous precedent has been set for the northern beaches.

But there is a silver lining in the expensive enterprise.

A plan to build a five-storey retirement village on the Clifton Beach waterfront has met staunch resistance from locals who want a four-floor limit to be maintained.

Cairns Regional Council approved the development last month and has now agreed to waive infrastructure fees.

“Council’s decision whether or not to give financial assistance either in full or part waiver of fees and charges relating to infrastructure is discretionary under the policy, where the amount exceeds $500,000,” a council report stated.

St John's Community Care is seeking to build a five-storey retirement facility with 32 two-bedroom units at 89-91 Arlington Esplanade, Clifton Beach. Picture: Supplied.

The waiver was given the green light on the basis that the proponent, St John’s Community Care, was a non-profit organisation and the development would “provide a significant community role or benefit”.

Division 9 councillor Brett Olds said the decision might sting for community members who fought to block the project in the first place.

“It’s been a controversial site for quite some years,” he said.

“When this one went through, there was an accident in the planning department and it got delegated when it (should not have been) delegated.

The two blocks in question are marked in blue. Picture: Supplied.

“There were a few people with pitchforks and ropes chasing me for a couple of weeks out there.”

However, a condition on the approval means the building must continue to be operated and managed by a non-profit organisation or that $562,000 waiver must be reimbursed to the council.

“A lot of people have been saying locally at Clifton Beach, ‘They’ll build it and they’ll sell it off to someone else and that will mean just a regular set of units’, which I don’t believe is the case at all,” Cr Olds said.

The strict conditions buoyed the divisional councillor’s confidence it would be “a proper retirement village and not someone taking the mickey”.

The site was very nearly home to a much more intensive development than a five-storey retirement village just a few years ago.

An application to build two blocks for 109 units over eight or nine storeys was rejected in 2018 – but only by a whisker.

The facility will sit next to an existing four-storey building. Picture: Supplied.

Council sources say the project would have likely been approved if the developer had not included a cafe in the mix, which made the proposal impact-assessable and therefore subject to public consultation.

The community came out in force against that plan with a fierce campaign to knock it on the head eventually winning out despite the efforts of the deep-pocketed developer.

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Originally published as Cairns council waives fees for controversial Arlington Esplanade retirement tower in Clifton Beach