Abandoned well partially behind delay of extension to Blue Mountain Hotel in Toowoomba

A plan to expand a prominent Toowoomba hotel has had to be delayed, with the owner arguing an unusual on-site discovery was partially behind the move.

DELAYS: A planned expansion of the Blue Mountain Hotel in Harlaxton will be delayed by the developers.

The discovery of a disused well is partially behind the delay to a planned extension of a popular Toowoomba pub.

National hospitality company ALH Group was approved in 2015 by the Toowoomba Regional Council to demolish parts of the Blue Mountain Hotel in Harlaxton and replace it with a new sports bar, smoking area, gaming lounge and an extra 21 car parks.

It would be at the expense of the existing BWS drive-through bottle shop and other non-historical elements of the current venue, which would result in a loss of gross floor area.

Now town planner AECOM has returned to the council to get the approval extended until February 2023.

In a letter to the council, AECOM town planning team leader Joanna Blyth said the delay was due to a variety of economic factors as well as the discovery of the well where the new car park would go.

However, she said the company wanted to start work by the end of the year.

“ALH is currently preparing detailed construction drawings and expects to commence construction within the next six months,” she wrote.

“Construction will not be completed by February 3, 2022 (the original approval date).

“A number of factors have resulted in the delay of completing detailed construction drawings and construction of the approved development, including difficult market conditions significantly impacting on the hotel industry, discovery of an unused well within the car park extension area and the uncertainty of the ongoing global pandemic.”

This would be the second extension granted for the development.

It also comes just a month after ALH submitted earthworks plans to the council for the site, only to be hit with an information request from the planning department.

The council has yet to respond to the extension request.

AECOM was contacted for further comment.