Gympie council approves new Rainbow Beach shopping centre

The ‘gateway’ to Rainbow Beach was earmarked months ago to locate a ‘ much needed’ project on the Cooloola Coast. See the full details and plans now that the council has approved it:

A plan to transform vacant Rainbow Beach land into a retail and residential complex has been given the green light owing to a “clear need” in the coastal township.

A plan to transform vacant Rainbow Beach land into a retail and residential complex has been given the green light owing to a “clear need” in the coastal township.

Developer O’Connell Holdings lodged the proposal with Gympie Regional Council in June 2023 seeking to build the complex on three currently vacant Rainbow Beach Rd blocks, about 200m south of the town centre.

The land is on the western side of Rainbow Beach Road, about 100m south of the Carlo Road intersection.

The plan includes space for a supermarket, and smaller shops which could become home to a range of services including food outlets, health services and offices.

Five units will be built on the second floor of a separate commercial building included in the project.

A plan to transform vacant Rainbow Beach land into a retail and residential complex has been given the green light owing to “clear need” in the coastal township.

An economic report detailed in the application, and commissioned by the council in 2022, found the town’s existing IGA was at capacity and in need of expansion, but did not have the room to do so at its present location.

In early September 2024, the council passed the application, citing a number of extenuating circumstances in its favour despite clashes with the planning scheme.

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The plan includes space for a supermarket, and smaller shops which could become home to a range of services including food outlets, health services and offices.

These included a “a clear economic, community, and planning need for an expanded supermarket”, and its design enhancing “its role as a prominent and inviting gateway to … Rainbow Beach”.

“The proposal is justified by the lack of suitable alternative sites in the local area,” the council’s planning department says in its decision notice.

A total of 75 conditions to its construction and impacts on the neighbouring areas through lighting, waste and stormwater, have been imposed on the project as part of its approval.

Originally published as Gympie council approves new Rainbow Beach shopping centre