Gympie council rejects Barracuda plan for Amamoor tourist park

A developer’s plan to open a huge new campground at the entrance to the Mary Valley not far off the Link Road have been rejected by Gympie council after two years of negotiation.

Proposed Amamoor tourist park, Gympie council development application

Plans to open a major 350-lot campground near Amamoor have been rejected by Gympie Regional Council, which says the proposal was “excessive”, in a flood-prone area and risked serious harm to the environment.

Developer Barracuda (Qld) lodged its application with council back in January 2022, asking for permission to open the park at Dobsons Rd, Amamoor, which runs between Traveston Crossing Rd and the Mary Valley Link Rd.

The initial plan included turning the 35.35ha block into a tourist park with 250 RV spots and 100 camping sites.

Four barbecue areas, an amenities building, administration building and 60-space carpark were part of it.

An existing dam was to sit at the centre of the proposal, and the grounds would be nestled next to the Mary River.

The initial application lodged in January 2022 unveiled plans to turn land at Amamoor into a 350-site tourist park. It was rejected by Gympie regional Council’s Planning Department in March 2024.

The land it was to be developed on was once used for cattle grazing, the developer’s application said, and from 1980-2013, was used for extracting sand and gravel for landscape supplies.

But the proposal was scuttled in March 2024, when the council’s Planning Department rejected the application on 15 grounds.

The proposed campground was to be located near the Traveston Puma Service Station and Traveston Crossing Rd.

These included the development not being small scale, was “not compatible with the intended use of the land for rural purposes (the land is designated good quality agricultural land)”, and its long-term impacts on the area.

“The scale of the proposed development is excessive, relies on substantial screen planting along the road frontage to mitigate the visual amenity impacts, and is not in keeping with the rural character and amenity of the area,” the refusal notice says.

Eighteen submissions were made against the proposed development, many pointing out that the land was flood-prone and not a good choice for the project.

The land was also flood-prone.

This posed risks “given the nature and extent of the flooding that occurs, the limited time available to evacuate from the site during a significant event, the extent of inundation, including affecting egress from the site”.

It would also result in “serious environmental harm”.

“There are no relevant matters to suggest the proposed development should be approved,” the notice says.

Eighteen submissions were made in objection to the park, with many focusing on the known flood issues at the site.

One submission said “putting a tourist park in this area would just defy logic”.

Originally published as Gympie council rejects Barracuda plan for Amamoor tourist park