Gympie council, WKS Developments in planning court appeal battle

An accommodation company that took over a property once earmarked for the expansion of a motorcycle shop has taken a Queensland council to court amid allegations it has been blocked from using it for anything else.

WKS Developments has lodged an appeal in the state’s planning courts against the council’s decision to reject its request to allow the showroom to be used for something other than bikes. Documents published online say the Hall Rd showroom was originally designed by Wide Bay Motorcycles.

A once-proposed motorcycle showroom has emerged as a business battleground between developers and the Gympie Regional Council, and has spilt over into court.

WKS Developments has lodged an appeal in the state’s planning courts against the council’s decision to reject its request to allow the showroom to be used for something other than bikes.

Documents published online say the Hall Rd showroom was originally designed by Wide Bay Motorcycles.

It was approved by the council in 2019.

The land was later acquired by Relax Mode Pty Ltd, a company which specialises in traveller accommodation, in 2022.

Relax Mode is associated with WKS Developments, the documents say.

The original development application for the site was approved by Gympie Regional Council’s Planning Department in 2019. The land has since changed ownership.

The company “does not intend to develop a showroom for Wide Bay Motorcycles” and “does not presently intend it be specifically used for another motorcycle sales” outlet.

In February 2023, WKS Developments asked the council for a minor change to the approved plans, including increasing the gross floor area by 60sq m, adding more parking spaces, and an “occasional MRV” carpark.

To do this the company asked to shift the showroom from the front of the site to its rear.

The council rejected this request on February 8, 2024.

In the refusal, as detailed by the appeal document, the council’s staff says “removing the specific reference to motorcycle sales fundamentally changes the nature of the use and basis on which this approval was granted …”.

As such this was not a “minor change”.

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WKS Developments says in its planning court appeal using the proposed showroom for items other than motorcycles would not result in a “substantially different development”. The council reportedly initially rejected WKS Developments’ application to change parts of the development on the grounds changing it from selling motorcycles would fundamentally alter the proposal.

WKS disputes this, saying in its appeal documents the approved showroom was never specifically required to host motorcycles.

“There is no allegation that any of the proposed changes result in a substantially different development,” the appeal document says.

It argues the nature of the showroom was not limited to only motorcycles, either.

“(The) council did, or ought to have, taken into consideration during its assessment … that in the future, a new tenant could use the premises as a showroom for a different product,” the appeal says.

“It is not in the public interest that a new material change of use application be made each time there is a change in the tenancy of a showroom.”

The documents ask the court to overturn the council’s rejection and the proposed changes to the site be allowed.

The council has not yet lodged a defence or response to the appeal.

Originally published as Gympie council, WKS Developments in planning court appeal battle