Iwasaki withdraws $600m Capricorn Resort redevelopment application

Livingstone mayor Andy Ireland has expressed confidence the redevelopment of the rundown Capricorn Resort may still go ahead despite the Japanese developer pulling the pin on a larger $600m project.

The $600 million redevelopment of the Capricorn Integrated Resort, north of Yeppoon on the Central Queensland coast, has been officially withdrawn from the government process as the plans have been significantly downscaled.

Speaking to the news, Livingstone Shire Council Mayor Andy Ireland has emphasised it’s not all negative.

“This does not mean that the project has been abandoned or delayed, “ he said.

“The withdrawal from the state process simply allows council to play a more direct role in ensuring the project can move forward.”

Best known as Rydges or Iwasakis, the resort has been closed since 2016 but plans for the massive redevelopment were lodged back in 2010.

Due to the “economic, social and/or environmental significance to Queensland” the project was required to be referred to the state government and submit an environmental-impact statement (EIS) for evaluation from the Co-ordinator-General of the State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning department.

Earlier this month, on November 8, Iwasaki wrote to the Co-ordinator-General requesting to withdraw and cancel the co-ordinated project declaration.

The Co-ordinator-General declared the cancellation of the project on November 17.

The project will now go through the Livingstone Shire Council “approval pathway”, the standard development application process developers usually go through.

“Iwasaki has changed the scale and design of the project since it was originally declared, making the new approval pathway more appropriate,” a Department of State Development, Infrastructure spokesperson said.

Photos of the abandoned Capricorn Resort near Yeppoon.

 

Council will now be the assessing authority with referral to the state.

“All parties have agreed to this,” Mr Ireland said.

“Council has a productive working relationship with Iwasaki Sangyo and has held extensive discussions with the company representatives and the state in regards to the project.

The abandoned pool area.

“All parties are working towards a positive outcome for the company as well as the Livingstone community.”

The last redevelopment plans, lodged in November 2021, heavily scaled back some of the facilities, including removing the airstrip, world class five-star eco-retreat and wellness centre, energy farm, caravan park and more.

It included 1,784 hotel rooms and 14,500 sqm for function, retail and food and drink outlets.

It also only looked at refurbishing one of the three existing buildings and residential dwellings were reduced by 80 per cent from 8,000 residential dwellings to 1,526.

The Capricorn Resort, taken in 2016.

SEVEN EXTENSIONS TO PROJECT

The project had received seven extensions since 2014 and had not yet submitted a complete draft EIS, with the last deadline ordered for November 30, 2022.

Photographs of the Capricorn Resort in Yeppoon in 2015. Photo Trinette Stevens / Morning Bulletin

The EIS needed to include results from public consultation, relationship to other projects including Great Keppel Island Resort development, and footprint in relation to protected areas including the Byfield National Park, Corio Bay, Keppel Bay and Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park.

Rydges Capricorn Resort taken in 2005.

The resort opened in 1986, under the operation of Rydges and Mercure, and employed around 300 staff between the two golf courses, bars, dining, activities and the pool which was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere at the time.

Taken at The Mercure Capricorn Resort Sunday's poolside music session in 2014. Photo Mike Knowling / Capricorn Coast Mirror

‘BOMBING’ OVER JAPANESE OWNERSHIP

During the construction of the resort, on November 29, 1980, on election day, a bombing was reported at the construction site early in the morning.

Angst had been building in the community about the Japanese ownership and the development.

Photos taken at the resort in 1998.

A retired serviceman John Geissman and his nephew Kerry were charged for the attack. They were reportedly triggered that the Japanese had been the enemies in WWII, but were found not guilty in a trial.

 

Over the years and even prior to the closure, the property has fallen into severe disrepair with footage of overgrown gardens, abandoned facilities and weather damaged structures regularly shared on social media.

The Capricorn golf course and Tsuruya Japanese restaurant were not part of the closure and remain open and are widely popular.

Iwasaki was contacted for comment earlier this week however had not replied by the time of publication.

Originally published as Iwasaki withdraws $600m Capricorn Resort redevelopment application