Noosa Springs developer calls council rejection ‘unjustified’ and stops the clock on final decision

The final decision on the divisive $50m new Noosa Springs hotel development has been postponed, with the company behind the project calling its initial rejection unjustified.

Renders of the proposed five-star hotel at Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort.

The owners of Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort have labelled the Noosa Council’s preliminary decision to reject their development proposal as unjustified, after the final decision on the project was pushed back.

A statement from GH Australia, the owner of Noosa Springs, said they requested the council postpone the vote so they could have more time to convince councillors of the project’s merits and “hopefully avoid other potential remedial action at considerable cost to all parties, including Noosa ratepayers”.

The council agreed to halt the decision-making process and removed the item from their agenda for their meeting on Thursday, July 2o.

The company had applied to the council for approval to build a $50m, 106-room five-star hotel on its property.

The site is currently home to an 18-hole golf course and spa resort and is located three kilometres from popular tourist spot Hastings Street.

Noosa Springs offers stay and play packages from $360 to $732 per person for two nights and spa packages from $501 to $732 per person for two nights.

The resort’s romance retreat package costs $1265 for a two night stay in a self-contained apartment.

The extension plans in the development application covers land currently occupied by a tennis court, pavilion and bushland.

The bold bid was shot down at a general committee meeting, with councillors voting unanimously against it and in contradiction to the advise of Noosa Council officers.

GH Australia Director Ellen Guan said the reasons listed by the general committee for refusing the development had all been addressed in the application.

“Since 2018 we have worked collaboratively with Council officers at great expense to prepare the hotel development proposal that clearly deals with all relevant planning issues,” Ms Guan said.

“We are left with an impression the consideration of all matters related to the decision have not been fairly considered and balanced, and are unjustified in the circumstances.”

Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort owners GH Properties were proposing a five-star hotel with 106 rooms.

She said the hotel development would add much needed short-term accommodation facilities in Noosa, where an economic impact assessment predicted a 683-room shortage for 2023.

“The considerable community benefit, along with many other relevant matters in support of the application, were not discussed,” Ms Guan said.

Concerns raised by the hundreds of objections submitted to council were the development’s proximity to the nearby sewage treatment facility and that it would lead to loss of koala habitat trees.

Ms Guan said an odour impact assessment had been undertaken and an odour expert had confirmed that the hotel buildings were appropriate subject to conditions.

The five-star hotel at Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort was rejected in a committee meeting.

Noosa Council spokesman Ken Furdek said the council was unable to progress to a final decision at this stage as the applicant had opted to “stop the clock” on the proposed development.

Development and regulation director Richard MacGillivray said the developer had indicated they required further time in order to respond to councillors’ concerns.

“Council is now waiting to hear from the applicant and the decision making process will resume once the applicant lets us know what they intend to do,” Mr MacGillivray said.

Originally published as Noosa Springs developer calls council rejection ‘unjustified’ and stops the clock on final decision