Whitsunday Regional Council to vote on Mount Gordon housing development

An estate proposed for the Whitsundays would have 402 relocatable dwellings, a lap pool and a restaurant. We reveal where the project will be located and who the residents will be.

A new master-planned estate in the tropical Whitsundays will cater for people aged over 50s complete with a lap pool, gym, bar, and restaurant.

Grumpy Capital has applied to build a home park with 402 relocatable dwelling sites at Lodge Rd in Mount Gordon just south of the Bowen township, alongside the Bruce Highway and the Coral Sea.

The development features a recreational centre with a gym, bar, restaurant, lap pool, pickleball courts, as well as park space and outdoor activity areas for specific use of the residents.

The homes will be a mix of two or three-bedroom demountable dwellings, some with garages big enough for boats, caravans, RVs and other vehicles.

All homes will be single storey to allow easy relocation of buildings and each will have an alfresco outdoor living area and open space with a privacy fence between home sites.

A development application has been lodged for an over 50s lifestyle park at Bowen.

Each home has a kitchen, laundry toilet, shower amenities and a double garage.

Details for the master planned estate also include a sales office, residents workshop, RV washdown facility, community gardens including a mango orchard, a dog park and 2.3km of walking trails.

The estate is less than 10km from the Bowen township and beautiful beaches like Horseshoe Bay. Picture: iStock/ Alistair Paton

The development – by Grumpy Capital Pty Ltd trading as Tactica Planning and Development – “aims to capture a specific market focusing on the over 50s demographic”.

It will be built over seven stages with the major elements including the supply of reticulated water, sewer and road infrastructure to be constructed in stage one.

The location of the proposes 402 demountable two and three-bedroom single storey homes.

During the development application process, Whitsunday Regional Council raised concerns there was “no access to public transport in proximity of the site” and upon completion there could be more than 1000 people at the location.

It was also raised the site was 7.7km away from the nearest shopping centre.

In a response prepared by SLR Consulting Australia, he application said the development’s proposed design plan “maximises walking opportunities with footpaths located throughout the site in street verges and throughout open space areas”.

There will also be recreational centre with a gym, bar, restaurant, pool and outdoor activity areas as well as a dog park and 2.3km of walking trails.

“Pedestrian connections to Lodge Road are proposed and these could be extended further if/when other development occurs,” it stated.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has specifically requested there be no pedestrian access to the Bruce Highway frontage.

“A privately operated bus service is nominated to encourage non-private vehicle travel and enable connections to the greater Bowen urban fabric, especially for persons without access to a vehicle,” the response stated.

As such it has been suggested the lifestyle site run one bus, no smaller than a 22-seater minibus, and provide at least four services a day to Bowen, stopping at a minimum of two fixed locations to be determined later.

The agenda for Wednesday’s council meeting states the development application has “satisfactorily achieved compliance with the relevant Planning Scheme benchmarks and has been recommended for approval, subject to conditions”.

If approved, the developer will be subject to $10.63 million in infrastructure charges over the seven stages.

Originally published as Whitsunday Regional Council to vote on Mount Gordon housing development