Blow to Port Douglas as developer chooses not to defend appeal against Surf Park

After a multimillion-dollar Douglas Shire development has been halted in its tracks, the business community is still taking the news in, and not taking it lightly.

After a multimillion-dollar Douglas Shire development has been halted in its tracks, the business community is still taking the news in, and not taking it lightly.

The $317m surf park and resort approved unanimously by Douglas Shire councillors last May was expected to attract 28,000 visitor nights and nearly $80m in direct expenditure annually.

Site works were under way to build a 300m wave pool, freshwater swimming lagoon and aqua park, and a 160-room hotel precinct on the Captain Cook Highway at Mowbray.

An artist’s impression of the entry at a proposed surf park. Picture: Gary Hunt Design.

The Douglas Shire Sustainability Group lodged an appeal in October on the grounds that the land was zoned rural, visual amenity impacts, environmental impacts, failure to demonstrate proper infrastructure servicing, and inconsistency with community expectations.

Developer David Imgraben told the Post he decided to withdraw from defending the appeal.

“The court didn’t consider the merits of the appeal one way or the other,” he said.

Douglas Shire released a statement early on Tuesday saying they too were disappointed with the state of play, but confirmed the Planning and Environment Court had not considered the proposal’s merits and had made no findings about it.

An artist’s impression of facilities at the proposed park. Picture: Gary Hunt Design.

“Early in the appeal process the developer has advised the parties that he no longer wished to progress the proposal and was prepared to allow the appeal to be resolved on that basis,” said Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr.

“To have a world-class surfing experience down the road from Port Douglas would have significantly lifted summer tourism.

“It would’ve also provided a year-round swimming option.”

An artist’s impression of an aerial view of the proposed NorthBreak surf park. Picture: Gary Hunt Design.

Lawrence Mason from Mason’s shop and cafe in Cape Tribulation was displeased with the result.

“It’s a terribly disappointing outcome,” he said.

“In tourism we need to have new and exciting things all the time and all this has done now is put us back into the dark ages.

“I think it’s one of the most terrible decisions made in the Douglas Shire.

“We’ve got a shire that’s full of crocs and we’ve got someone who’s prepared to spend his own money to create a facility that people could enjoy to swim in.”

Marcus Bissett from Tony’s Tropical Tours said it would have been a marvellous outcome for Port Douglas.

“It was pretty much on the same model as the one in Melbourne and that’s terrific,” he said.

“It would have been excellent for Port Douglas. It was certainly a far cry from the wave pool at Tobruk (in Cairns). There was talk some years ago about building a surf park at Yorkeys Knob, but that never got off the ground.

“I thought it was promising for the area. They’re calling this the golden decade for Queensland, so it’s a bit of a disappointment it’s not going ahead.”

An artist’s impression of the entry to the proposed Port Douglas park. Picture: Gary Hunt Design.

Douglas Shire’s crunching of the numbers estimated the development would inject more than $117.5m worth of wages into the local economy over the construction period, and it was projected when operational, it would have created more than 700 full-time jobs.

Mayor Michael Kerr said the wave park would have been a catalyst for a new era of tourism in Port Douglas and Daintree.

“We make no apologies for supporting a development which had the potential to expand and diversify our tourism offering,” he said.

“While we are disappointed with the outcome, it ultimately was the developer’s decision not to pursue the matter further.”

Developer David Imgraben has been contacted for further comment.

Originally published as Blow to Port Douglas as developer chooses not to defend appeal against Surf Park