East Coast braces for showdown over Cambria Green development proposal

EAST Coast communities are uniting in a fight against large-scale developments they say will destroy everything people love about Tasmania.

Sophie Underwood, Freycinet Action Network convenor. Picture: SAM ROSEWARNE

EAST Coast communities are uniting in a fight against large-scale developments they say will destroy everything people love about Tasmania.

An alliance of 16 East Coast community groups will hold a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss the future of eastern Tasmania.

From fish farming to large, self-contained resort estates, Freycinet Action Network convener Sophie Underwood says there is mounting concern that Tasmania is losing its identity as the State Government is blinded by its pursuit of tourism riches.

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“Cambria Green is the biggest resort ever proposed for Tasmania and there is growing discontent from locals,” Ms Underwood told the Sunday Tasmanian.

The catalyst for Tuesday’s meeting is the controversial $100 million Cambria Green proposal, which includes a 120-room luxury hotel, golf courses, 70 villas and 240 units, an 80-unit health retreat, 80 apartments, a village, and function and conference facilities on a 3185ha parcel of land.

The self-contained complex at Dolphin Sands, near Swansea, would feature cafes, restaurants and medical services, such as dentists and pharmacies.

It has been put forward by Melbourne group Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management, which represents international investors from China and Australia.

Cambria Green chief executive Ronald Hu said the project had been misunderstood by groups opposed to it.

Renowned Tasmanian author and journalist Martin Flanagan will MC the public meeting. PICTURE : MATT THOMPSON

“Cambria Green is 3100ha in total, the vast majority of which will remain untouched, including agricultural land and conservation areas, with the establishment of the golf courses on 200ha at the eastern tip of the property,” Mr Hu said.

Renowned Tasmanian author and journalist Martin Flanagan, who owns a shack at Dolphin Sands, will MC the public meeting.

He said the Cambria Green development would be the biggest change to the East Coast landscape since colonisation.

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“I find myself in the middle of this drama whereby it’s basically proposed to build a Chinese town in the middle of Tasmania,” he said.

“What I object to deeply is the stealth used to bring this project about, at both the state and local government levels.

“It’s not an argument about race, it’s an argument about geopolitical reality.”

East Coast Alliance president Anne Held also has concerns with the development.

“We are simply concerned with the zoning plan that has been made, which would allow for a mega development on the East Coast,” she said.

Ms Underwood said while the Cambria Green development had dominated headlines, there were concerns over other large-scale proposals.

Ms Underwood points to more than 240ha of land near Evandale in Tasmania’s North, sold to Sydney developer Traders in Purple in June, as a prime example.

The developer plans to build about 500 homes and create a multi-use tourism and residential hub.

Sophie Underwood (centre), of Freycinet Action Network, with Anne Held and Jennie Churchill, of the East Coast Alliance, who are campaigning against the Cambria Green proposal on Tasmania’s East Coast. Picture: Peter Mathew

In June, Traders in Purple chief executive Brett Robinson said the purchase of the land near Evandale continued the company’s commitment to substantial investment in Tasmania.

And while there has been talk of a large golf course resort in St Helens for more than a decade, the rumours have gathered momentum of late.

Victoria-based company Hallwill Pty Ltd owns the land in St Helens where the mooted golf course has been proposed.

Ecologist and St Helens resident Todd Dudley said the approval of large-scale resorts by small councils could set dangerous precedents, which could ruin the East Coast’s “scenic and ecological values”.

Break O’Day Mayor Mick Tucker said he had met Hallwill director Ian Hall to discuss the potential project.

“I have had discussions with the current owner regarding potential developments,” Cr Tucker said. “But there’s nothing official and no development application.

“I’m always concerned of these ‘anti-everything groups’ before we even have a DA.”

Views of Freycinet Peninsula from part of development site.

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology environment and planning Professor Michael Buxton said the Cambria Green development posed a triple threat on Tasmania: a loss of significant scenic landscape, a loss of a large chunk of agricultural land and, because the development would most likely be vertically integrated, a loss for Swansea economically.

“You have a development complex which integrates residential, commercial and recreational activities into the one development,” he said.

But Cambria Green chief executive Ronald Hu said its vision was to create a tourist accommodation hub around the historic, heritage homestead of Cambria.

“Cambria Green knows that we have many supporters in Swansea and surrounds, who want the long-term jobs and opportunities, as well as the refurbishment of Cambria in all its glory.”

In April, Glamorgan Spring Bay Council approved a request to change the planning scheme to allow the staged Cambria Green development to proceed via a public consultation process.

The consultation process ended in June and Glamorgan Spring Bay Mayor Michael Kent is hoping the council will vote on the planning scheme change next month before the Tasmanian Planning Commission has the ultimate say.

The Future of the East Coast public meeting will be at Hobart Town Hall from 1.10-2pm on Tuesday.