An Australian property development group is preparing to start construction of a residential gated community at Yaroomba Beach after settling on the site in September.
In a media statement released today, the Dennis Family Corporation said the development would create a residential gated community including detached houses, terrace homes and apartments, in accordance with the existing 2007 Coolum Hyatt development approval, as a continuation of the Coolum Beachside Community Title Scheme.
The group is preparing to start early works on the 18.5-hectare beachfront site and will be fencing it in line with workplace health and safety obligations.
Beach access will be retained from the Yaroomba Meeting Place at the northern end of the site through to Beach Access 91, while all construction access will be via an existing entry off David Low Way, north of Yaroomba Drive.
Dennis Family Corporation director Grant Dennis said the family-owned residential developer was committed to delivering a strong outcome for the Yaroomba community.
“This site has been earmarked for development for a decade or more and we are eager to begin work,” Mr Dennis said.
The Dennis Family Corporation’s website says it project manages residential community developments across Melbourne and South-East Queensland.
It has emphasised that its plans will develop the site according to the 2007 Hyatt approval for a gated residential apartment and housing estate, and not the controversial 2015 Sekisui application that included a five-star, seven-storey hotel alongside apartments and two and three-storey homes.
Sunshine Coast Council initially approved the application from Sekisui in 2018, despite about 9000 submissions against it. The community appealed that decision in the Planning and Environment Court but the council’s approval was upheld in June 2020.
A further appeal was made, with the Court of Appeal hearing the matter in March 2021, and in February last year the community celebrated after the Supreme Court set aside the 2020 ruling. But the Planning and Environment Court in June dismissed the appeal.
Sekisui reportedly put the site up for sale last year, with the Dennis Family Corporation’s purchase settled last month.
Community group Development Watch, which had a court hearing against Sekisui set down for November, said in a social media post earlier this month that it had withdrawn its case.
“With the sale by Sekisui House of the 18.5ha Yaroomba landholding to the Dennis Family Corporation, who have a long reputation for building quality homes, Development Watch has withdrawn from the impending court hearing,” it said.
“…DW has decided that, with the departure of Sekisui House and the arrival of the Dennis Family Corporation, a more positive outlook lies ahead.
“The Dennis Family Corporation, unlike Sekisui, speaks of ‘building communities’ and from a perusal of the Dennis Family Corporation’s prior and current developments, they do not construct high-rise five-star hotels with serviced apartments, which was the first stage of Sekisui’s development.”
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