Plans for a mixed-use development on the site of a former bowls club have been refused by Sunshine Coast councillors, with the proponent already flagging a possible court appeal.
A council officer’s report had recommended approval of the proposal, despite it exceeding the allowable height and not being consistent with it being partially zoned for Sport and Recreation.
Designs for the project, on a 12,775sqm block at David Low Way at Pacific Paradise, included 85 residential units, 39 short-term accommodation units and a 1086sqm food and drink outlet.
The development, on the site of the former Pacific Paradise Bowls Club next to the North Shore Tavern, was first pitched in September 2023, before revised plans were submitted in February.
The matter came before the council’s ordinary meeting on Thursday and sparked a lengthy debate.
It was recommended for approval but divisional councillor Taylor Bunnag moved an alternative motion to reject the proposal, which was carried nine votes to two. Councillors Terry Landsberg and Joe Natoli were in favour of allowing it.
Applicant John Goulter, who has owned the tavern and bowls club site since the mid-1990s, said he believed approval would have been “sensible and warranted”.
“We are very disappointed to see our council representatives would reject our efforts to provide much-needed housing supply in the current climate,” he said. “With this decision we are now seeking advice regarding an appeals process, though we have done everything we could to avoid taxing ratepayers in this way.”
Cr Bunnag told the council meeting his key concerns around the proposal were height and zoning.
“On the North Shore, there are serious planning issues that have been raised for decades with regards to height and zoning, and that’s why this application should be refused,” he said.
“While we are required to consider each application in isolation, and the particular circumstances of the site, I have seen first-hand the incremental chipping away of various aspects of the planning scheme.”
Cr Joe Natoli told the meeting he had “a slightly different point of view”.
“We are councillors for the whole region. We have to understand the importance of the housing issue we’re facing here,” he said.
“The fact is that our role is to make sure that supply of housing can be out there.”
Cr Natoli also said he understood the developer was ready to begin work on the site “almost immediately”, which prompted Cr Winston Johnston to query how he knew that and whether he had a declared conflict of interest.
“I don’t even know who the developer is, I’m not interested in meeting them,” Cr Natoli said.
After briefly pausing the meeting, Mayor Rosanna Natoli said: “It is not a conflict of interest is the advice I’ve been given.”
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The plans included four buildings: a three-storey (10.38m) building for residential units fronting Lerner Street; a four-storey (14.22m) building for residential units fronting Menzies Drive; a four-storey (14.86m) building with residential units fronting an existing car wash and service station on David Low Way; and a four-storey (15.91m) building for short-term accommodation and food and drink outlets fronting the corner of Menzies Drive and Timari Street.
It also included 276 car parking spaces, with 182 spaces in a basement for residential uses, short-term accommodation and food and drink outlets, and 94 spaces at ground level.
The residential buildings would be arranged around a communal space with pool, gym and residents’ lounge. The tavern, which opened in 2009, was to remain in place.
“The site is unique in the context, adjoining a Local Centre zone and does not directly adjoin a residential zone. There are limited opportunities for this form of residential development in the current centre zone and it also offers short-term accommodation in close proximity to the Sunshine Coast Airport,” the officer’s report stated.
“Additionally, it offers a mix of housing product, and the design of the building is high quality and avoids impacts external to the site including overlooking or overshadowing, the development will not be visible from key vantage points outside the site particularly Mount Coolum.
“In converse, the matters that may warrant refusal, include that the use may result in a reduction in Sport and Recreation-zoned land and that the building heights exceed that nominated in the planning scheme.
“On balance, the development complies with the majority of the planning scheme, with the exception of the consistency of the use and building height. In this circumstance, the matters that may warrant refusal are not as compelling as those in favour.”
Public notification took place from November to December 2023 – before the design was revised – and attracted 69 submissions, of which 55 were determined to be ‘properly made’.
“Of the 69 submissions received, 66 submissions opposed the development and three submissions were supportive of the development,” the council officer’s report said.
