A judge has upheld the refusal of plans to develop a service centre with two fast-food outlets on rural land next to the Sunshine Motorway.
Paradise Holdings (Qld) Pty Ltd appealed to the Planning and Environment Court after Sunshine Coast Council rejected its plans for the service centre at Pacific Paradise in December 2022.
Judge Michael Williamson delivered the ruling on September 26, dismissing the appeal – which was filed in January 2023 – after hearings were held in early August.
The proposal, which was originally submitted in December 2021, included a BP service station with convenience store plus drive-through McDonald’s and KFC outlets.
It was planned for a 30.48-hectare block on the southern side of David Low Way and the western side of the Sunshine Motorway. The development would have used only the northern 2.7 hectares of the site, with the rest to remain undeveloped.
It was to be built on an elevated platform up to 2.4 metres above natural ground to mitigate flood risks. The platform area spanned 9200sqm, excluding a ramp providing access to and from David Low Way.
Judge Williamson noted that the key issues were whether the proposal met exceptions for flood-affected land, and whether its scale and intensity were suitable for its Rural zoning.
He noted that while the land is “well located in the road network to intercept vehicles travelling north on the Sunshine Motorway and east/west on David Low Way”, he had concerns around the elevated pad design.
“The purpose of the elevated pad is to avoid the underlying flooding constraint by suspending the proposed development above it. While this is an acceptable engineering response, it gives rise to another issue – an adverse visual impact,” the judgement said.
“The difficulty lies in the visual effect of the pad, even with the proposed landscaping intended to mask it. The elevated pad appears as an engineering solution and has an urban character … making it readily apparent and unacceptable.”
The judgement also highlighted the scale and intensity of the proposal.
“The proposed development has the appearance of an urban design solution within a rural landscape. This is most evident in its scale and likely intensity, which will stand in stark contrast to the surrounding context,” it stated.
“The use will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, accessed via a signalised intersection. Taken together, these features differ from the surrounding area and will adversely change the local sense of place.”
The service centre had a planned gross floor area of 890sqm and also included two car fuelling forecourts, truck facilities and electric vehicle charging stations.
The land was historically used for sugar cane but was no longer suitable for commercial cropping. Areas to the south have been earmarked by the council for future sport and recreation use.
Traffic counts for 2023 showed David Low Way carried about 17,600 vehicles per day around the site, while the motorway carried around 57,700 vehicles per day.
The application underwent public notification in July 2022 and attracted 40 properly made submissions, with 31 in opposition and nine in support.
Evidence was also given by representatives of BP, McDonald’s and KFC.
“Their evidence confirmed the proposed development, if approved, would be successful and fill gaps in their respective networks,” the judgement stated.
But Judge Williamson concluded that no overriding public interest justified approval of the proposal.
“The existence of a town planning and community need for the service station are entitled to significant weight. They are not, however, sufficient to demonstrate an approval should be granted in the face of material non-compliance with the planning scheme,” his ruling said.
“It is the scale and intensity of the development, rather than the uses per se, that underpin the findings of non-compliance.”
The Organisation Sunshine Coast Association of Residents Inc and the chief executive of the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning were listed as co-respondents in the hearing.
