More places to stay in the suburbs
Holiday rental developments on the rise as owners cash in on tourist rental market Babinda park killer may be out next year
A STREET in a beachside Cairns suburb is undergoing a holiday rental development renaissance with new plans to replace an old house with a swanky new three-storey apartment block.
Amphora St is just one street back from the beach in Palm Cove and already has a range of short-term tourist rentals on offer.
However in the past two months there have been two separate development applications lodged with Cairns Regional Council for new adjacent construction jobs specifically targeting the vacation crowd.
The first – the double-storey Paradise Villas duplex proposed at 17 Amphora St – featured units each with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a small swimming pool, outdoor entertaining area and al fresco shower.
The public consultation period set down for owner-developer AAEH 2 Pty Ltd ended on
Friday, although details of submissions are yet to be published on the council’s website.
In the meantime, the owner of the next-door block at 19 Amphora St submitted a proposal for an even more ambitious building job.
Pepa Pty Ltd settled on the property for $565,000 in October and has wasted no time in getting its development application in.
Its existing three-bedroom home is set for demolition to be replaced by a three-storey structure comprising six separate units for “permanent occupation and short-term or holiday accommodation”.
The two blocks at 17 and 19 Amphora St – now separately owned – were previously approved for construction of 16 three-bedroom units.
Those approvals still remain current until May 27 this year, but the project now appears null and void.
Palm Cove resident and hotel receptionist Kaela Parker lives across the road from both proposed developments.
She hoped the construction jobs went ahead to bring more visitors into the tourism-reliant village.
“Airbnb is very popular these days, so I’m hoping it means more tourists and more money for the locals,” she said.
“Hopefully it brings more young people into the area as well.
“It me.” really doesn’t bother
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A WOMAN who stabbed her partner to death in a Babinda park will be eligible for release from jail next year after serving less than three years.
Michelle Lorretta Cooktown, 25, was found guilty of manslaughter, but not guilty of murdering her partner of three months Galvin Furber, 23, after attacking him in a park with a kitchen knife in December 2018.
During the five-day trial in Cairns Supreme Court last week her defence barrister Josh Trevino argued she had been subjected to serious domestic violence at the hands of Mr Furber which drove her to fatally assault him.
He said there was a “tangled mess of dysfunction surrounding her” with her family failing to give her support despite being aware of the couple’s violent relationship.
“At the heart of his sits what was clearly an unhealthy relationship between Galvin and Michelle,” he said. “It was obvious their relationship involved daily conflict and violence.”
The couple, who met online while living in Mt Isa in August 2018, had travelled to Innisfail and Babinda to visit her family.
Their “toxic relationship” involved feelings of jealousy according to Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane, who said Cooktown was frequently the instigator of the violence.
“This was a bad relationship and it had a bad ending,” he said.
Justice Jim Henry handed her an eight-year jail sentence yesterday with parole eligibility on August 21 next year.