Plan for venue at beach suburb
KEWARRA Beach could have a new beachfront restaurant and beer garden next to a public space if a proposal submitted to Cairns Regional Council gets the green light.
It would be on land that is currently vacant at 74 Kewarra St, facing the playground and barbecue area.
The 1642sq m parcel of land is owned by Tania and Henning Bregnsdal and the proposal involves dividing the block into two lots, with a house on a 550sq m block and the restaurant on 1089sq m.
Interestingly, the 550sq m property with a luxury house design is on the market for $3,500,000 with Raine and Horne Palm Cove.
Records show the Bregnsdals bought the block at 74 Kewarra St for $1,165,000 in July 2020.
The proposal for a single level restaurant is accompanied by a four-bedroom twostorey residence.
It would have 13 carparking spaces, three motorcycle spaces, landscaped areas to the Kewarra St frontage and an outdoor deck and beer garden facing the foreshore.
The document states it would provide a much-needed dining option for Kewarra Beach and would integrate into the existing urban environment.
“The placement of the proposed restaurant to the north of the new dwelling house will buffer the existing residential properties and the use of acoustic fencing and appropriate limits on hours of operation and noise creation will ensure that the existing amenity is respected,” the document states.
The council advised the developers in a pre-lodgement assessment they would have to demonstrate compliance with the intent for the low-density residential zone.
“The proposal will need to demonstrate that there is a need for the food and drink component situated in this location, and will not compromise the role and successful function of existing centres in Kewarra Beach,” the council’s planning team leader strategic Paul Cohen advised.
Unlike many northern beaches localities, Kewarra Beach does not have a restaurant or cafe near the beachfront, except for Kewarra Beach Resort, which holds highly successful Beach Shack nights with food trucks and live music and has a cafe offering breakfast from 7am to 11am and lunch from noon to 2pm.
The cafe reopened in March.
The suburb has a small shopping centre on Poolwood Rd, about 1km from the beach, with outlets including FNQ Wild Yeast and Kewarra Thai.
Kewarra St has expansive up-market beachfront residences, with a property at 50 Kewarra St on the market with Sotheby’s Queensland for $6.8m.
Developer Alex Sekler is working on a project that will comprise 10 new houses on absolute beachfront land at the southern end of Kewarra St.