Slump blamed for site left idle
ONE of Queensland’s biggest resort developers whose approval for a Magnetic Island project was scuppered by Townsville City Council has argued a “substantial” economic downturn was why nothing happened to the site for 17 years.
Juniper Property Holdings, owned by Graeme Juniper, has launched legal action against the council in the Planning and Environment Court after a request to extend the life of an approval permit for a 24-lot housing development project at Radical Bay was rejected.
Mr Juniper earlier this month criticised the council’s commitment to jobs and tourism for rejecting the approval extension.
“We have spent many millions of dollars and 17 years trying to work with the Townsville council on this,” he said.
“I’m flabbergasted that’s how you would treat someone who wants to help your economy and grow it into a tourist area.”
In turn Mayor Jenny Hill questioned why Juniper Property Holdings had failed to do anything with the site for years.
According to legal documents, seen by the Townsville Bulletin, Mr Juniper’s lawyers will argue the project couldn’t move forward all these years because Townsville had undergone a “substantial period of economic downturn”.
It will also be argued that the proposed development will allow Radical Bay Rd, which is only accessible to pedestrians at the moment, to be upgraded.
“There is a community need for upgrade of Radical Bay access road to provide both access to the development and a significant piece of community road infrastructure for the tourism industry of Magnetic Island,” legal documents stated.
It’s also argued that if the development proceeds the project will provide turtle management plans and that the council’s reasons for rejecting the application lacked “sufficient particulars”.
The council rejected the application because it was “not consistent with the Townsville City Plan” and “in particular the environmental management and conservation zone, the bushfire hazard overlay code and natural assets overlay code”.
The lack of upgrades to Radical Bay access road has been a thorn in the side of Magnetic Island residents for years, with many calling for something to be done either by developers or the council.
The resort development by Mr Juniper’s company was initially rejected by Townsville City Council but was overturned in a Planning and Environment Court decision.