‘ RESORT’ IS JUST AS YASI LEFT IT
SIX years after Cyclone Yasi, the buildings on Dunk Island still look like something out of a war zone.
The rainforest has grown back, but most of the manmade structures still bear the brutal scars of the Category 5 storm that tore across Dunk Island and crossed the coast at Mission Beach just 5km away.
The Dunk Island Resort was bought by Brisbanebased Linc Energy founder Peter Bond in 2011, just months after the cyclone hit on February 3 the same year.
Mr Bond’s business has since fallen on hard times and little work of any visible consequence has taken place.
In addition to owning the old Dunk Island Resort, Mr Bond and his son Adam have the lease to The Spit, a public camping area on National Park land at the southern end of the picturesque island.
The lease on The Spit expires in November. Late last year Cassowary Coast Regional Council called for expressions of interest from people interested in taking over the lease.
Council divisional representative Wayne Kimberley said two submissions were received. The Bulletin understands, but could not confirm, that one of the parties interested in taking over the lease is the existing lessee, Adam Bond of Dunk Island Resorts.
Cr Kimberley said that under the present arrangement, the council leases the land from the State Government’s Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and in turn subleases it to the Bonds’ Dunk Island Resort.
He said the State Government was in the process of converting the land title at The Spit from National Park to “reserve” and making the council its trustee.
Cr Kimberley said The Spit was a crucial part of the Cassowary Coast’s tourism package and wanted to ensure that whatever was done there was done properly.
In September last year Adam Bond told the Cairns Post he wanted to develop The Spit into an entertain- ment and tourism complex he would call Shipwrecks.
He said that it would include “glamping villas” and a live music venue which he hoped would attract national and international bands.
The Cairns Post’s readers who responded online were not impressed.
One posted: “How much of an area is there actually on The Spit? Hop on Google Earth and have a look for yourself? If it is such a great idea why not do it on private land?”
Another wrote: “Anyone believe this based on Bond’s record to date? He just wants to control The Spit. Why doesn’t he clean up the wreckage of the previous resort first? Still there after Yasi years ago. A real eyesore.”
A Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman confirmed that the Cassowary Coast Regional Council’s lease for the camping area inside the national park would expire in November.
“The QPWS wants to ensure the community will benefit from any future arrangements at this popular recreational area,” she said.
Adam Bond did not respond to requests for comment.