Council approves $1.1b Bowen housing estate

A LONG-AWAITED $1.1 billion housing estate in Bowen was given the green light in council last week.

The Whitsunday Paradise estate will be a masterplanned community with 2000 houses for up to 5000 people, boosting the Bowen population by 50 per cent of what it is today.

Councillors unanimously supported the preliminary approval for the layout of the whole site and the development approvals for stage three of the project at the ordinary meeting in Proserpine.

The estate will include a commercial centre, sports fields, parks, a service centre with food outlets and the potential for tourist accommodation.

Mayor Andrew Willcox said the project had been “a long time coming”, but it would be “a good outcome all around”.

The project came across many hurdles before the approval and Whitsunday Regional Council’s manager of development assessments Doug Mackay said he was initially “puzzled about the demand” of the project.

The site was already zoned as an integrated estate, therefore the applicants did not have to demonstrate a need for the development.

“One of the concerns I know the council has expressed is the rate at which new lots might come on the market and the effect that might have on the existing residential market in Bowen,” Mr Mackay said.

“The applicant has proposed they be sub-staged, so they aren’t advocating that all of stage three happen at once.”

Mr Mackay said there would be seven substages with about 20 residential blocks put on the market at a time.

He said there were also concerns over the clearing of the site and that the council would push for staged construction.

While he said this might be economically inefficient for developers, Mr Mackay argued dust issues and erosion needed to be taken into account to maintain the Bowen environment.

Division 2 councillor Al Grundy echoed these concerns, saying water run-off to the reef should also be a major consideration in the staggered development.

Division 4 councillor Michelle Wright said this was the biggest decision to come across the council table since she started her role.

Greater Rewards Group general manager Blake Thomas hoped preliminary works on the first stage would begin before December with a call for tenders on about $40 million of infrastructure upgrades.