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Tourists
and residents will be catered for by the development proposed at Smiths
Beach south of Yallingup, according to the developers.
Canal
Rocks Pty Ltd has broken its silence to defend the plans for 230 residential
lots, 460 holiday units, an outdoor festival area, village and community
centre, upgraded coastal paths and public parking.
An extra 8ha from the development area would be dedicated
to the adjoining national park.
Chairman David McKenzie said the plan represented
15 years of extensive community consultation and workshops. The total
size of the development compared with the Yallingup townsite.
It was designed to cater for growing tourist and residential
demand expected in the area over the next 15 to 20 years.
"The development concept produced will ensure
extremely high-quality built-form and extensive conservation and revegetation
initiatives, minimising overall aesthetic impacts in the area," he
said.
Mr McKenzie said the plan would provide real benefits
for the area. He hoped the local community would give the developers the
chance to detail the positive aspects.
The company would hold two open days and a public
meeting during the 60-day advertising period due to start next week.
Land surrounding the pristine Smiths Beach bay had
been the subject of several development proposals in recent years.
Owners of the Chandler's Smiths Beach Villas recently
withdrew 35ha development plans after their proposal was knocked back
twice by Busselton Shire Council.
Mike Chandler, whose family bought 60ha at Smiths
Beach in 1979, said he had lost the will to fight after the death of his
twin, Tony, in June.
He said he was disgusted when a Busselton shire officer
told him a proposal any bigger than 80 short-stay residences would not
be considered.
"Our proposal was tasteful and environmentally
acceptable," he said. "It's absolutely ridiculous to consider
what we were offered and what they (Canal Rocks) have been allowed."
Busselton shire chief executive Michael Swift said
the council received plans on Wednesday for a new development at the Canal
Rocks Beach Resort.
The 3ha property is for sale and a consultant for
a prospective buyer told Mr Swift of plans for a three-storey development.
Bill Mitchell, who was the project manager of the
nearby Gunyulgup Valley Estate development, is planning a small tourist
venture on his 10ha property behind the Canal Rocks Pty Ltd site.
Mr Mitchell said he would surrender council approval
to build a 10-suite guest house on his property and scale down plans for
bed and breakfast accommodation.
Mr Swift said there had been a series of proposals
at Indijup in the past decade. Two development plans were mooted at Moses
Rock in the past three years.
Another controversial development, a 200-unit resort
owned by Griffin Coal, is under construction at Bunker Bay, west of Dunsborough.
PARADISE 'DESTROYED' BY CONCRETE
JUNGLE
Retired
primary school principal Barry Dufall believes a concrete jungle has destroyed
his piece of paradise.
Mr Dufall and his wife, Janet, cringe as they stand
on the balcony of their two-storey Gnarabup home and take in what was
once a clear view to the ocean.
The view is broken by a residential development which
could soon become bigger after a Supreme Court ruling this week.
The court ruled that developer Mark Hohnen's Gnarabup
Beach Company could advertise a controversial housing and tourism project
which the Augusta-Margaret River Shire Council had refused.
Mr Dufall, vice-president of the Prevelly Wilderness
Progress Association, said the development would duplicate city lifestyle
in a resort area. He said residents were confident of overturning the
Supreme Court ruling if they could appeal.
"We love this place and have a feel for it,"
Mr Dufall said.
He believed progress and development should not be
stopped but the area was unique and pristine and the only thing that "can
muck it up is people".
"It's gone from being a wilderness area where
mostly young people and overseas visitors loved to reside, to a tourist
centre which even tourists hate," he said.
"There's been permanent damage to what the area
has to offer and that damage is forever. That's what hurts more than anything
else."
Augusta-Margaret River shire commissioner Jim Kelly
said yesterday the development was likely to be debated at a meeting on
Monday.
© Copyright 2000 by
West Australian Newspapers
Ltd. This report is for information only. No charge for such use is
made and the material is not being used for commercial purposes. The text
has not been modified from the original report.
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