Businessman supports wave park concept
Wave Park
A leading Port Douglas businessman has reaffirmed his support of a recently approved development application that has the potential to ignite the local tourism sector for many years to come.
Portico Shopping centre owner Marco Piat believes the potential build of the wave park precinct would prove a game changer and usher in a new era of tourism in the wake of ongoing instability caused by the lingering effects of COVID.
His public voice of approval for the proposed NorthBreak wave park project comes shortly after an appeal was launched to halt the $317M project becoming a reality on the grounds that the development is an “inappropriate use of the land”.
Appeal tendered
The lodged appeal tendered collectively by Chiodo Corporations and Douglas shire sustainability group and individual appellants Colin Musson, Renata Musson, Josh Gibson and Hilary Kuhn also states, “the proposed development is inconsistent with the community expectation in the locality in light of the serious non-compliances with (the) planning scheme, particularly in relation to the loss of rural land”.
(Such as) “built form and height which is not contemplated by the rural zone, loss and fragmentation of good quality agricultural land and adverse impacts on the land use, concerns around adequate infrastructure servicing and potential ecological, water, amenity, flooding and traffic impacts.”
Douglas Shire continues to review the appeal papers which were lodged with the Planning and Environment court close to two weeks’ ago.
Businessman behind project
“I believe the project would be excellent for Port and the Douglas shire,” Mr Piat declared.
“Imagine the jobs creation and the boost to the local economy that the wave park would provide.
“I’ve noted there is an appeal in place regarding the park, but I’m sure NorthBreak would have taken in all those factors prior to lodging a development application for the park.
“I’m sure the homework has been done to ensure the project is across all necessary environmental factors.”
Newsport reached out to NorthBreak developer David Imagraben for comment about the appeal and more broadly, the ongoing plans for the project, however, did not receive a response before deadline.
Concept in line with Council’s key objectives
Just months ago Douglas Shire Council approved NorthBreak’s development application for a 164 room hotel and resort which is slated to consist of a wave pool, swimming lagoon, aqua park and 90 self-contained villas and surf cabins.
Just recently, Douglas mayor Michael Kerr explained the rationale behind the application gaining approval.
“With no recognised surf breaks in the tropics, Council believes the once in a generation development will attract a new wave of visitors,” Mr Kerr said.
“The wave park fits in nicely with our sports tourism focus and is perfectly positioned in the Mowbray Valley to complement the Wangetti Trail development.
“A key goal of our 2021-2024 economic development strategy is to expand and diversify our tourism offering, particularly by capitalising on lucrative sports tourism and adventure markets.”
The park would be situated 10kms south of Port Douglas, along the Captain Cook Highway, and in proximity of the Mowbray river.
Do you support the potential construction of the proposed wave park?
“We generally come up and holiday in Port Douglas in June or July to escape the cold in Melbourne, but if there was a wave park or something like that up here, we’d definitely consider coming up over Christmas time” – Walters family, Melbourne
“There’s no doubt the wave park would be awesome for Douglas, particularly in the hotter months when we can’t swim at the beach because of stingers” – Mary B – Port Douglas
“As long as the project is mindful of the environment and all the associated factors I cannot see one reason why it could be a bad thing for the region” – Bob G – Port Douglas
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