Margie Maccoll
Developers of a five-star boutique hotel at Noosa Springs currently under approval consideration by Noosa Council have responded to protests of the application with some proposed changes and say the facility is needed to address a chronic shortage of luxury accommodation in Noosa.
The $50 million project is an initiative of GH Australia, the Australian arm of one of Hong Kong’s leading property and development firms, Golden Horse Group, which has owned Noosa Springs Golf and Spa Resort since 2014.
The proposed 106-room hotel will span five two and three storey buildings, a reduction from the initially proposed 112 rooms and five-storeys, bringing it under Council’s 12-metre height restrictions.
Project manager Phil Starkey, whose family built and developed Noosa Springs, said a 200-room hotel had been included in the original Council-approved resort plans to complement the Noosa Springs residential community which now consists of 526 dwellings including Noosa Parkridge.
The hotel, proposed to be built on the eastern side of the resort bordered by Resort Drive, would comprise 98 standard rooms, six luxury suites and two presidential suites.
It would feature a central, two-level lagoon-style swimming pool, include an outdoor fire pit seating area, a bar, café, lobby area and the existing four synthetic tennis courts would be replaced with three synthetic and one hard court.
Mr Starkey said their economic impact assessment showed there were 3821 accommodation rooms in Noosa across 158 properties with 157 managed as short-term-accommodation and only one fully serviced.
The Noosa Springs hotel would be the first luxury hotel in Noosa since the Sofitel was built in Hastings Street in 1989, he said, describing it as “a significant tourist accommodation opportunity that will provide enormous community benefit”.
At present, overnight guests at Noosa Springs are accommodated in a letting pool of only 15 self-contained apartments that form part of The Fairways precinct, stretching along the first hole of the resort’s golf course, he said.
“The number is grossly inadequate for the accommodation needed. Many out-of-town groups do not consider Noosa Springs because there just isn’t enough on-site accommodation for them, so they go to other destinations rather than Noosa.”
But the proposal has already attracted more than 500 objections from homeowners of Noosa Springs, Parkridge, The Oasis and Elysium as well as local golfers who have sent Council a 21-point public impact statement outlining their opposition.
Residents say two-thirds of the 3.8 hectare site which will be taken up by the hotel is zoned open space / recreation, not for development, and will mean tearing out koala feed trees.
Mr Starkey said the proposed site contained 19 koala feed trees that would be replaced with feed trees for the now endangered species in a safer location by the golf course, away from the road. “It’s not a corridor, not a koala population,” he said.
But Queensland Koala Crusaders Association ambassador Meghan Halverson said it was ludicrous to say you could tear up the trees and move the koalas and everything would be a-okay.
“Every time we clear a block of land we isolate koalas. We actually put them in little islands. For genetic diversity, male joeys need to be able to travel between areas of habitat and connect with other males and females,” she said.
“If there are no corridors connecting the habitat, it is catastrophic. Do I think it is the end of the population of Noosa Springs koalas? Yes I do.”
Objectors say the development would increase traffic, already at capacity at peak times, parking would be inadequate and it would impact on the existing users of the resort.
Mr Starkey said the hotel complex would complement and integrate with the existing Noosa Springs’ facilities, which include a championship golf course, golf shop, Relish restaurant, conference and function rooms, a world-class day spa, fitness centre and tennis centre.
“Services within the resort – including kitchen, dining, conference and bar facilities – would be expanded and improved, to the benefit of resort members and the general public, as well as hotel guests.
“Guests would access the boutique hotel along a walkway which connects to a widened porte cochere at the existing entry to the Noosa Springs resort from Links Drive.”
Mr Starkey said traffic studies showed at full capacity the hotel would generate about 30 vehicle movements (15 each way) an hour and the number of parking spaces had been increased providing 255 spaces plus 38 overflow spaces allowing one space for every 1.6 hotel rooms. The hotel will also provide a shuttle bus to operate as required to take guests to key attractions around Noosa as well as electric bikes and mopeds.
Mr Starkey said the project would create about 360 jobs with most during construction.
He admitted with accommodation and property costs having skyrocketed leading to scare affordable accommodation across Noosa for workers, that finding staff was a challenge, but hoped the market would sort itself out over time. “Whether they have to come from Cooroy it’d still be a job,” he said.
“The proposed development will attract high spending visitors and represents one of the most significant tourism investments in the Noosa area for many years,” Mr Starkey said.
GH Properties director Ellen Guan said her company wanted the opportunity to build the hotel and upgrade Noosa Springs facilities and services to a higher level and integrating the resort and hotel would be more efficient in terms of operations.
Ms Guan has a passion to make wellness a point of focus for the facility with a range of practices including yoga, mindfulness, detox and nutritional food offered as a personalised service and incorporating local firms operating in the community.
“This service will provide more opportunities to stay and enjoy the lifestyle and take something home that will have a positive impact on their everyday life,” she said. “It’s a good fit for the Noosa community. The spirit of the project is to provide a luxury experience.”
If the development application is approved by Council the construction is expected to be completed within 15-18 months finishing toward the end of 2024 and opening for guests in 2025.
