The Community Coalition — representing 10 resident and environmental organisations and
thousands of community members across the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay regions —
expresses profound dismay at today’s decision by Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie MP to
grant state approval for a Mega Music Festival and Exhibition Centre within the Northern
Inter‑Urban Break (NIUB), adjacent to the ecologically significant Pumicestone Passage.
A development of this scale and intensity, proposed for an environmentally sensitive
location, should never be approved. There is no credible justification for allowing it to
proceed.

Significant environmental, bushfire, flooding and public safety risks remain unresolved, and
the conditions imposed are nowhere near sufficient to protect the ecological values of the
site or its surrounds. Traffic congestion and access constraints also remain major concerns.
This is, in the view of the coalition, a deeply troubling outcome for the Sunshine Coast and
for Queensland’s planning integrity. It follows just five weeks after the approval of the
Comiskey Group’s adjacent Big4+ style Tourist Park — a development with its own
substantial impacts and planning conflicts.
For decades, the NIUB has been recognised as a critical greenbelt protecting the
Pumicestone Passage, wildlife habitat, landscape character and regional separation.
Approving a development that enables events of up to 35,000 attendees per day over
multiple days is in direct conflict with long‑standing planning intent and community
expectations.
The decision also follows a series of actions taken during the call‑in period that have
alarmed community organisations, including:

● Reinstating the ability for developers to make political donations
● Amendments to the Planning Regulation 2017 that removed key assessment criteria
underpinning the State Assessment and Referral Agency’s (SARA) recommended
refusal of both Coochin Creek developments
● Regulatory changes that weaken protections for the NIUB and undermine more than
two decades of strategic planning

Community concern has been overwhelming and consistent. Nearly 6,800 people have
signed the petition to protect the Pumicestone Passage and the NIUB, and hundreds of
detailed objections outlined major environmental, safety and planning conflicts.
Compounding these concerns, despite multiple formal requests over the past six months,
neither Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie nor Tourism and Environment
Minister Andrew Powell — both Sunshine Coast MPs — agreed to meet with the coalition’s
10 member organisations. The coalition considers this lack of engagement on a proposal of
such scale and significance to be unacceptable.

Despite claims to the contrary, the Mega Music Festival and the Tourist Park do not align
with Destination 2045’s tourism and events strategy. The NIUB is not an identified events or
tourism growth precinct. SARA’s recommendation to refuse both developments found no
significant tourism or economic detriment if they did not proceed in this sensitive location.
The Sunshine Coast’s tourism strengths and appeal lies in nature‑based, low‑impact,
sustainable experiences — not in placing a mega‑event precinct inside a protected
inter‑urban break beside an internationally listed Ramsar wetland.

Federal assessment still required — environmental obligations remain unmet
This state approval does not remove the requirement for federal assessment before any
work can commence. The Commonwealth has repeatedly advised the proponent that both
developments must be referred under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation (EPBC) Act due to the risk of significant impacts on nationally protected
wetlands, migratory species, threatened species and other Matters of National
Environmental Significance.

The key questions now are:
● Will the developer finally comply with federal law and lodge the required EPBC Act
referrals?
● If not, will the State Government exercise its authority to initiate the referral?
● Will Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt take decisive action to compel
referral if both the developer and the State Government fail to act?
The Pumicestone Passage and the Northern Inter‑Urban Break are too important to be
placed at risk through weakened regulation or political expediency. Our coalition, with the
strong support of the broader community, will continue to stand up and strongly advocate
to ensure these nationally significant environmental values are fully protected and not
further degraded.