Open Letter to the Deputy-Premier & Planning Minister

Coochin Creek Mega Festival Proposal Raises Major Concerns for the future of Pumicestone Passage and our green belt

Dear Deputy Premier Bleijie,

Our coalition of Sunshine Coast community organisations, representing thousands of residents, writes to express deep concern regarding the proposed Coochin Creek Mega Music Festival and Outdoor Exhibition Centre and the significant long‑term implications this development poses for the Pumicestone Passage and the Northern Inter‑Urban Break (NIUB).

The NIUB is a regionally significant green belt recognised for its critical role in protecting the Pumicestone Passage, surrounding wetlands, wildlife and shorebird habitat, and the rural character of the southern Sunshine Coast. The current proposal would introduce events of up to 35,000 attendees per day, over multiple days, into this highly sensitive landscape. This scale and intensity are fundamentally incompatible with the planning intent and environmental values of the NIUB.

Community submissions and assessment reports consistently identify major issues, including:

• Incompatibility with NIUB planning intent, with the proposal’s scale and intensity conflicting with long‑established protections.
• Traffic and safety risks, given reliance on a single rural access road, absence of public transport, and likely congestion impacts on the Bruce Highway and key Sunshine Coast roads.
• Serious bushfire risk, with only one entry and exit route through approximately 10 kilometres of high‑risk pine plantation, posing danger to residents and visitors.
• Environmental, community and local business impacts arising from noise, lighting, waste, runoff and heavy‑vehicle movements adjacent to wetlands and wildlife corridors.
• Cumulative impacts, particularly following the recent approval of the adjacent Big4‑style tourist park.
• Precedent risks, with long‑term consequences for the protection and integrity of the NIUB.

Your own State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) recommended refusal of the proposal, citing planning conflicts, environmental risks, and noting no significant economic downside should the project not proceed. Despite this, planning regulations were amended during the public submission period and within your decision‑making timeframe, reducing and weakening the assessment criteria previously applied by SARA and relevant provisions called-up by your own department. 

Public notification was limited to on‑site developer signage and a paywalled media pubilc notice. Even so, community‑led awareness efforts resulted in more than 400 formal objections, many providing detailed, evidence‑based concerns. In contrast, nearly 90 per cent of the 365 submissions supporting the development were identical, developer‑generated template emails with limited to no detail.

In addition, more than 6,700 people have signed the petition Protect Pumicestone Passage and the Greenbelt, leaving numerous comments that reflect widespread community concern about the irreversible impacts this proposal may have on one of the Sunshine Coast’s most valued natural assets.

The Pumicestone Passage and the NIUB are irreplaceable. Decisions made now will shape their future for generations. On behalf of our community, we strongly urge you to refuse this development in order to uphold the integrity of the NIUB, protect the ecological health of the Pumicestone Passage, and maintain the rural and environmental values that define our region.

Yours sincerely,

The Community Coalition