BREAKING - COMMUNITY WINS! Court of Appeal judgment delivered on 9th Feb 2022 found in favour of Development Watch Inc in its appeal against the decision of the Planning & Environment Court in June 2020 which upheld Sunshine Coast Council’s contentious approval of Sekisui’s development application.

Japanese developer, Sekisui House Australia Pty Ltd is seeking to develop an intensive, high-density development on the beautiful 19 hectare beachside parcel at Yaroomba. The development proposes over 750 residential dwellings, hotel and serviced apartments in three, seven story (23.5m+) high-rise buildings plus retail. 

A development of such bulk and scale was never contemplated by the planning scheme nor the community given the site's significant environmental, scenic and cultural values.

This stretch of beautiful coastline is a dark and quiet beach making it an important nesting area for critically endangered loggerhead turtles. The impacts from this massive development would put their viability at serious risk due to the threats imposed by the lights and increased human activity. Any light confuses emerging hatchlings navigation to the ocean making their survival all the more tenuous.

Sekisui has also insensitively appropriated the name Yaroomba Beach for commercial exploitation. The name "Yaroomba Beach"  came from Jinibara Elder, Willie McKenzie, when he visited the area around 1960 with the Place Names Board, making this area a historically significant Aboriginal place, together with the other significant Kabi Kabi cultural heritage features. 

Reference  Mr Kerry Jones Kabi Kabi Traditional Owner

Here's the development application 

 

What has been SCEC's involvement?

SCEC has been involved in this campaign since 2013 when the then Premier Campbell Newman returned from a trip to Japan trumpeting a new "Billion dollar development for Yaroomba" and the first artist's impressions were revealed.  This led to an approach to Sekisui House Development Manager Evan Aldridge by community groups to gain a better understanding of the proposal.

Genuine efforts to provide community perspectives and to see how they would be reflected in Sekisui's proposed concept at the time were unfortunately not met with the same level of openness. 

However, Mr Aldridge was quoted in the Sunshine Coast Daily article on Sekisui's plans in October 2013 "Whatever we do will be in keeping with existing development and would not impose on the site,'' Mr Aldridge said.

When more details of the extent of Sekisui's development proposal emerged as part of their attempt for a major amendment to newly adopted Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, the community mobilised to protect the unique environmental and amenity values of Yaroomba and surrounds from such a grossly inappropriate development.

Spirited actions and education galvanised the broader Sunshine Coast community and called on our elected Councillors to refuse Sekisui's application for a major amendment to our newly minted town plan. 

A packed gallery erupted with joy as the community saw Councillors vote 10 to 1 to rightly refuse the amendment at a Special Meeting on 27 April 2015

Sekisui House subsequently lodged a Preliminary Approval to Override the Planning Scheme on 5th May 2017

See SCEC's submission here

For further information and current updates of the Sekisui Development access the reports here

 

New Developments

The public notification period for submissions closed on 16 January 2018 with over 12,000 submissions received by the Sunshine Coast Council. 

Sekisui altered their master plans to accommodate the requests made by the community and the following changes were made; 

  • Reduction in the proposed residential density of the development from 1086 dwellings to 740 dwellings and retaining a 220 room hotel.
  • Delivery of a Coastal Pathway into the development
  • Dedication of an additional 80 public car parking spaces located adjacent to the future community center
  • Removal of 16 dwelling house lots to create a new beach side public park

Find out more information from, The Sunshine Coast Council.

The Sekisui plans for the resort and reports on important issues can be found here. 

What you can do

Our community effort is thriving but we need your help!

Support Save Yaroomba and Development Watch that raise awareness and monitor the ongoing developments