This is a suggestion. Amphora and Oliva Sts are 12 metres wide. They were designed and built for through traffic. At its narrowest, Williams Esplanade is 7 metres wide and does not meet the specification for even a one-way street; let alone two.
Lot 100 is owned by Palm Cove Nominees Pty Ltd. As at 29 October 2023 the directors and shareholders are Jack Theodore Rosen, Garry Thomas Kam and Frederick Bart. These men are generally regarded as being among Australia’s most successful businessmen with an impressive diversity of interests. It is understandable that they will be seeking an appropriate return from their decades long investment in this property.
On 3 November 2017 they submitted a Development Application (DA) to Cairns Regional Council. Since then there have been a number of revisions to the original DA and the proponents have been granted 12 extensions of time by Council. At one stage it included an eight storey resort component. That was reduced to six storeys in the current submission. These plans attracted many objections (maybe hundreds). Anybody can read these objections and any other documents by the proponents or Council.
To do so, go to: https://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/ > Property & Business > Development > Development Applications Online > Search Existing Applications. A window will open titled Development Application Enquiry. In the Application Details > Reference Number field, enter the number 8176/2017. Do not complete any other fields. There are glitches in this form that will cause the enquiry request to fail if any other fields are populated.
The objections are mostly about the height of the buildings. Before 1997, Mulgrave Shire Council had set a height limit of 11.5 metres from the ground to the Pitching Plate (the very top of the structure). In 1997 the Queensland Government legislated the Integrated Planning Act. One of the outcomes of this was that proponents of developments were no longer constrained to specified heights unless prescriptive precinct overlays for specific zones were implemented by Councils. There is no precinct overlay on Lot 100.
This means that comment such as that we can “only build to the height of coconut palms” hasn’t been true since 1997. Council Officers now apply what is referred to as “Performance Based” criteria when considering Development Applications. This flexibility can work for the benefit of the community providing developers are designing proposals within the spirit of the Act. As in “if you let us do this, then we’ll be able to do that.”
Council officers make their recommendations to the Mayor and Councillors regarding specific DA’s. However our elected officials are not obligated to take the advice of Planners.
Anyone who’s seen garbage and delivery trucks reversing in and out of Caryota Close onto Williams Esplanade will know that even today this is a problem; let alone in years to come. Connecting these streets with Oliva or an extension of Amphora is critical to forward planning. Depending on the outcome of Council’s letter to Palm Cove Nominees Pty Ltd of 25 October 2023 there may now be an opportunity to resolve this issue.
In the case of Caryota Close this will mean that all of the business premises at Palm Cove Village including Il Fomo, Rattle ‘n’ Hum, El Greko, Third on the Left Wine Bar, Lucky Fish, Cabana Bar, the Botanical Chemist, Palm Cove Post Office. Espresso Cafe and Footmaster as well as the retail and office tenants will be able to get their deliveries via the western access from Oliva St or Amphora St. Cars accessing the car parks under Paradise on the Beach and Paradise Village Shopping Centre will not need to use the Promenade.
Although the Master Plan extended west as far as Oliva St, Council’s brief to their Planners specifically excluded them from including privately owned land in their planning. This exclusion meant that options such as what has been suggested in the header image on this page couldn’t be considered.
With a change at the top in Council and elections just around the corner, there is a window of opportunity for Council to rethink the Master Plan and resolve the single most important traffic flow issue at Palm Cove now and into the future.