March Update - Proposed Developments for Rainbow Beach and Surrounds

“It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful. It's artistic, from my standpoint, and
I just love real estate.”
Donald Trump

The month of February saw plenty of visitors still heading to Rainbow and taking advantage of the off peak rates on accommodation. Even in the busiest of weeks, you can still find your own patch of beach but it is especially unique at this time of year when you can often walk for over an hour along the shoreline and see either one or two people or no one at all. There aren’t many beaches in the world that you can say that about.

There has been some discussion regarding future development and progress in the region and much of that has centred around the proposed Tin Can Bay Marina, upgrade of facilities at Camp Kerr and Rainbow Shores Stage Two. Issues relating to development have always been contentious and those effecting our community are no different.

The State Government (specifically the Department of Environment and Resource Management or DERM) has decided to suspend work on the Inskip Point Master Plan until a final decision has been made on the Rainbow Shores Stage Two development. This will hold up any major infrastructure in the area for up to two years or more.

On August 17, 2009, DERM instructed Gympie Regional Council to refuse the Rainbow Shores Stage Two material change of use application, effectively halting the development. However, Rainbow Shores Pty Ltd has appealed the decision and the case will now be heard in the Land and Environment Court in early April.

The Gympie Regional Council appears to back development in and around Rainbow Beach, with Councillor Larry Friske agreeing that everything is basically on hold at Rainbow Beach at the moment. “We would like too to see some more land opened up at Rainbow, whether it is Krauchi’s land or someone else’s,” Councillor Friske said. He went on to say “There is not a lot of opportunity for growth there at the moment”.
Without going into the specifics, there does not appear to be many other options for growth in Rainbow Beach aside from Rainbow Shores Pty Ltd development lease. As previously stated in our Realty Deal articles, the prospect of no future growth or development in town is not necessarily a good thing. Not good for local businesses and not good for the youth in our community either.

On a separate issue, there was standing room only when the Australian Army addressed local construction industry representatives and sub-contractors on opportunities offered by the $60 million upgrade of the facilities at Camp Kerr near Tin Can Bay.
Department of Defence officials reportedly spoke about the project and supplied local building contractors, and companies capable of delivering packages, with what they needed to tender for jobs and what the work would entail.

The $60 million upgrade is purported to provide a variety of training areas and ranges to support the Army’s 7th Brigade which is currently based at Enoggera in Brisbane. This does not represent sufficient funding to move Army units from Brisbane to Camp Kerr.

Many locals are still wondering what Woolworths knows that the rest of us don’t ….. why is it that a huge company would sink $15 million into a shopping centre built on $2.7 million worth of land with less than 6000 customers in a 25 kilometre radius? Hmmm…..