Abrolhos jewel for Humfrey

The $17 million Abrolhos Islands eco resort has confirmed Geraldton-based Humfrey Land Developments’ status as the biggest developer north of Perth.

The small family company, founded by Barry and Mary Humfrey in 1998, is in the midst of a series of multi-million-dollar residential and tourism developments stretching from Geraldton to Exmouth.

HLD has been working for six years to develop the first ecological resort on the low lying, 100km-long chain of 122 islands, 60km off the coast west of Geraldton.

It is expected to welcome its first guests in early 2007.

The decision was made to build the low impact resort on Long Island in the Wallabi group of islands. It will accommodate 60 guests in a variety of room types.

A 40-person development was originally proposed and accepted in July last year but Mr Humfrey said further investigation found that scenario too small to be viable.

The company applied for an increase to 60 guests and was forced to win it at tender again.

The resort, to be managed by Broadwater Hotels and Resorts, will be a series of rooms raised off the ground and connected by a series of boardwalks to avoid interference with the island’s flora and fauna.

It has been designed for school groups through to international tourists, offering solitude, fishing, windsurfing, bird watching, surfing and diving among the brightly coloured coral and shipwrecks.

These include the Batavia, which ran aground in 1629 and whose outline and cannons can still be seen in just over four metres of water.

Mr Humfrey hopes to receive the tourism licence next month and clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency in February 2006, with jetty construction to begin the following May and accommodation construction in July 2006.

The company has used 16 different consultants to date, including oceanographers, historians, ornithologists, zoologists, environmentalists and those from the maritime museum and Department of Fisheries. No objections have so far been lodged with the EPA.

HLD’s residential developments include the half-completed Seacrest Estate in joint venture with the State Government, overlooking the coast in suburban Geraldton.

The development is expected to house up to 1400 people, and includes schools, a retirement village, retail outlets and parks, all with fibre optic internet links that allow movies on demand, with the average home price around $200,000.

Also in Geraldton is the 450-site Forrester Gardens development, the 80-lot Batavia Gardens project and Mariner Resort, on the site of the old Mariner Hotel overlooking the water.

This will include 15 townhouses – selling off the plan for up to $495,000 each – 58 units, a tavern, bistro and bottle shop.

In Exmouth, Humfrey has plans for another resort on the site of the famous old Nor Cape Lodge to include 122 strata titled short stay units, with construction scheduled for early next year.

The company also has a 60-lot composite industry development in Exmouth, where, because of the land shortage, owners can build a house and large shed from which to carry out a business.

HDL recently won the Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s business excellence award for a company with five or less employees.