Tourism identity Paul King is set to develop a $5 million, 24-bed tourist facility at Frenchman Bay.
A $5 million proposal by tourism identity Paul King to develop short stay accommodation in Albany has been unanimously approved by planning authorities.
A regional development assessment panel today considered a 24-bed tourist development on Frenchman Bay Road at the end of the Torndirrup Peninsula.
The proposal was lodged by Taylor Burrell Barnett on behalf of the landowner Frenchman Bay Albany Pty Ltd.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents show that Hospitality Group managing director Paul King owns Frenchman Bay Albany Pty Ltd.
The development sits on the site of the former Frenchman Bay Caravan Park, which has been vacant since it closed in 2006.
The proposal for the site includes a four-bedroom lodge, six two-storey pods, eight retreat units, six glamping tents and a bushfire refuge.
The City of Albany recommended a decision on the development be deferred, to allow a more detailed bushfire management plan to be prepared.
The council noted that it did support the development of a tourist proposal on that site, but that support was subject to the project meeting the relevant considerations pertaining to its context.
A motion to defer the proposal lapsed at today’s meeting, with an alternative motion submitted to approve the development subject to conditions, including an updated bushfire management plan.
The proposed development. Image: DAP document/Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
DAP specialist member Jason Hick said the development was “appropriate to its context and the planning framework for the site”.
City of Albany deputy mayor Paul Terry spoke in support of the project, saying that given all the information received the bushfire management issue had been adequately addressed.
“The extra conditions are mindful of the concerns the city’s officers have and allow this development to move forward,” he said.
Mr King has been on several tourism company committees and spent five years as chairman of the Tourism Council of Western Australia.
RP data records show that Mr King bought the park from Mtk Ventures Pty Ltd in December 2020 for $1.16 million.
Mtk Ventures, which was deregistered in 2022, bought the site for $1.43 million in 2014, and in 2005, the site transacted for $2.42 million.
