Green light for $21m Wallcliffe House build

A development panel has approved billionaire Alexandra Burt’s $21.5 million plan to build a boutique hotel and chalets at the Wallcliffe House site in Margaret River.

The Regional Development Assessment Panel today approved Wallcliffe House Pty Ltd’s proposal to build a 25-room hotel and seven chalets at 752 Wallcliffe Road, after a two-hour meeting this afternoon.

Mrs Burt and her husband, Julian, are the directors of Wallcliffe House Pty Ltd, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents.

The proposed development will be part of The Landsmith Collection, run by the Burts, and will include a licensed restaurant, a reception area and a spa.

A luxury lodge commonly known as Wallcliffe House previously stood on the site but was demolished by a bushfire in 2011.

The second building on the site, dubbed the Chaney Residence, was also damaged in the bushfire.

The site was owned by Wesfarmers boss Michael Chaney and his wife, Rose, until it was acquired by Mrs Burt in 2018 as part of The Landsmith collection.

The reimagined Wallcliffe House. Image: MJA Studio via JDAP documents

At the meeting, Mrs Burt said the starting point for the design was to preserve the landscape.

“This philosophy of preserving landscape has also informed our approach to bushfire safety, which given the history at this site, is ever present in our minds,” she said.

“This project will add enormous value to the community, as well as filling a gap in the market, we will generate seventy to eighty local jobs, develop a training centre of excellence, and attract new tourists.”

MJA Studio designed the $21.5 million Wallcliffe House application.

The proposed luxury accommodation attracted significant community opposition, including a protest attended by dozens of locals late last year.

Members of the community have concerns over the bushfire risk in the area and potential impact to the region’s Aboriginal heritage.

Local group Preserve Gnarabup member Jamie McCall said he had no doubt the development could be accommodated on the site, but the Department of Fire and Emergency Services had not endorsed the bushfire plan.

Despite local pushback, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association chair Stuart Hicks supported the proposal in his written submission to the JDAP.

“The Walcliffe development will reconstitute the ruined heritage buildings of Walcliffe in a manner which reflects their great cultural and social value,” his letter reads.

“At the same time, the Wallcliffe development will fill a longstanding gap in the tourism offering of the Margaret River Region.

“Tourism is the region’s biggest industry, yet it is seriously short of options for luxury accommodation that appeals to high-value tourists.”

JDAP presiding member Tony Arias was the only panel member to vote against the approval of the Wallcliffe House restoration, also over concerns of bushfire evacuation and mitigation plans.

The panel approved to change and add conditions that would require the applicant to build a shelter onsite and an evacuation plan.

Both the Wallcliffe House and the Chaney Residence had been demolished with approval from the shire and the heritage council, according to a report by the Shire of Augusta Margaret River.