Smith Beach plans through

THE Shire of Busselton has approved residential and tourist development plans for Smiths Beach nine years after development was first proposed.

The Busselton Shire council voted 10-0 in favour of the modified development plans for Smiths Beach, which are significantly smaller than the plans rejected by council two years ago.

The development has been reduced to 12.8 hectares, with 9ha set aside for tourist activity, and residential development comprising the remaining land.

The modified plans also propose a national park extension area of about 21ha.

The original plans called for total development of 21ha consisting of nearly 15ha of tourist zones and 6ha of residential properties.

Shire of Busselton director of lifestyle development, Nigel Bancroft, said the new development would have limited impact due to the high number of tourist visitors to the area each year.

"The development's not of significance that it's going to have a noticeable change on the levels of traffic generally in the area," he said.

"The main landscape features of the area will be protected, there's a significant tourism resort proposed, which should result in a high-quality tourism resort facility, and there's areas of foreshore reserve allocated for future public recreation so there are some benefits for the community."

Proposed tourism precincts of 'western chalets and camping', the 'Beach club' and 'Cape Spur Lodge' will no longer go ahead under the revised plans.

But a 2ha site closest to the beach has been earmarked to replace the Beach Club and the Cape Spur Lodge as a tourism facility.

In a short statement, developer Canal Rocks said it was confident the development would benefit both the Busselton region and the entire state.