Smiths Beach plan months away: Fini

Property magnate Adrian Fini intends to lodge plans for a $200 million coastal tourism village at Smiths Beach with the state’s fast-track assessment unit in a matter of months, despite concerns raised by the local government.

The 40-hectare site has been earmarked for development for more than two decades and was purchased by Mr Fini and three private Western Australian families back in 2014.

The previous landowners had been granted approval for a residential subdivision of 536 dwellings, but failed to progress the plans.

New plans for a tourism micro village surfaced in July, comprising 61 holiday homes, 65 hotel rooms, and 36 camping platforms across the 40ha site, chosen for its proximity to the Cape to Cape track and Busselton Airport.

The project, which is being spearheaded by Mr Fini, not his company Hesperia, would also involve new amenities, including a new Smiths Beach Surf Life Saving Club, a general store, cafe and bakery, and a foreshore nature play area.

The proposal has been met with community opposition, as the original concept had done 15 years ago, including a 400-person rally spearheaded by local action group ‘Save Smiths Beach Again’.

For the most part, that opposition has centred around the environmental impact of the proposal on the ecologically sensitive hedland, and the fact the proposed scale of the project is larger than that previously approved by the EPA.

Though the new plans are yet to be publicly released, Mr Fini told Business News the amended proposal involved retaining 1.5ha more vegetation than the existing plan through better dispersed housing, with the average lot size having more than tripled from 539 square metres to 1,844sqm.

The company also intends to work exclusively with a panel of between six and eight local building companies, which will be briefed on the restrictions and expectations of the project and will be required to ensure the design is ‘in keeping’ with the rest of the development.

But the development’s future hinges on Mr Fini’s ability to secure more than 40 separate statutory planning, environmental and construction approvals and associated requirements.

Residents and the local government have also been critical of the developers’ plan to pursue the project via the state’s new Development Assessment Unit, a body established during COVID-19 as a means of streamlining the approvals process and expediting shovel-ready projects that would stimulate the economy.

The system involves the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) determining applications, rather than local government planning bodies, a process the City of Busselton and local residents fear will see them shut out of the consultation process.

Mr Fini rejected the assertion that the SDAU process was an expedited one that allowed him to bypass the local government, arguing that the WAPC would still give due regard to the recommendation from the City of Busselton and the feedback received by the broader community during the public consultation period.

He told Business News developers had spent the past 18 months consulting with local action groups and environmental activists, with further meetings yet to take place and no formal proposal likely to be submitted for at least a couple of months.

He said the approvals process was a time and resource intensive one which required coordination across a number of state and federal government agencies and that the SDAU was simply better placed to accommodate that.

In a statement released on Friday, the City of Busselton confirmed it had met with the developers and expressed concerns about their intention to use the SDAU process, which only mandates a 28-day period.

It is understood the city’s mayor, Grant Henley, wrote to Planning Minister Rita Saffioti regarding community concerns surrounding the proposal back in July and requested the state prevent the proposal from being considered by the SDAU and instead have it referred to the city.

“We encouraged [the developers] to undertake robust stakeholder engagement and consultation, beyond the mandated 28-day period,” Mr Henley said.

“[The developers] indicated they would not be adverse to any extension of the consultation period, but that decision will be made by the relevant decision making authority.”

The city has indicated it intends to make a formal submission as part of the SDAU process.

Mr Fini has previously said he would be willing to extend the public consultation period, provided it was approved by the WAPC.

The proposal would be the first regional tourism project to reach the SDAU and the first major tourism project for the region since Bunker Bay Resort in 2004, which was also developed by Mr Fini.

Mr Fini said he expected it to be in “full flight” by 2023, built in one stage over a two-and-a-half-year period and provide about 120 ongoing direct and indirect jobs annually.

The development is likely to be the first implementation of the state’s new Community Titles legislation, which allows the entire site to be managed as a single entity and prevents the subdivision of blocks.

This week, Mr Fini launched a series of advertisements in South West media outlets aimed at explaining the merits of the proposal.