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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-09-08 Daily Xml
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ECOTOURIST VILLAGE

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:02): Will the Minister for Urban Development and Planning provide any information about a proposal to develop an ecotourist village near Streaky Bay on Eyre Peninsula?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:02): I recently announced my decision to declare as a major development a proposal to build an ecotourist village at Cape Bauer on Eyre Peninsula. The declaration of a major development is consistent with the Eyre Peninsula coastal development strategy, which allows the provision of medium scale tourism development in coastal environments only after a detailed assessment of the landscape and the cultural, social and economic impacts or benefits.

The proposed development site, about 15 kilometres north-west of Streaky Bay, is currently zoned coastal and primary industry and is recognised for its natural clifftop scenery. The proponent, Streaky Bay Joint Venture Group Pty Ltd, is a joint venture company which has been established to develop this ecotourism resort and residential development. The proposal envisages the construction of ecotourism resort and seasonal holiday accommodation on about 150 hectares, comprising conference facilities, services of meals and drinks at the restaurant, recreational activities, a resort shop, 12 hotel-motel style room accommodation, 22 self-contained service coastal villas, and 30 individual dwellings on small allotments providing owner-occupied holiday accommodation.

It is proposed that about 320 hectares of land will be developed for rural residential purposes resulting in about 300 allotments ranging in size from one to two hectares. The proposal also includes significant areas of habitat restoration and revegetation, including about 675 hectares of coastal dune habitat and 53 hectares of remnant mallee and tea tree scrub.

The nature of the Cape Bauer proposal on the environmentally sensitive Eyre Peninsula coast near Streaky Bay warrants an assessment under the major development provisions. The Independent Development Assessment Commission will now determine the level of scrutiny required for this project.

South Australia's major development provisions are not a fast track, nor is it a guarantee that a project will go ahead. The major development process allows proposed projects to be subject to the most stringent planning approval process available under the state's development laws. The declaration does not signal the government's support for a project but, rather, triggers a much stricter development assessment process than is available through local council development approval panels. It is a process which allows input from local councils—incidentally, the council supports the project and, indeed, came to the government with the proponent requesting it be made a major development—state government agencies and the South Australian community.

Applications are scrutinised by the independent Development Assessment Commission, which has the power to request an environmental impact statement (EIS), public environmental report (PER) or a development report (DR). The commission is also responsible for establishing the guidelines for preparing the targeted EIS for the development report. The proponent is required to respond to all submissions, including any of the matters raised by local councils, before final assessment by the minister.

Often, authorisation allows the government to impose conditions that must be met before a project can go ahead. Proponents also risk the prospect of an early no and are unable to appeal the final decision. The EIS guidelines and more detail about the major development assessment process can be found online. Obviously, at this early stage, the final proposal is yet to be received from the proponent.

Since taking up the position of Minister for Urban Development and Planning in March 2005, I have declared about 16 project, ranging from the Olympic Dam expansion to the upgrading of lights at AAMI Stadium, as major developments, which is an average of about four projects a year. The Cape Bauer proposal is the first to be declared in 2009. I think it would be difficult for anyone but anti-development zealots to argue, based on those numbers, that this is an overused provision of the Development Act.

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