Sekisui’s $900m Yaroomba Masterplan Loses Court Appeal

Property developer Sekisui House says it is considering its options after the approval of its billion-dollar Sunshine Coast development was rescinded by the Supreme Court.

The court ruled that the Planning and Environment Court’s approval of the Yaroomba Beach development be set aside.

The court found that the primary judge had erred in failing to consider what the reasonable expectations of the community were regarding the maximum height of proposed buildings.

The Court of Appeal judgment found that the primary judge failed to appropriately consider the content of 11,666 submissions.

An order was made to set aside the Planning and Environment Court’s May 2020 decision approving the $900-million beachfront masterplan.

The question at the heart of the case is whether the development plans complied with the height of buildings and structure overlay code which dictates a maximum height of two storeys or 8.5 metres.

The 18.5ha Yaroomba Beach site has been subject to a number of planning approvals and changes since 2007, as well as changes to legislation and codes in the years since.

In 2009, it was approved for a gated residential apartment and housing estate development by Hyatt with buildings up to four storeys.

The Sunshine Coast council initially rejected the first planning application for the hotel development that Sekisui House put forward, in 2015, forcing the developer to amend it to reduce the number of storeys from 10 to seven.

It then approved the amended application in June 2018 but the Sunshine Coast Environmental Council and the Development Watch group took the battle to the Planning and Environmental Court.

Development Watch questioned why the $900-million masterplan needed to have several buildings of seven storeys when a low-rise eco hotel would be a better option.

It also said that the development would affect more than 9000 people who lived and worked in the region.

Two years later, on June 15, 2020, the Planning and Environment Court upheld council’s approval.

The primary judge for the case said that it was not unreasonable to expect some development to exceed the expected height outlined in the code.

At the time the Development Watch group said it would consider all options for appeals.

As Development Watch could only seek leave to appeal the Planning and Environment Court’s decision based on an error or mistake in law or jurisdictional error, they submitted that there had been an error made in the original court’s failure to consider the submissions made and the clauses around the height.

Sekisui House said it will consider its options, which include continuing with the process through the Planning and Environment Court or to develop the site according to the 2009 Hyatt approved plan.

“Given the previous approval issued by the Sunshine Coast council in June 2018 and subsequently the Planning and Environment Court’s decision in June 2020 to uphold the approval, we are disappointed with the court’s ruling,” Sekisui House project director Evan Aldridge said.