The coastal Queensland city of Hervey Bay, a three-and-a-half hour drive north of Brisbane, is known for its relaxed lifestyle and is popular among whale watchers, retirees and locals who enjoy a slower pace of life.
Its long-arcing foreshore stretches on for kilometres and is lined with charming beach houses and low-rise unit complexes that draw families wanting to enjoy the safe, calm waters.
But twin skyscrapers could soon tower overhead, threatening or promising to change the face of Hervey Bay forever, depending on which side of the debate you’re looking at.
“The tricky thing about developer-led development is the precedent it sets,” said Nicholas Stevens, program coordinator of urban design at the University of Sunshine Coast.
“That does open an opportunity for the next development to come and say, ‘Hey, they got 20 storeys, we would like 20 storeys as well,” Dr Stevens said.
Five-star resort
The five-star resort proposed for the Hervey Bay esplanade would be the largest hotel between Cairns and Brisbane, according to its prospective owner Sheraton Hotel and Resorts.
The $400 million plan boasts more than 200 rooms between two 21-storey towers, an artificial reef scuba diving experience and a glittering endorsement from celebrity ambassador Jamie Durie.
The resort would be three times higher than the tallest building currently gracing the esplanade and is pending approval from the local council.
It’s drawn excitement and trepidation among locals grappling with the pains and benefits of strong population and tourism growth.
Tony Davies moved to Hervey Bay from Ipswich 25 years ago in pursuit of a “laidback lifestyle” and has seen a lot of change over that time.
“Maybe I’m being a little selfish, but I want to keep Hervey Bay quiet,” Mr Davies said.
“I sit out here with my wife nearly every day on the esplanade and it’s just marvellous.
“I don’t want it to go like the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, I want Hervey Bay to be special.”
Devil in the detail
Dr Stevens said the proposed luxury development could be a “good news story for Hervey Bay” – with conditions.
“You don’t get too many opportunities for a developer of this kind of stature to say they would like to develop in your location,” he said.
Dr Stevens said for small cities to benefit from mega builds, the developer needed to integrate the environment around them.
“The devil will be in the detail … if it is built to boundary, a 21-storey behemoth that has no relation to the community surrounding it, then that’s a problem,” he said.
“But there are ways you can look for better local integration. Can locals actually be part of the facilities? Are there going to be parks and grounds supporting it as well?
“No is not an answer … ‘yes, but how do we make sure it reflects community values?’ is the way forward.”
‘Undiscovered gem’
The waters off Hervey Bay are a playground for humpback whales travelling north on their annual migration, putting the region on the map as the world’s first world heritage whale site.
“Hervey Bay is beautiful as is, but it could be so much more. It really is an undiscovered gem,” said Rebecca Greenshields, the owner of a whale watching cruise business.
Ms Greenshields said a five-star resort would help tourism operators compete in a time when it was cheaper for Australian holidaymakers to travel to Asia.
“Because of the lack of five-star accommodation in Hervey Bay, we’ve missed out on that market for a long time, that high-end market,” she said.
“It will bring a lot more people into the region and expose all of us operators to the [customers] as well, so it will bring in more business not just for us, but the restaurants, and cafes, and gift shops in town.
“The only thing that we’re a bit concerned about is the height of the buildings.”
Project developer Dan Cuda said the proposed height would ensure visitors could experience “world-class amenities”.
“Marriott Group, owners of the Sheraton brand, have more than 200 million subscribed members worldwide that frequent their resorts and have a minimum set of expectations for amenity offerings,” Mr Cuda said.
“Our development is also aimed at driving visitation to the wider Fraser Coast region.”
Light pollution
Advocates for Hervey Bay’s marine life do not oppose new building developments in their home town, as long as they keep below the tree line.
CoralWatch ambassador Breanna Mitchell said a few hundred metres from the proposed development site was a coral reef that relied on natural moonlight for its reproductive cycle.
“Coral isn’t able to spawn when light is emitting from high-rise buildings … so a 21-storey building would completely destroy the reef that we have,” Ms Mitchell warned.
“We’re not anti-development. We just believe that the development should be below the tree line because that helps with our beautiful marine ecosystem and ensuring the health of it.”
Ms Mitchell doesn’t support the proposal to have a diving experience on an artificial reef.
“People can enjoy a real coral reef in the ocean, they don’t need a snorkelling and diving facility,” she said.
“They would be making an artificial reef, but actually damaging a real coral reef directly in front.”
Turtle researcher Don Bradley is also concerned about the impact of light pollution on endangered loggerhead turtles that nest at Point Vernon beach in the city’s north.
Mr Bradley said nests were sometimes found at Torquay Beach, right on the development’s doorstep.
“The females do not like coming into an area where there is light … so if they are going to lay, they will be put off by light,” he said.
“If they get put off enough times, they’ll dump their eggs at sea. So, light can decrease the laying rate.”
A world-renowned turtle nesting habitat lies just to the north of Hervey Bay at Mon Repos beach.
Mr Bradley said numbers had plummeted since the 1970s when they first started documenting them.
“When you’re down 70 per cent, you haven’t got much further to go to the bottom of the barrel,” he said.
“So, it’s very important to get as many hatchlings back in the water now as we can.”
Mr Cuda said the developer would ensure artificial light was not illuminating the beach or ocean.
“The project will implement lighting design that complies, at minimum, with both Australian standards and the best-practice lighting design described in the National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife,” he said.
Pending approval
The tallest building currently taking up real estate on the esplanade is six storeys.
The Fraser Coast Regional Council has previously approved buildings as tall as 20 storeys, but construction has not taken place.
The future of the luxury resort will be determined in July at the ordinary council meeting.
Ms Greenshields hopes any new development is done with the community in mind.
“Involving locals as much as possible, and creating long-term employment in both the development stage and the long term in the hospitality and tourism space is great,” she said.
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