Smiths Beach coastal village: First images of $280m project revealed as plans lodged with WAPC

The first images of the hotly debated Smiths Beach coastal village plan have been unveiled, providing a glimpse into one of the biggest projects in the South West in the past decade. The full extent of the plans — submitted to the WA Planning Commission last month — can be exclusively revealed after being carefully curated by development tycoon Adrian Fini and his Smiths Beach project team. Along with 61 holiday homes on the pristine beachside land, just south of Yallingup, the proposal includes a 65-room hotel, 36 camping spots, a retail centre, surf lifesaving facilities and public amenities, all within a 19ha footprint. It has been described by supporters as a luxurious village for visitors and locals alike along the famous Cape to Cape walk, celebrating Indigenous culture and the coastline’s natural beauty. But its long history has created waves, with lobby groups claiming the project will be a blight on the unique and much-loved surf break, potentially damaging the neighbouring national park’s flora and fauna. The submission of the project through WAPC’s State Development Assessment Unit has raised some concerns that the pathway will see corners cut, with the unit’s ability to only give “due regard” to planning laws, but that it “is not otherwise bound or restricted by the legal instrument”. But with its landscape-led, community title approach, Mr Fini and his team believe the project will pave the way for future regional developments. This means lower-density buildings that allow buyers full ownership of each holiday home while preventing the blocks from ever being subdivided, reducing the visual impact of the development on the coastline and ensuring environmental efforts are maintained. Community title also ensures the continued maintenance of community assets, such as fire breaks. Buildings will be a mix of single and double-storey homes on 2000sqm blocks, designed by five of the State’s leading landscape and building architects to maximise vegetation retention. Public amenities will include a restaurant, a wellness centre, a new surf lifesaving club, a cafe, a bakery and a general store. It will host some Indigenous tourism opportunities, which the development team said will create added benefits and opportunities for the local community. Mr Fini said while he understood where community concerns stemmed from, he hoped now the plan was lodged and images released the benefits of the project could be seen and understood. “When we purchased the land we were well aware of the existing approval and what we wanted to endeavour to do was discover a way to do something much better than was presented to us,” he said. “Now that the application is lodged and the pictures are released . . . we’re confident people can see the work we’ve done to create a new standard for coastal development in Australia and hopefully in a global context as well. “Going through the SDAU made us approach everything in a three-dimensional design sense, saving as many trees as possible and create something that’s extremely different to what has been built in the South West and set a new standard for quality and sustainable tourism. “The Cape to Cape is a unique and very special piece of infrastructure that’s unique in a global context and we know it needs help to become a sustainable piece of infrastructure. So we saw that as a priority and then seeing what we can do to create a new form of identity for tourism working with the Indigenous community and other users of the Cape to Cape.” With Smiths Beach synonymous with one of the most scandalous chapters in WA’s political history, having led to a Corruption and Crime Commission investigation entangling former premier Brian Burke, who was involved in previous plans for a development before Mr Fini’s involvement, it’s no surprise lobby groups have been critical. Smiths Beach Action Group reformed when Mr Fini and his unnamed partners acquired the land and began to conduct community meetings to gain feedback and share plans on their plan redesigns. Action group spokesman David Mitchell has been one of the most vocal lobbyists opposed to the design, centring his major concerns around the changes to the proposal’s size from the previously approved structure plan and the choice to lodge the plan through the SDAU. He has repeatedly said the environmental impact was a major concern due to its 19ha footprint, which reduces the land committed to the neighbouring national park laid out in a 2011 structure plan. Mr Mitchell’s concerns on the proposal’s use of the SDAU have also been backed by City of Busselton mayor Grant Henley, who said the city was allowed to provide comment during the consultation process, but did not have a formal decision-making role. “The council has advised the Minister for Planning . . . it is concerning . . . the views and values of the local community will not be properly considered with any proposals that are assessed through the SDAU process,” Mr Henley said. Now with the project lodged with the SDAU, official proceedings can begin, which will include a new Environmental Protection Authority assessment and community consultation periods.