Developers plans to build a mega-resort on Tasmania’s East Coast have come to a halt.
The $138 million, 3,000-hectare Cambria Green project aimed to create a luxury resort, villas, a health retreat, golf courses, a private airport and retirement facilities at Dolphin Sands.
Developers sought an amendment to rezone several lots and apply a ‘specific area plan’ to proceed with the project, which the Tasmanian Planning Commission recently rejected.
Some community members through the East Coast Alliance have opposed the proposal put forward by the Melbourne-based group Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management for over five years, but welcomed the decision with ‘cautious optimism’ for the future.
“We acknowledge this is possibly not the end of the road for this campaign,” Alliance president Anne Held said.
“After such a long, drawn-out process, while we at the ECA are, of course, very pleased with this decision, we are also cautious about what might happen next.”
Greens Leader Rosalie Woodruff also weighed in on the ‘positive decision’ to halt the “gargantuan tourist and retirement enclave” and called on the developers to recognise this “as the end of the road”.
“Long live the spirit of all Tasmanians who love this island, and congratulations to the plucky members of the East Coast Alliance who have fought for over five years to protect its beauty and values,” Woodruff said.
“The massive land use changes it planned would have had devastating impacts on the local community, water availability, and biodiversity, including the Ramsar-listed Moulting lagoon.”
She said the refusal will “go down in Tasmanian history as a standout example of the community’s successful defence of our island’s special values against a development that would trash them”.
The developers have the right to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court within 28 days.
