A Tasmanian businessman has unveiled plans for a $35 million hotel and residential development on Burnie’s Camdale Beach foreshore, just over a year after securing the prime waterfront site.
The proposed Strait Hotel, led by JMC’s Errol Stewart, would feature a 72-room hotel with restaurants, cafés and conference facilities, plus 12 luxury apartments spread across three hectares of beachfront land.
Stewart, best known for developing Launceston’s Peppers Seaport Hotel, is now calling for community feedback before asking Burnie City Council to begin a planning scheme amendment to get the project moving.
The site is located at the mouth of the Cam River between Burnie and Wynyard near the airport. Stewart says the location is ideal for attracting visitors.
“We’d like to do two towers of apartments. Each apartment block would have six houses in it. So one level of each apartment is one unit,” he said, launching the project in Launceston today.
“And hopefully a bit of the profit we get out of that would go into building the hotel.”
Stewart said strong community backing is essential before any formal steps are taken. He pointed to recent stadium debates as a lesson in how divided public opinion can stall major projects.
“We don’t want to go to the market and try and put this up if everybody’s against us,” he said.
“We don’t want to sort of have a stadium deal where half the town are for it and half the town are not. We need everybody on side.”
He also acknowledged the risk in purchasing the land before securing planning approvals, knowing the green-light to build isn’t guaranteed.
“We took a chance on that. We’ve done a fair bit of work on the environmental bit, but we do have to get a scheme amendment to get it up,” he said.
The development is expected to benefit from the new coastal walking and cycling track linking Burnie and Wynyard with the hotel and hospitality options serving as a convenient stopover for travellers.
Community consultation will take place over the coming days. If feedback is positive, Stewart will formally request a planning scheme change from council.
If approved, construction would take around two years. Stewart said he will be looking to partner with other contractors given the size of the project.
The Strait Hotel is part of Stewart’s broader expansion across Tasmania with residential developments planned or underway in Launceston, Hobart and Devonport.
These include the new $3 million JMC Burnie Showrooms for Nissan and Hyundai and the $20 million Hobart City Scape Towers, which could feature two five-storey residential buildings on Campbell Street.
Other projects in the pipeline include 23 new homes at Rose Lane in Launceston, a tourism convention centre and an eight to ten-storey high-end apartment building in Invermay and a childcare centre in Devonport.
Also planned are a $6 million TasTAFE Cambridge Automotive Service and Training Centre and 15 apartments at the former Mary’s Grange site in Taroona.
