Paradise Palms Managing Director, Darren Halpin, wants a retirement development. He plans to offer residents whose homes back onto the ill-fated golf course the opportunity to buy a 200-square-metre piece of land in front of their own house “very cheaply” – at $64,000.
Mr Halpin says the deal is a bargain (with most blocks in that section of the Palms site usually selling at $250,000 for the land alone) and is hoping it will get residents back onside following staunch opposition to his proposed “luxury estate” residential development of the course.
But Save Paradise Palms committee member Clive Abbott told The Cairns Post that residents were “unswayed” by the offer.
“Most people have mortgages. You can’t expect someone who owns a half-a-million-dollar home to just find $64,000,” he said.
Both sides are now preparing for what could be an expensive legal battle, while Mr Halpin is still yet to submit his proposed blueprints to Cairns Regional Council.
