A proposal for a retirement village around 300km north of Brisbane has been rejected to protect a critically-endangered migratory bird.
Anscape Pty Ltd had referred plans to construct and operate Turtle Cove Haven Retirement Village, and related infrastructure, at River Heads near Queensland’s Hervey Bay.
Plans lodged in 2013 would have seen Anscape build 500 Independent Living Units and a high care facility for 80 residents.
However, these were nipped in the bud when Environment Minister Sussan Ley accepted recommendations that the proposal be refused due to the likely adverse impact it would have on the Eastern Curlew, a rare migratory bird often found on the nearby Great Sandy Straits Ramsar site.
“It has been determined that the development would have presented an unacceptable risk to important roosting habitat for the critically endangered Eastern Curlew in an area which regularly supports ecologically significant proportions of its global population,” said Ms Ley in a statement.
Ms Ley says the Great Sandy Strait is an important roosting ground for migratory shorebirds and home to many sea animals.
The decision ends seven years of uncertainty regarding the site.
