Business
4 August, 2024
Council approves beach cafe
A CAFÉ attached to a new retirement village at Clifton Beach has been approved by Cairns Regional Council amid concerns from the area councillor.
The cafe at Estia on Arlington will open for breakfasts and lunch only, between 6am and 3pm.
Deputy mayor Cr Brett Olds (division 9) said the development had a long history with the council and the “community was not happy about it either”.
He said the café wasn’t asked for in the original development application and the applicants had used a “cheeky” way to apply for the café afterwards.
Cr Olds said he was concerned where customers were going to park.
He said the cafe was not an outward facing venue and people had to walk past the pool to find “the hidey-hole”.
”I don’t think thousands of people will be creating havoc on Arlington Esplanade,” Cr Olds said.
He said he would not oppose the café “in a tokenistic” gesture and the council would probably lose an appeal if it was knocked back.
“Good luck to them, let’s move on,” he said.
Cr Rhonda Coglan (division 8) said she attended the opening and it was “ a beautiful building”.
“It does seem to be a brilliant place to go for breakfast or lunch and be overlooking the ocean and foreshore,” she said.
“I don’t know how the carparking will go and I don’t think it will be a destination either, with bulk amounts of people.”
Cr Kristy Vallely (division 6) said it would be “great for people visiting”.
She said it would be used by people visiting residents and who didn’t want to be closed up in a room.
“I personally wouldn’t drive there,” she said.
Cr Anna Middleton (division 7) wanted to know if the hours of 6am to 3pm could be extended.
Planning director Ed Johnson said the hours of trading were a condition of approval.
He said any change in the hours would be subject to a full assessment by planning officers.
A council report recommended the café be approved subject to seven conditions, including the hours of operation.
“The food and drink outlet is proposed to be open to members of the public for breakfast and lunch. The space is to continue to remain operational and ancillary to the retirement facility for the purpose of providing meals for residents,” the report said.
“No onsite parking is proposed for the food and drink outlet and no change to the built form or landscaping is proposed.
“The proposed development is not considered to conflict with the previous approval or replace the retirement facility approval as the land uses are complementary and not inconsistent.”
There were 13 submissions against the cafe including the development application for the retirement facility not including the food and drink outlet component, concerns about traffic and carparking, questions about the need and ruining the ambience of the beach and character of the area.
The concerns were ruled out in the report.
