Gold Coast Approves 350 Hectare Suburb

Gold Coast Council has green-lit a new residential masterplanned project tipped to be larger than Varsity Lakes, spanning nearly 350 hectares backed by Perth-based developer Perron Group.

Described by council as one of the largest residential development projects the “city has ever seen”, the project involves the master plan development of a greenfield site in Worongary, known as the largest remaining development land parcel on the Gold Coast in single ownership.

The Pacific View Estate’s development code allows for 3,500 dwellings and apartment buildings of up to 8-storeys.

Approved in a full council meeting on Tuesday, the new residential community—located near Carrara —also anticipates a population of between 8,000 to 10,000 residents.

The project was given preliminary approval in 2015 by the state government, but the then earmarked $3.2 billion project was called in after council failed to approve it following a decade of negotiation.

The project plans for a village centre, and a mix of residential, commercial, retail and open space located adjacent to Hinkler Drive.

Planning documents show a maximum gross floor area of 15,000sq m for the development’s commercial and retail.

While a continuous east-west corridor will offer an “open space spine” located through the centre of the site and an industrial precinct pegged on the eastern side of the M1.

The bushland had once been owned by a now-well known Gold Coast figure referred to as Robert “Spiney Bob” Anthes.

The solitary man who once called the land parcel home following his service in World War II, inherited the property, which spans 167-169 Hinkler Drive, from his father Jack Anthes.

Anthes’ hermit lifestyle and the way he protected the property, with an axe or a gun, has since become local folklore.

Anthes lived on the land from the late 1940s until he passed 15 years ago, aged in his mid-eighties.

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Pacific View Estate is the largest land development in the Perron Group’s portfolio.

Perron group have a development management agreement with CRA group on the project.

The group also control development sites in Western Australia, and is a part-owner of the Runaway Bay Centre shopping centre also on the Gold Coast.

The first six stages of the Pacific View Estate project have been lodged with council. The approved stages of one to three will span a total of 33 hectares.

Stage 1 forms part of the core Village precinct, anchored at the eastern end by a retail village, and an education precinct to the west, and 35 housing lots that will facilitate the initial display village.

Stage 2 has an area of 8.46 hectares, comprising 77 housing lots with residential lots ranging in size from 240sq m to 647sq metres.

And stage 3 will comprise 46 housing lots, with lots ranging from 246sq m to 967 square metres.

Gold Coast says the estate’s development code provides a flexible planning framework for the staged development of the land over a 10 to 20-year time frame.