Quinns Rocks - Caravan Park Redevelopment

Information

Project update

Wanneroo Council voted to proceed with negotiations for the development of an ecotourism, café and event space at the former Quinns Rocks Caravan Park site at the August Ordinary Council Meeting.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide feedback as part of the extensive community engagement process or attend Council Meetings.

It is expected that plans for the proposed development will be presented to Councillors within the next 6 months before a development application is submitted by the proponent.

If you have any further enquiries about this project, please email enquiries@wanneroo.wa.gov.au. 

Community engagement outcomes

Earlier this year, the City invited the community to have their say on a proposed concept for the former Quinns Rocks Caravan Park. 

The community engagement findings can be found below and include a two page summary, key findings report and an updated Question and Answer document which answers questions received throughout the current engagement. 

We know our community is passionate about this site. To ensure members of the community can address Council and have their views heard, there will be a Special Council Meeting at the Wanneroo Civic Centre from 5.30pm on Tuesday 20 June 2023.

The meeting agenda will be available on the City’s website from late Friday 16 June 2023.

Members of the public are encouraged to register attendance and submit any public questions or statements prior to the meeting using the online forms.

Project background

Site investigations

In advance of the closure of the former caravan park in 2014, Council determined that investigations should occur on the future development of the site.  

The original Council resolution (2012) referred to the investigation for the City to operate the site as a typical modern caravan park, featuring serviced sites for caravans, campervans and recreational vehicles brought onsite by short stay visitors, with a limited number of park homes available for short term hire by the public.  

The potential development of the site was also identified in the City’s Tourism Plan 2019-2024 (Tourism Plan), as endorsed by Council in June 2019.  The Tourism Plan referred to the preparation of the business case for the site, which seeks to determine suitability of the former caravan park for the purpose of a future modern tourist site.

The City’s Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan has identified that this site may be vulnerable to coastal hazards within the next 100 years.  

Business case

The business case was prepared by the City’s consultant, Pracsys, and subsequently endorsed by Council in September 2020.  The business case identified two viable accommodation options on the site:

• Eco Retreat:  This option would offer a boutique eco-tent experience (also described as ecotourism).   
• Family Tourist Park:  This option describes a more traditional tourist park experience offering caravan sites and cabins.   

When the business case was endorsed by Council, the City was also authorised to conduct an expression of interest process to seek market-based interest from third party operators of the site under a lease.  The City was not proposing to develop or operate the site itself.

Expression of interest process

The EOI process was conducted in late 2021, and invited proposals for the development and operation of a low impact and environmentally sensitive tourism accommodation offering one or both of the following alternatives:

• The historical caravan park location (i.e. the original site of the former caravan park).
• An expanded footprint (with any expansion being to the extent reasonably required for the commercial viability of a development, while preserving the environmental value of the majority of natural vegetation).

The scope for the EOI had been developed with input from the Quinns Rocks Caravan Park Redevelopment Community Advisory Group in mid-2021. 

Two submissions were received and considered by Council. 

Preferred proposal

In July 2022, Council identified a preferred proposal, involving an ecotourism accommodation, café and event space proposal.  This proposal is contained within the original footprint of the former caravan park site and involves a ‘light touch’ development.

Council also requested engagement with the community to provide information on the proposal and seek feedback on the proposal and other land use options for the site. 

Community responses will inform the Council decision about the next steps in the project and whether to progress discussions with the proponent or explore other options for the site.

Community engagement

Community engagement has been an ongoing throughout this project. Information on previous project consultation was outlined in the September 2020 report to Council, with the consultation including:

• community workshops during October-December 2018 to consider constraints of development by identifying community values. The workshops were structured to capture feedback from environmental groups, local residents and wider City residents and ratepayers
• industry consultation during mid-2019
• a community survey in late 2019 (concluding early 2020) seeking community and business input. The survey targeted the key themes of importance, which had been identified in the community workshops conducted in 2018 and during the industry consultation in 2019.

Updates have also been shared at regular intervals on this page.