Debate heats up as state intervention overrides local planning process
By Sonia Isaacs
A PROPOSED ministerial call-in for the Comiskey Group’s 150-hectare festival site at Coochin Creek has ignited political tension and divided community opinion on the Sunshine Coast, with concerns raised over planning integrity and proper process.
The site, known as Coochin Fields, is earmarked for large-scale music festivals and outdoor events.
However, the project has already drawn scrutiny from the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA), which found the development application failed to adequately meet several key benchmarks under the Planning Regulation 2017.
SARA concluded the application was “not supported”.
Sunshine Coast Division 1 Councillor Jenny Broderick has queried the proposed ministerial intervention, calling it a move that bypasses due planning process and disrespects local governance.
“It’s pulled the rug out from under our feet,” Cr Broderick said.
“I’m disappointed by the proposed move, which has denied the right for Council process to take place.”
The landowner, Coochin Creek Property Pty Ltd—represented by Connor O’Meara Solicitors—had launched proceedings in the Planning and Environment Court in a bid to clarify the development’s legal standing but withdrew the case in April 2025.
Caloundra MP Kendall Morton welcomed public consultation and said the project could provide significant economic and tourism benefits for the region.
“The proposed call-in site is subject to community consultation,” Ms Morton said.
“It’s a great opportunity to balance private investment with what works best for the region.”
She cited the success of the Comiskey Group’s Sandstone Point Hotel as a positive precedent.
“There are many local residents who travel all the way to Sandstone Point for that experience,” she said.
“We should be asking our community if we want something like that right here.”
Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie confirmed he had met with Mayor Rosanna Natoli and indicated strong state interest in the Comiskey projects, which include a tourist park and the Coochin Fields venue.
“This government is very much focused on a 20-year tourism plan,” Mr Bleijie said.
“If I decide to call these projects in, there will still be an impact assessment and normal process of community consultation.”
With an estimated $10–$15bn in government investment earmarked for the Sunshine Coast over the next seven years, the Minister said the time was right to “get excited about what can be built for tourism—particularly eco-tourism—in the hinterland”.
But the Sunshine Coast Environment Council’s (SCEC), Narelle McCarthy, said she was deeply concerned about the call-in.
Ms McCarthy called the call-in “unprecedented” and said it was “undermining the integrity of Queensland’s planning and environmental frameworks”.
“Overriding his own agency’s comprehensive assessment which found significant non-compliance with state interests and provisions to the point of not supporting the application, is in stark contrast to exercising such powers ‘only in exceptional circumstances’ as required under the Act,” she said.
“These proposed call-ins in quick succession to sideline assessments by appropriate authorities ignores the public interest and escalates the risks to the sensitive environments and ecological values of the Pumicestone Passage and catchment, including the critical inter-urban break.”
She continued, “The Minister should be mindful the developer has also unacceptably not referred the application for assessment under federal environment laws given its considerable impacts on values of national significance.”
“This clearly demonstrates the development does not stack up at local, regional, state nor national levels.”
