By Sonia Isaacs
A multi-million dollar bid to build a major music festival site on the Sunshine Coast has hit a significant roadblock, with Queensland’s State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) declaring it does not support the controversial proposal.
The Comiskey Group’s ambitious Coochin Fields project at Roys Road, Coochin Creek—slated to host up to six large-scale events annually—was formally referred to SARA on March 13. But in a decisive advice notice issued on April 22, the agency found the proposal had “not adequately demonstrated compliance” with key provisions of the Planning Regulation 2017.
Central to SARA’s rejection is the site’s position within the South East Queensland Northern Inter-Urban Break (NIUB)—a protected environmental and planning buffer zone established under the SEQ Regional Plan 2023 (ShapingSEQ). The agency said the developers failed to prove why the project needed to be situated within this sensitive area or how it met thresholds for overriding public interest.
“While SARA notes that the scale of the proposed development requires a large site, the locational requirements or environmental impacts … need to be addressed,” the agency stated.
The proposal, lodged as a Material Change of Use for Outdoor Sport and Recreation, was assessed across multiple state interest triggers, including transport infrastructure and land-use conflict risks in the NIUB.
Adding to the complications, Comiskey Group had previously launched—and since withdrawn—an appeal against the Sunshine Coast Council over alleged miscategorisation of the application.
On the same day the SARA notice (April 22, 2025) was released, Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Jarrod Bleijie issued a rare ministerial “call-in” proposal for a separate Comiskey application—also at Roys Road—relating to the expansion of an existing Coochin Creek Tourist permit. The proposed 150 site tourist accommodation borders the Ramsar-listed Pumicestone Passage and lies within protected zones under the ShapingSEQ 2023 regional plan, including the Moreton Bay–Sunshine Coast Northern Inter-Urban Break and the Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area.
A spokesperson for Minister Bleijie said the proposed call-in reflects the need for closer scrutiny of the development’s implications for state interests. “The proposed call-in notice has been issued to seek further detail on the potential development impacts relating to Queensland Government state interests,” the spokesperson said.