A hotel and pub on a popular tourist island has divided locals over plans to build a beer garden on state-owned land and permanently close a public road.
The Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel in Point Lookout, southeast Queensland, submitted a development application to Redland City Council in November.
The owners of the popular establishment plan to build an 83 m² terrace, a 90 m² beer garden and a 32 m² cold room, the courier mail information.
The extension would bypass 563 square meters of state-owned bushland that once formed part of a road to the coastal town but has not been used for 20 years.
The application also includes a request to permanently close a road reserve right next to the hotel, which is currently overgrown.
Locals argue that the reserved road leads to a parking lot and stairs to Cilindro Beach and provides a natural buffer between the beach and the hotel.
The reserve is also home to several resident koalas, goannas and native birds.
Residents are concerned that the proposed expansion will impact public land use and damage the natural environment surrounding the hotel.
Locals are divided over plans to expand the Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel (pictured)
The application includes a request to permanently close a road reservation next to the site.
The new application comes more than 20 years after the community successfully fought the hotel’s expansion plans in 2002.
The Queensland Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the previous offer did not comply with planning regulation or the criteria for a Development Control Plan.
The court ultimately ruled that the expansion could not be made beyond the existing boundaries of the land currently occupied by the hotel.
In response, the site’s owners revised plans and renovated the establishment in 2005 after reaching a compromise with the local community.
Two decades later, locals are again up in arms over a new proposal with many expressing their frustration on the ‘Save Straddie’ Facebook page.
“That road should be left for public access and as habitat for the animals that happily coexist there,” one woman wrote.
‘I have personally seen koalas, goannas, carpet pythons and a wide variety of birds including curlews, butcher birds and lorikeets, all of which live there despite the hotel’s huge volume of guests. I think the hotel already has enough land.
‘Straddie is a wonderful place for nature, why do they want to remove it? Visitors go there to see our special beautiful animals that can only be seen in Australia. The koala is already in danger due to overdevelopment,” said a second.
The latest expansion proposal (pictured) includes a terrace, an outdoor bar and a cold room.
Save Straddie has launched a petition protesting the plans and calling on locals to oppose the proposed closure of the road reserve.
Last month, the Queensland Government asked the community to make submissions to council about the road closure.
A decision on approving the development application has not yet been made.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel, Redland City Council and the Queensland Government for further comment.