New owners move forward with Lindeman Island resort development

The redevelopment of Lindeman Island in the Whitsundays into an integrated resort is set to move forward with the Queensland Government giving the proposal ‘co-ordinated project’ status.

White Horse Australia Lindeman is now waiting for environmental approval for its proposed $600 million resort, on the cyclone battered island.

The former Club Med resort on the island closed in January 2012 after suffering damage from Tropical Cyclone Yasi. Whitehorse Australia, a subsidiary of Chinese advertising and media group Whitehorse and represented by William Han, purchased the resort lease for $12 million the following April.

Whitehorse propose a $600 million redevelopment of Lindeman Island to include 335 suites and villas across five resort precincts including a six-star spa resort and a five-star resort, a central village a four-hole golf course and a 50-berth marina.

Queensland Development Minister Anthony Lynham said it was an important step, stating “this marks the beginning of a process, including comprehensive environmental impact assessment, towards a development that could create more than 800 construction jobs a year over a four-year construction period.

"When the resort is in full swing, it could maintain 300 ongoing operational jobs."

Last month, White Horse Australia Chief Executive Paul Nyholt explained “the old resort is going to be demolished and we're going to build one new beachfront resort in that location and two smaller boutique resorts in other locations on the island.

"Tourism's a very competitive market, so we've been very careful with how we've planned what we're going to be doing on the island.

"We're looking at a minimum of five stars for the beachfront resort and the two other resorts will be a notch above that."

Dr Lynham said due to the island being within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area the Environmental Impact Statement process would be subject to detailed scrutiny and full public consultation.

The EIS process is likely to take at least 18 months.

Image shows Lindeman Island's Club Med in operation.

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