Will Broome Become Our Next Noosa?

Will Broome Become Our Next Noosa?

The Sunday Age

Sunday June 3, 2001

LISA KEARNS

HOLIDAYS taken at isolated, paradisiacal beaches are an established part of white Australian mythology. The popularity of destinations like Surfers Paradise and Noosa, particularly beloved by Victorians longing for winter sun, has led property developers to scan our coastlines for the ``next Noosa".

Kim Lowman, of Melbourne-based architect firm Rothe Lowman, believes Broome, in Western Australia, is set to tap into that dream. As architect and project manager of only the second large-scale resort development in Broome, Cable Beach Sanctuary, Lowman believes the town is set to boom as a winter-holiday destination while retaining its pristine environmental features.

``I don't think (Broome) ever will be Noosa and I don't think we want that," he said. ``It couldn't get that built up - it's too isolated.

``It is the last frontier; it's where the desert meets the water. You've got that wonderful red earth hitting the blue of the sky."

There is also Cable Beach itself - 22 kilometres of white, fine-grain sand and gentle surf. You can walk for miles and, most likely, see hardly a soul or sign of modern civilisation. The local council has a well-established policy on tourism and development with a strong environmental focus and is anti-high-rise development.

This helped Lowman, as architect for the project, to decide upon a modern interpretation of traditional Broome architecture.

``There's a play on red earth with some feature walls that cut through the buildings, there are traditional forms and rooflines using the Broome vernacular, which is corrugated iron and some masonry renders. We've kept interiors fairly minimal with reference to the Asian influence up there.

``We're going for Balinese-type comfort with a Zenian environment featuring minimalist detailing, enriched with deep timbers, and the softness and luxurious nature of that tropical environment."

With stage one of the $42 million development expected to be complete by early to mid next year, the resort will offer a range of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments and bungalows. Prices start at $134,000 for a studio up to $374,000 for a three-bedroom bungalow with two car parking spaces.

The resort will be built around a central lagoon with viewing gazebo along with the ``largest pool north of Perth", according to Lowman.

The development will also include a restaurant, pool bar and health spa to be operated by an international resort management company. Mr Lowman expects heads of agreement to be signed with the proposed operator this week.

The resort will include a mixture of residential and tourist accommodation, giving buyers the flexibility to live on site permanently, lease apartments year-round, or do a bit of both. While investors should check with their accountants, they generally claim reasonable costs associated with inspecting their property once a year, including airfares, some meals and accommodation.

Jeremy Fox, a director of R. T. Edgar who, along with Marshall White, will market the resort in Melbourne, said the development is a two-minute walk to Cable Beach, noting that land values have ``skyrocketed" in Broome.

According to the Valuer-General's office in Perth, land values in the area have increased by 70per cent in the six years to June 2000.

``(The resort) is right on the key beach. There are no other pieces of land of that size available which, from an investment point of view, is going to be a good long-term thing because you just can't get anything so close to the beach."

The agents are also hoping expatriates living in Asia will be interested in the resort as it is only a 45-minute plane trip from Bali to Broome's recently opened international airport.

Holiday sales to Broome have increased dramatically in recent years. The Western Australian Tourism Commission said Broome now accounted for about 50 per cent of package holiday destinations in Western Australia.