Does This Sound Familiar?

A quiet, low-rise coastal village. Tree-lined streets. A foreshore where the beach is the hero — not the backdrop to someone's investment portfolio. A place people come to for the feeling of somewhere that hasn't been swallowed by overdevelopment.

That's Palm Cove. But it's also how Hervey Bay used to be described.

This week, after nearly two years of legal battles and sustained community campaigning, a twin-tower Sheraton resort on Hervey Bay's Esplanade cleared its final legal hurdle.

The original proposal: twin 21-storey towers in an area zoned for six storeys. The community fought hard — and won concessions. The towers were reduced to 16 and 12 storeys. Still more than twice the height of any existing building in town. The skyline of Hervey Bay is changed. Permanently.

Now look at Palm Cove.

If you think the animated video of Palm Cove below cannot be our future, think again.

The developer of Lot 100 (33–41 Cedar Road) is currently before the Land and Environment Court, appealing Cairns Regional Council's refusal of their proposal — a development that similarly conflicts with the low-rise, village character our community overwhelmingly wants to protect.

Council is defending that refusal, supported by over 3,000 community members who made their voices heard loud and clear during the public notification. Palm Cove Alliance stands firmly behind Council in that defence. Unlike at Hervey Bay, the fate/future of our village is not yet written.

The pressures are familiar. The developer playbook is the same. And without organised, persistent advocacy, the outcome can be too.

95% of our community has spoken: preserve the village character of Palm Cove.

That's not a fringe view. That's a mandate.

Images credited to: Agnes Water & 1770 What's on in Aggies Post