A low-key weekend getaway in the hills overlooking Queensland’s Elbow Valley is looking to remake itself into a resort community featuring an 18-hole golf course.
These days, the Cherrabah Homestead Resort, located 80 miles southwest of Brisbane, ranks fairly low on the glamour scale. The 2,115-acre spread, sometimes described as a “bushland” resort, offers mostly natural attractions: hiking and biking trails in the wilderness, clean mountain air, views across the valley, and proximity to the area’s wineries and historic towns. Its guests, mostly people in search of affordable holidays in a relaxed atmosphere, share drinks in the resort’s “outback-style” bar, eat in one of two informal restaurants, and spend their nights in cabin-style motel units.
But Cherrabah’s owners didn’t buy the place for what it is. They bought it for what it could be.
Joyful View Garden Real Estate Co. Ltd, a Chinese group controlled by Nanguang Development Company, Ltd., believes Cherrabah has the potential to become the home of 2,000 permanent residents and an equal number of occasional visitors. It wants to build 934 housing units on its property, along with a 400-room, resort-style hotel, a conference center, a shopping area, and various recreational amenities, including the aforementioned golf course.
Joyful View bought Cherrabah in 2004. Local officials appear to support the company’s development plan, as they recently granted enough water rights to build at least a substantial part of what’s been put on the table.
This story originally appeared in the World Edition of the Golf Course Report, in a slightly different form. For a sample copy of the WorldEdition@aol.com.