Chronology (1983 to 2001)
1983 - Proposal put to Department of Land and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA).
1984 - Approvals in principle given by GBRMPA and the Townsville City Council (TCC).
1985 - Special investigation lease issued by Department of Lands to facilitate Impact Assessment Study required by State Government.
1986 - Impact Assessment Study released.
1987 - Application for GBRMPA permit for construction in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). Public Environment Report (PER) required by the Commonwealth Government.
Nelly Bay fringing reef zoned "General Use A".
1988 - May: First Public Environment Report released.
June: Aboriginal artefacts discovered on development site. Minister decided it was a "secondary" site, so artifacts should be collected and removed.
August: Second Public Environment Report released.
September: Special Lease issued by Department of Lands for development works.
October: Permit given by the GBRMPA and State Government allowing construction of marina in State and Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks. The GBRMPA concerned about breakwall construction; permit conditions included environmental safeguards such as the use of silt curtains, sheet piling, insurance to cover rehabilitation.
1989 – January: TCC rezoned Bright Point (the adjacent headland) to Tourist Facilities for hotel site.
March: Requests for a review of the GBRMPA's decision to grant the permit lodged with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).
TCC approved a Consent Use Application for a 230-room hotel and 16 home units on Bright Point (siteworks would provide rock for the marina breakwalls).
May: Appeal against TCC's Consent Use approval filed in the Local Government Court.
June: Review hearings began before the AAT.
July – August: Local Government Appeal was heard.
August: Installation of the sheetpiling began. The AAT ordered a Stay of Works, evidence was heard that the works were reversible, so the Stay of Works was dismissed.
September: Installation of breakwall continued with rock quarried from Cockle Bay.
October: Installation of "island" breakwall, second Stay of Works ordered by the AAT, evidence was heard and the stay dismissed. Developers and funding bank (Tricontinental) in financial trouble. Alderman Cathcart met with Judge Wylie and spoke to him privately about the appeal.
November: The Local Government appeal was dismissed.
December: Appeal lodged in Supreme Court on grounds of bias and misconduct on the part of the judge; quarrying of Bright Point for breakwall rock began.
1990 – January: Collapse of funding bank (Tricontinental) and Magnetic Quay equity partner Pac Prop (Interwest).
February: Breakwall joined, Bright Point extensively quarried;
Legal standing for objectors given by the AAT.
March: AAT appeal withdrawn, since the breakwall was complete and legal funding exhausted.
During the next few months unexpected and expensive engineering problems plagued the developers - particularly, the breakwall leaked badly.
May: Appeal heard in Supreme Court
August: Appeal dismissed;
Funding bank refused further loans; reason given: "The downside far outweighed the upside".
September: Construction site abandoned.
October: The GBRMPA permit expired.
December: Magnetic Keys Ltd was placed in receivership.
1992 - Special lease relinquished by developers.
1993 - Application by Lands Dept for new GBRMPA permit. State Government promises to obtain all permits and hand them over to anyone prepared to develop the site. Lands Dept called for Expressions of Interest in the project.
1994 - Selection of preferred developer – Nelly Bay Harbour Pty Ltd.
1995 - Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) required by Commonwealth Environmental Protection Agency. Management of the EIS and project taken over by the Coordinator General's Department. Draft EIS released in November for public comment, and the State Government received 256 submissions.
1997 - The State Government announced that it would pay developers $6 million for the public infrastructure once the project is completed. Project taken over by the Premier's Department.
1998 – April: Revised project design released for public comment; new NBH syndicate announced.
October: Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement released for public comment; over 650 submissions were received, mostly opposing the project.
1999 – March: The State Government released the Final EIS.
May: The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Australia (Commonwealth) released a joint Environment Assessment Report that includes recommendations to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
June: On 3 June, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority wrote to the proponents (the Department of Natural Resources/Department of State Development) asking them to provide more information within 60 days. The information requested included detailed design and engineer's drawings of the key elements of the proposal. In addition, baseline sampling, an analysis of water quality and a baseline coral survey was to be undertaken before any permits for construction could be considered.
August: In late August ,the GBRMPA gave the Department of Natural Resources/Department of State Development until 31 December 1999 to provide it with details about the proposed development at Nelly Bay.
2000 – January: On 14 January 2000, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority again decided to grant a permit allowing the dredging in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to form the harbour basin and provide sand/clay to construct reclaimed land on the State Marine Park. The present proposal is a canal estate-style residential/tourist accommodation development.
February: On 14 February 2000, the State permit was signed by Ian McPhail, Executive Director of Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. The permit was issued to the Department of Natural Resources on 1 March 2000.
March: On 3 March 2000, a spokesperson from the Department of State Development (facilitator for the project) verified that the permit would not be transferred to Nelly Bay Harbour Pty Ltd. He said that the Queensland Government had taken on the role of developer and, through a Deed of Agreement attached to the permit, had provided the necessary bonds and insurances, through a Deed of Agreement attached to the permit.
However, the various construction licences, permits and approvals required by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency would be issued to the preferred developer, Nelly Bay Harbour Pty Ltd.
August: The North Queensland Conservation Council appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to reconsider the decision of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to grant a permit allowing the dredging of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park for the construction of a canal estate development.
The AAT upheld the decision of the Authority. Work began on the site.