Hopes to begin construction on a $600m film studio in Coffs Harbour are unlikely to be realised in 2024 due to protracted negotiations around a noise wall.
Construction of a bypass project has compulsorily acquired land from the Pacific Bay Resort Studios & Village. Since the announcement of the ambitious studios in 2021 by Russell Crowe, resort owner Peter Montgomery and producer Keith Rodger, bypass development has opened up future sound problems.
Studio owners are hoping a 8km noise wall being built in the area can be extended to include the 500m area impacting the planned studios. A tree-line which provided natural sound barrier has also been partly removed.
Gurmesh Singh, Deputy Leader of NSW Nationals and the Member for Coffs Harbour, told TV Tonight during the Australian Children’s Content Summit, organisers were still waiting on the NSW Government.
“Unfortunately, we’re still waiting on Transport for New South Wales to provide some clarity around the noise wall that form will form part of the bypass project. One of Minister John Graham’s other portfolios is Roads, so we were able to take him up there and show him, from an on-the-ground perspective, exactly what’s required to progress this project forward,” he said.
“Obviously, all sides of politics -it doesn’t matter what team you’re on- are all for this project. But it’s about ‘How do we take the next couple of steps to continue it forward?’ I know the project team are obviously very excited to move forward, and the community is eagerly awaiting a new industry like this to come into town.
“I think we see what happens here when we’ve got one business like SLR Productions. Just having one business here has been able to bring this Content Summit together for two years in a row. Having the entire industry here will do amazing things, not just for Coffs Harbour, but the whole North Coast.”
In 2021 Russell Crowe anticipated the Studios could be operational between 3-5 years, but the bypass is set to be completed in late 2027 when organisers fear they will be invited to lodge a Development Application.
But the planning and funding of the wall is yet to be agreed, and without it the Studios’ future remains in jeopardy.
“That seems to be the main sticking point for the project at the moment, because it is on Transport for New South Wales land,” Singh continued. “It’s unfeasible for the studios to be doing it on their land. The wall would have to be much, much higher and bigger. The least impactful way would be for it to be on the bypass land itself.
“Transport for New South Wales, who are constructing the bypass, have got to come to the table a little bit and do the right thing by the Coffs Harbour community when it comes to this noise wall, so that we can bring this industry to Coffs Harbour.”
.@AngelaBishop catches up with @russellcrowe after announcing a new movie studio to be built in Coffs Harbour, NSW! #Studio10 pic.twitter.com/RnyDUEl8UA
— Studio 10 (@Studio10au) June 16, 2021
links to content on ABC
TV Tonight
