Another local holiday accommodation operator is looking to cash in on the lucrative rural wedding market, this time in Coopers Shoot.
Late last month, the ultra-luxury Sun Ranch hotel submitted a development application to host a rural wedding centre on its 22-hectare property at 17 Byron Road.
The application, now on public exhibition via Council’s website, follows hot on the heels of a similar move by the owners of Bangalow’s Hinterland House.
The Hinterland House application was given consent last month, opening the way for it to host up to 20 weddings over the next 12 months.
The Sun Ranch owners have now made a similar request, seeking permission for a ‘temporary event centre’ that would also be capped at 20 events per annum and no more than one event each weekend.
150 guest cap
Guest numbers would also be capped at 150 people. However, unlike Hinterland House, whose location next to a cemetery saw it fall foul of some in the local community, the Sun Ranch application appears to have the support of its neighbours – at least according to the hotel’s owners.
‘All neighbours expressed their support for our application for a rural function centre,’ the owners of the Ranch said of their community consultation.
Sun Ranch promised that the function centre’s operations would adhere to sound regulations and ‘not disturb the community’.
Under the Byron Bay LEP, consent for a function centre development must not be granted on rural land unless Council is satisfied that it will not generate noise, traffic, parking, or light spill that will significantly impact on surrounding residential areas.
Since introducing a Rural Weddings and Events strategy three years ago, just two rural properties have been granted permission to host weddings.
The Sun Ranch application will remain on public exhibition for a total of 30 days.
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