Byron’s Sunseeker Motel is set for a $2.3 million development, including the construction of a new two-storey accommodation block that will provide holiday accommodation for up to 40 additional people.
Located at 96–100 Bangalow Road, the Sunseeker was a classic 1980s brick motel that was turned into a 41-room, nine-cabin hotel by new owners in the early 2020s.
Further changes are now afoot with a development application (DA) recently on public exhibition with Byron Council.
According to the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) accompanying the DA, the project will involve the removal of eight trees (including four natives) to facilitate the construction of the new 8.35-metre-high accommodation block.
The new building will have a gross floor area of 435.8 square metres, including eight new rooms on the ground flood and six rooms on the top floor.
Fourteen new car spaces will be built to service the new building, and the owners will also add outdoor seating, a central courtyard and play equipment.
New 1.8m boundary fences would be added on Bangalow Road and Oakland Court which exceed the fence height limit for this part of the Shire, though the SEE says this would improve privacy and have no adverse impacts on the surrounding area.
The new addition seeks to ‘cultivate a sense of warmth and personality, reinforcing the Sunseeker’s distinctive “home-away-from-home” experience’.
‘The aim is for this addition to the Sunseeker to become an evolution of an enduring hospitality experience, offering guests a place of comfort, character, and connection within Byron Bay’s unique cultural and natural landscape.’
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