King Island has become a must visit destination for lovers of golf and a $1.4 million development of luxury accommodation is set to boost its reputation even more.
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Project director Sam Guidice said while there is already high quality accommodation at King Island ‘Ettrick Rocks’ would be something a bit different. The facility will be located right on the ocean with spectacular views.
“We want it to have a lot of glass which is quite unusual for King Island, especially facing west because of the high winds, but we’re doing a high quality combination so hopefully people will almost get a front seat view to all of the dynamics of the ocean while they are having a very comfortable stay,” he said.
“We’re talking about almost 80 per cent of the property, in terms of the north, west and part of the south, being all glass and when you’re standing in front of it you can see the waves crashing into the rocks and you almost become hypnotised just from the variations of the way that the waves hit the rocks.”
All the contractors for the project, including the architect, are Tasmanian and Mr Guidice said it was his goal to make sure the development had a distinctly Tasmanian flavour.
Quotes from builders are being finalised and construction is expected to start before the end of the year, with the first stage to consist of two or three units with two more to follow. “We’re very much trying to get this started as soon as possible and over the next two years we’ll hopefully have most of it completed,” Mr Guidice said.
He said the name, ‘Ettrick Rocks’, is inspired by the river adjacent to the property. The project was recently boosted by $200,000 in state government funding under the Regional Revival Fund, and is expected to created four jobs during construction and three ongoing positions.
King Island mayor Duncan McFie said the development was welcomed by the community, with tourist accommodation a major pressure.
“We are experiencing the most significant investment growth that the island has ever seen and golf clearly had been the catalyst for this but there are other businesses that are firing up on the back of it,” he said.
Councillor McFie said Cape Wickham Golf, which is ranked third best in Australia, was expecting 5000 visitors during the next four to five months. “It is developments like Ettrick that are going to help solve [accommodation pressures] and to diversify what we have in terms of accommodation here,” he said.