Westin hotel’s 10-storey tower plan faces new delay

The latest planning application from the owners of The Westin for a new 10-storey hotel tower with 234 guest rooms and other facilities at the beachfront site has been postponed.

Instead of being heard as scheduled on Wednesday, 21 June, the $153 million plan will be presented to the Central Planning Authority at a later date at the request of the applicant.

This is the second application from Invincible Investment Corporation for a major expansion of the hotel on West Bay Road after the planning board rejected a similar proposal in 2020.

The latest plan details the large hotel block, which will include a restaurant, lounge bar, wellness facilities, roof-top bar and lounge with landscaped pool and deck.

It also includes a new conference facility and ballroom which will be built along with the tower on the Crown-owned 8.6-acre site on Seven Mile Beach.

The owners hope to convert an existing building to use as meeting rooms, a banquet kitchen, back of house services and a kids’ club, and add two guest swimming pools.

The application was first presented on 12 Oct. last year, but the authority adjourned it at the time so the applicant could provide a traffic impact assessment.

It was presented again with the completed assessment on 15 March this year and a date of 21 June was set for consideration.

The existing Westin resort, built between 1994 and 1999, includes a five-storey hotel with 343 guest rooms, a pool, a spa facility, meeting and conference space and two restaurants.

It was previously the site of the Galleon Beach Resort which was demolished between 1971 and 1994.

Environmental concerns

In her analysis in the meeting agenda, Gina Ebanks-Petrie, director of the Department of Environment, said the development does not require an environmental impact assessment.

However, she highlighted “possible adverse impacts of the proposal” and recommended conditions to minimise those effects.

The site is located on a sea turtle nesting beach, located about 253 foot from a proposed Critical Habitat under the Draft Conservation Plan for Sea Turtles (2019).

All marine turtle species are also listed in the National Conservation Act as being protected at all times, Ebanks-Petrie said.

“There are currently adverse impacts from the existing resort to nesting and hatchling sea turtles from the artificial lighting which directly illuminates the nesting beach,” she wrote.

The director added that the new building would likely amplify the impact of artificial lighting.

“We recommend that any exterior lighting which may be visible from the beach and forms a part of this proposal is turtle friendly,” she said.

Ebanks-Petrie went on to say the proposed development is likely to contribute to and be affected by climate change.

“We are not aware of any climate-resilient design features or alternative forms of energy being proposed with this application,” she said.

“However, the DoE recommends that, wherever possible, sustainable design features are included in large-scale development projects such as this.”

Another concern was the negative impact of construction debris on the nearby marine protected area which could be mitigated by adopting best management practices.

The impact of removing sand reserves, which are important to the resilience of the beach system and replenish the beach after storms, was a further environmental worry.

“We recommend that any excavated sand is kept on-site and placed landward of the high-water mark to retain sand reserves and create depth in the beach profile,” the director said.

In its response to the Department of Environment, the applicant agreed to all of the recommendations.

Two letters of objection from Meow Ltd, leaseholder of The Falls commercial retail centre and residential apartments on West Bay Road, were presented against the application.

However, the 21 Sept. 2022 and 7 June 2023 documents were not attached to the agenda for public viewing.