Patricia Gill, Denmark Bulletin

Shire councillor Aaron Wiggins described the approval of 15 tiny cabins on Raintree Estate as ‘too many compromises’ without getting the best result for the community.

Cr Wiggins moved the motion to approve the development ‘en bloc’ of five separate lots, at the June 24 Denmark Shire Council meeting.

Though he moved the motion, he was against it.

The proposal would increase the value of each individual lot under consideration beyond viable agricultural use for future generations making tourism not agriculture the primary source of income.

This was despite tourism occupying less land than agriculture on the 366ha property and decisions made in the management of the five lots would be tourism first and agriculture second.

Cr Jackie Ormsby agreed with Cr Wiggins saying the development application had been designed and configured to get around the rules.

Cr Wiggins said the cabins would become permanent, listing road upgrades and traffic considerations to access the chalets, the waiving of a 10-year rule to remove the cabins and the use of reticulated water for the buildings.

During public question time Heyscape head Tim Brady said the company had 25 cabins in the South West.

The Raintree Estate proposal coupled with agritourism from the Birkbeck family had attracted international media attention and from Tourism WA.

The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions national parks nature-based team was also interested.

The purchase of a fleet of electric bikes to use on the surrounding trails had the capacity to divert traffic away from Greens Pool during the peak tourism season.

A trial of three cabins which were installed for six months on Raintree Estate had proven to be viable financially.

There had been concern that the location of Raintree Estate away from the metropolitan area would be a ‘bridge too far’ as had been the case in an Esperance project.

In Esperance the cabins had not made money with a 45 per cent occupancy rate.

At the start of the meeting, Cr Nathan Devenport, who owns Monkey Rock Mountain Bike Company, said he had supplied a quote that depended on the outcome of Raintree Estate proposal.

He was absent during the debate.

Cr Clare Campbell believed the development would be ‘done extremely well’ and would not impact on the agricultural operations on the property.

“It’s important that rural landholders have opportunities to diversify their income,” she said.

In summing up, shire president Kingsley Gibson said he shared a lot of the concerns that Cr Wiggins and Cr Ormsby had raised.

Some councillors believed this was the pointy end of what might come in future.

“As a former farmer of 600-odd hectare property, I couldn’t farm the way I would like to if I had that many tourist accommodation units on my property.”

He said the application had been designed to fit around the rules but ‘they are our rules’.

“How do we say no?” he said.

“The chalets are scattered throughout the landscape so they don’t necessarily cause conflict.

“It’s not something we are likely to see again rapidly or often but we can’t say for certain that this will be a one-off.”

Cr Gibson said that fundamentally the application complied with the rules and the exceptions that had been granted were reasonable.

“It is based on the intent of our policy documents so I don’t feel there are any grounds to say no,” he said.

A late submission from a neighbour farmer raised concerns regarding fire management, potential for trespass and erosion and noise.

There was also concern rural operations would inconvenience guests.

But at the time of booking, guests will be informed to respect private property, they will be reminded that accommodation is located in an active farming area and there will be farm noise from time to time.

This article appeared in Denmark Bulletin, 10 July 2025.
Related story: Tiny cabins next big thing