For sale: 9Beaches cabanas

FRIDAY, AUGUST 26: Need a new tool shed? The 9Beaches resort in Somerset could be the unlikely place to find a bargain.

Canvas huts that started life as exotic beachside cabanas at the west-end eco-resort are now being sold off for peanuts to be used as storage sheds.

Punters can cart off the entire structure, complete with canvas roof, wooden floor and even a bathroom toilet and sink, for around $3,000 — roughly the same price as a two-week stay for two at the resort.

Surplus

Around 20 of the cabanas — deemed surplus to requirements as the resort plans a major redevelopment — have been sold so far.

David Dodwell Snr, who owns the resort, said most people were taking them to use for storage.

In theory the cabanas could be used as tiny homes, although this would require ‘change of use’ planning permission.

The 9 Beaches resort is temporarily closed with work expected to start on an $80m redevelopment in the near future.

The iconic stilted cabanas, which tower over the turquoise water of the coastal coves at the coastal coves at the Daniel’s Head peninsula, will be retained as part of the redesign.

Around 50 of the land based structures are not part of the new plans.

Mr Dodwell said: “There are a number that aren’t going to be retained and some of those have been sold to people for outdoor sheds.

Negotiations

‘“We disconnect the plumbing and the electricity and they are responsible for moving them.

“Furniture is not included but we’re not charging a lot – a few thousand bucks.”

The 9Beaches resort has been closed since May 2010 amid protracted negotiations over the development plan and the lease of public land at Daniel’s Head.

A 240-year lease agreement was approved by the Senate in May and it is understood that work could begin this year with an opening date penciled in for early 2013.

The redevelopment will include a mix of residential and tourism ‘units’.