Narooma is one of Canberra's favourite summer playgrounds but a newspaper headline last month suggesting billionaire Justin Hemmes thought the South Coast town could eventually "rival Noosa" struck fear into the heart of many who've enjoyed an old-school holiday there. But he's denied ever saying it.
Still, were the mum, dad and kids who booked a site at the Big 4 caravan park, went snorkelling at Bar Beach as the seals lolled on rocks across the way and had dinner at the club about to be priced out of their South Coast holiday as Narooma suddenly went upmarket?
Locals haven't discounted that concern entirely but one thing's for sure - they don't want to become a Noosa or Byron Bay.
"Narooma is Narooma and proud of what it is. Narooma doesn't need to be anything else," local real estate agent Ben Bate said.
Hemmes was not available for an interview with us - yet - but more than a few sources say he wasn't happy with the article in the Australian Financial Review, especially the headline "Why Justin Hemmes thinks tiny Narooma could rival Noosa" and the suggestion he was about to turn the town with its spectacular aquamarine waters on its head.
"He never said that and he's never even been to Noosa," lifelong Narooma resident Claudia Ferguson, 27, said.
(That was confirmed to us by the AFR journalist).
Claudia, until recently a reporter with the Narooma News, spoke with Hemmes last month about his investment in the town.
He was adamant he loved Narooma "as it is" and didn't have some grand masterplan - just wanted to invest in some additional accommodation and dining options
"I never compared Narooma to Noosa," Hemmes told the local paper.
Hemmes' company the Merivale Group bought the Quarterdeck bar and restaurant, overlooking the Wagonga Inlet, in March, its first venue outside of Sydney, and then, in June, bought The Whale Inn, a hotel and restaurant, in the heart of Narooma.
Last week, it opened the Queen Chow Narooma restaurant in the motel, "a fresh take on traditional Cantonese cuisine".
It follows on from Hemmes buying his own coastal property in Narooma in 2015, a bolthole from the city.
"Narooma has become my second home and the backdrop to many of my happiest memories with my family," he said, in a media release.
"It has been an absolute privilege to spend so much time here over the past six years and becoming part of the local business community is enormously exciting."
Narooma Chamber of Commerce and Tourism president Dr Jenny Munro said she can be "nothing but positive" about Hemmes' investment in Narooma, especially when it comes to fine dining.
"I've lived in Narooma for 45 years and the biggest complaints have been about people not being able to find good food or having to be out of restaurants by 7.30 or them not opening some nights at all," Dr Munro said.
"When I heard he [Hemmes] was coming to Narooma, I knew whatever he did would be respectful of the local community, and that's been borne out."
Dr Munro said she hoped the investment had flow-on effects to other local businesses and helped Narooma be a year-round attraction, not just a summer fling.
Ben Bate, meanwhile, says prices for homes and holiday lettings have increased in Narooma, but that's reflective of what was happening across regional Australia in the wake of COVID.
Mr Bate said while "every second person from Sydney we talk to mentions his name" - ie Hemmes - he says what's happening in Narooma was more a factor of COVID - people in Sydney and Canberra being forced to holiday in their own backyard and, in many cases, seek out a permanent seachange or treechange.
"Could you say he is the driving force for increasing prices? Probably not," Mr Bate said.
The take-home message for Canberrans is that they will have to compete more for their slice of Narooma, either permanent or for a holiday, as more Sydneysiders move into the market.
And Mr Bate said Hemmes was not alone in finding Narooma irresistible, with more developers interested in snapping up their piece of paradise.
He says the Hemmes investment has probably had a mixed reaction in the town.
"Some people are very excited about it and see great prospects and others are apprehensive about what it might or might not bring to the town," he said.
Claudia Ferguson knows local hospitality. Her parents owned the Pickled Octopus restaurant on Tuross Lake for almost 20 years and she knows what a hard slog hospitality can be in a seasonal, coastal town.
She says, in the end, Hemmes' and the other investment in Narooma might provide more job opportunities in the town for young people and more reason for them to stay when at the moment, it's all about summer and the rest of the year is dead.
"We can wait for months for one event to pop up," she said.
