THE famed El Caballo Blanco resort in Wundowie is about to get a new lease of life after being purchased by Perth entrepreneur Paul Hanna.

El Caballo was first established in 1974 by businessman Ray Williams and operated as an Andalusian horse theme park and resort until 1995.

During its peak in the 1970s and 80s the resort attracted around 250,000 visitors per year and was a major tourist attraction famous for its daily Spanish dancing horse shows and Spanish-influenced architecture.

Key facilities developed on the El Caballo site at that time included a 4000-seat equestrian arena and amphitheatre, a hotel with function rooms, motel units, restaurants, a swimming pool and tennis courts.

The property changed ownership in 2020 and was briefly earmarked for an Aboriginal community housing and training facility but that plan did not proceed and the site has remained largely disused.

In a recent application to the Shire of Northam Mr Hanna, who also owns the Club Hotel in Southern Cross and the Goldfields Brewing Company, made a deputation at the March 25 council meeting.

At the meeting, Mr Hanna who is also the executive chairman of NuFortune Group which recently bought the Radio Gold Mine site 44km northwest of Southern Cross, shared some history about how the resort came to his attention before reaching an agreement on it on December 29, 2025.

Mr Hanna said his aim was to totally renew the existing central building but keep the existing Spanish theme and architecture.

“We would keep the wedding hall and seek more rooms to up the accommodation capacity from the existing 40 units,” Mr Hanna aid.

He also wanted to revitalise the wellness centre with spa and sauna offerings.

Mr Hanna also talked about having a garden centre as hydroponics were reportedly a major tourist draw in the Middle East and although not very big in WA now, he believed there was a market for it in WA.

Mr Hanna is seeking to rezone lot 721 on deposited plan 422252, known as El Caballo Resort at 3349 Great Eastern Highway, Wundowie, from the current tourist zone to a special use zone.

This rezoning would implement council’s recently endorsed local planning strategy (August 2024) by identifying the site for special use, allowing a tailored mix of permissible land uses including light industry, a garden centre and tourist and visitor accommodation.

The amendment focused on site-specific changes without altering broader scheme provisions related to the tourist zone, which would be addressed in a future omnibus amendment.

When councillor Attila Mencshelyi asked about Mr Hanna’s light industrial proposal in terms of the enterprises he wanted to include, Mr Hanna said one of them was an ‘innovation hub’.

He said this would involve producing hemp manufacturing blocks and all things made out of hemp.

Mr Hanna went on to talk about hemp’s utility in limestone manufacturing processes and said he had communications with the president of the French hemp society to discuss its benefits and its place in WA.

At the meeting, the council decided to pass the motion to amend their local planning scheme 6.

This modification would involve the rezoning of lot 721 and the golf course access leg portion of lot 722 from a tourist zone to special use zone 14.

It would also rezone a portion of lot 722 from special use zone 10 to 14.

The special use framework would enable a customised set of permissible uses and development standards to be applied, aligning with the site’s context and future development vision while protecting adjacent amenity.