MY GEELONG DRAGON QUEST
NEW LIFE, or fire, has been breathed into a local lawyer’s push for a waterfront sea dragon.
Former tourism board director Andrew Senia first called for a waterfront tourism drawcard back in 2012 when he launched a competition for engineers to develop a unique attraction.
A model of the winning entry — a tall water feature with energy-generating wind turbines — has been sitting in Mr Senia’s garage ... until now.
Mr Senia says the State Government must invest in the sea dragon to put Geelong on the map and attract thousands of international and local visitors to the waterfront. He said the feature would cost around $3 million to create and would pay for itself within a few years.
“The sea dragon is non-political. The Labor premier of Victoria has seen it and the Liberal state member for Geelong has seen it,” Mr Senia said.
“There are very few northfacing waterfronts in Australia. We need to capitalise on what is unique to Geelong and revitalise the waterfront.”
The waterfront’s prosperity has been brought into the spotlight in recent months, with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy confirming Mr Katos would hold the Geelong port- folio in a Coalition government, focusing on overseeing a 5km beachside regeneration project.
Mr Katos said a Coalition state government would investigate Mr Senia’s “quirky” idea.
“I would be interested in looking into if it we came into government. It’s something interesting to put on the waterfront,” Mr Katos said.
“You need to stand out from the crowd to attract tourists.”
Mr Senia’s planned sea dragon would have seven masts and nine wind turbines to transfer available wind energy. A rotating barrel would make contact with the water, drawing water up and over the structure in a wavelike motion.
Mr Senia said the sculpture would sit on a floating pontoon and be non-polluting, transportable and unique.
It could also possibly generate enough energy to power a number of CBD streets.
Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine acting executive director Brett Ince said the organisation was always looking for initiatives to further capitalise on Geelong’s natural features.
He said the board had to ensure that tourist attractions did not restrict the city’s ability to host large-scale international events.
Mr Ince said he believed both public and private investment was needed for any major waterfront features.