Waterfront promenade planned
PORT TO LINK UP WITH CBD
REDEVELOPMENT of the breakwater terminal, Reef HQ and the Maritime Museum will be some of the first developments to occur in the Townsville Waterfront Priority Development Area.
The redevelopments will likely include a waterfront promenade linking the museum to the Flinders St East car park, completing a key missing link of walkways on the banks of Ross Creek.
The State Government, Townsville City Council and Port of Townsville are forming an ownership entity to begin releasing land for development over the next year.
Port chief executive Ranee Crosby said a lot of the port’s sites would be the first to be redeveloped, including the museum, Reef HQ and the breakwater terminal.
“We’ve got a lot of existing users in the area and all the major tourism facilities are on the land,” she said.
“There’s already been a lot of interest from the existing operators as well as new developers to come into the precinct, and we’ll be seeing that activity pretty soon.
“Once the development scheme for the area is in place in November, it gives us the chance to go forward.”
Ms Crosby also raised the prospect of the CBD having its very own ferry system, with multiple wharves on Ross Creek including where the current Flinders St East carpark is situated.
“The long- term vision is to be able to jump straight off a cruise ship, walk straight into the marine- based tourism ac- tivities, shop and dine on the waterfront and then jump straight on a ferry linking you back into the Flinders St shopping district,” Ms Crosby said.
“There’s lots of great waterfront options that have happened in port cities around the world. In Australia some are pretty familiar around Docklands ( in Melbourne), Cairns and Newcastle. We would be looking at something similar but something that has a tropical feel.”
Townsville City Council has budgeted $ 22 million for the next nine years on CBD initiatives, with a significant portion to go towards building the waterfront promenade, estimated to cost a total of about $ 130 million.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her