BOHLE WATER PARK PLAN
Local doctor’s $ 6m idea to beat heat with family recreation
A WATER park with pools and slides on the Bohle Plains will be just the tonic for people to beat the heat, according to a Townsville doctor planning the venture.
David Magwenjere operates the Towers Family Health Clinic but soon could be the maestro of the Acacia Waterpark, which is being planned for a site off Hervey Range Rd, about 2km from Willows Shopping Centre.
“I’ve got three teenagers in Brisbane and the reason they left Townsville is because there is nothing for them here,” Dr Magwenjere said.
“Somewhere people can go into the water safely, I think will be popular not only for children but everybody.”
Dr Magwenjere said he had an agreement to buy about 8ha of land for the waterpark and had two internationally recognised companies vying to design and construct the facility.
He said he had also been in preliminary discussions with Townsville City Council.
Dr Magwenjere hopes to be in a position to lodge a development application with the council in the next month or so.
He said the group was looking at a development cost of about $ 6 million.
“It will be big. We are trying to use as much of the land as possible,” Dr Magwenjere said.
“We are looking at one main pool for about 250 people, two pools for children of different age groups, a few water slides, coffee shop, barbecue area, picnic area. It’s difficult to say without the design ( completed).”
While other water park ventures have come and gone in the past, Dr Magwenjere said his group had undertaken due diligence and found the project economically viable.
Finding private land close to the city had been key, he said.
Townsville Deputy Mayor and planning chairman Les Walker said the council would look at any proposal on its merits but added that he was a “big fan of water theme parks”.
“I think a water theme park in Townsville would be great,” Cr Walker said.
He said the council’s 2020 Vision plan included a water lagoon off the Strand and that world renowned lagoon designer Crystal Lagoons was “very aware” of what the council would like to see happen.
Dr Magwenjere said he hoped to have Acacia Waterpark operating by mid- 2019.
IT WILL BE BIG. WE ARE TRYING TO USE AS MUCH OF THE LAND AS POSSIBLE DR DAVID MAGWENJERE