Councillors warn about cruise cost

COUNCILLORS are warning against “throwing away coin” on more studies for the oceanside cruise ship terminal (CST) as they begin meeting in special budget sessions.

William Owen-Jones and Glenn Tozer are inviting ratepayers to discuss other potential projects.

Cr Owen-Jones posted on his Facebook page that the CST was a complex project because it would need to be built in the ocean, it required a multi-layered approval process and an estimated capital cost of almost $470 million.

Council officers had previously recommended a further $8.4 million would need to be budgeted across three financial years in order to finish the “project development phase”.

“In my opinion, that’s an awful lot of coin that would be need to be invested in order to get something shovel ready, while still not having a clear line of support for the project from the current State Government or the State Opposition,” Cr Owen-Jones wrote.

Cr Tozer has written to residents appealing for them to put forward other projects worthy of funding.

“I remain focused on better ideas than this one to drive the city forward economically in the coming decade,” he wrote.

The Bulletin approached other councillors about whether they supported more funds being spent on the CST and most believe there needs to be first some direction from the government.