Rail yards join CBD renewal

THE land surrounding the North Yards railway workshops in Townsville’s city centre mostly has been regarded as a great opportunity for something down the track.

In saying this, there is no denying the need for renewal in the area.

Indeed, the old blacksmiths workshops look like they could well disappear in the next big blow if something is not done to preserve them.

But there is a lot of land in the CBD in great need of re- use and renewal and the railway workshops are very much on the periphery.

So it is heartening, if not surprising, to learn that dozens of companies have expressed an interest in putting forward plans for use of the site.

It comes after Townsville City Council opened expressions of interest for a project partner to masterplan and develop the site.

The North Yards railway workshops includes about 4ha of land fronting Ross Creek and Flinders St.

Its use as workshops, which were closed in 1990, dates back to the 1880s.

The council’s planning chairman, Les Walker, says the rail yards present an exciting opportunity for urban renewal and that the council wants to see the most imaginative and innovative proposals possible.

The area is also within the Waterfront Priority Development Area meant to encourage development through planning certainty but which has seen few proposals to approve.

But it seems the development of the North Queensland Stadium, now under construction on the opposite bank of Ross Creek, the proposal for a new DoubleTree hotel beside the stadium and the development of open public space and walkways in Central Park is changing that. This is welcome news for the CBD. The stadium was meant to be a catalyst for renewal in the city.

Now it is just over a year away from completion, that wider renewal is certainly well in sight.