New look for Gumbuya

From p1 Business director Ron Weinzierl said the owners were excited to be developing Gumbuya Park into a world class destination for all ages.

He said the $50 million project would be staged over five years and provide a massive boost to employment from the current 24 to 500.

Stage one works will include the new wildlife area, water park, rides and family roller coasters, as well as cafes and a conference and function centre.

Mr Holdich said the water park was considered to be the “big ticket item” of the first stage works, with the flagship being the tallest water slide in Australia, standing at 19 metres tall.

And, aware of Gippsland’s climate, he said the one million cubic metres of water in the lazy river, family rock pools, aqua play areas and water slides would be heated.

With more than 160 hectares, Mr Holdich said the park provided huge potential for the owners to not only give existing facilities a major facelift but expand the property to an international attraction.

“We will be constantly evolving and developing the site,” he said.

Gumbuya World will feature seven zones with 54 attractions developed over the next five years.

Stages two and three will include an Aboriginal area to celebrate indigenous culture; an interactive Walk with the Dinosaurs robotic attraction; a woolshed featuring a 400-seat auditorium; accommodation including a bush resort with camping and cabins; and a retail zone featuring a chocolate factory, winery, micro-brewery and food.

Mr Holdich said they were extremely lucky to have Jayco Caravans founder Gerry Ryan as part of the syndicate of owners who he said provided “incredible experience and knowledge” to the project.

Providing jobs for local people affected by redundancies in the auto industry and Hazelwood Power will be a focus of employment.

“We want to help the local areas as much as possible. We are going to need a lot of people for customer service, maintenance and general management.

“If we can help the local community, which is one of the owners’ main aims, then we will do all that we can,” he said.

Gumbuya Park opened in 1978 and a syndicate of business people purchased the park for $4.65 million in September last year.

Plans have been unveiled for the $50 million Gumbuya Park redevelopment which includes a wildlife and animal zone, water zone, family amusements area and a function and park area.