$100m project that will give this beachside community an impressive CBD
- By Peter Gordon
- •
- 02 Aug, 2022
Here is some great news for our clients who have purchased house & land packages in Hervey Bay. It's especially good news for those in Ocean Blue and Baylinks estates.
The plans for Hervey Bay’s future library and council administration centre have been revealed as part of a $100m project that will give the beachside community an impressive CBD. A new public plaza, library, council administration centre and community spaces are some key
features of the multimillion-dollar development.
Fraser Coast councillors endorsed the final concept designs at Wednesday’s council meeting at Toogoom, giving the green light for the plans to be released to the public. The redevelopment, to be built on the corner of Main St and Torquay Rd, will include a larger Hervey
Bay Library, and Council Administration Centre which incorporates a Disaster Resilience Centre.
According to a fact sheet released by the council, the new library will be the “major focus”of the development. It will be twice the size of the old library to “help cater” to the region’s growing population now and for decades to come. The new building will have five levels and 100 car parks, with the library extending over the ground floor and level one. There will be multi-use community spaces on level two, with levels three and four dedicated to the council staff.
The project received $40 million in funding from the Hinkler Regional Deal. According to a statement from the council, it will cost almost $100 million. During Wednesday's council meeting at Toogoom, councillor Denis Chapman said the project would bring everyone together, particularly in the council building, so staff can “work collaboratively”. “I feel this is a turning point for our community,” he said.
Mr Chapman highlighted the new library would be “the hub for libraries across the region”. He also said in a statement, in developing the council admin centre and library, council wanted to “create a building that sets the benchmark for business, investors and developers”. “The building design has the community at its core with an expanded library over two levels and flexible community spaces that could be used both day and night,” Mr Chapman said in a statement.
“A pedestrian link crosses through the site providing a new front door to the parklands in Pialba while a new public plaza will be created in Main Street and about 100 underground public car parks will be provided.”
While Mr Chapman said the “best day will be cutting the ribbon” for the project, he said on Wednesday he felt it was “sad” that “politics” got involved in the project. The huge project has been subject to controversy, with Maryborough MP Bruce Saunders dubbing the development the “Taj Mahal”, and estimating the cost would blowout to roughly $140m.
Councillor Jade Wellings said on Wednesday it would “provide enormous benefits” for the community. “I love the outdoor community plaza, and I can’t wait to see what happens there,” she said. She also said in a statement that Hervey Bay’s library “was only half the size it should be to meet Australian and Queensland library standards”. Ms Wellings said the new library and council admin centre would be a “community hub” to “support learning and innovation”. “By improving the library’s floor space and design, we can build on our programs, cater for our growing population and help improve education outcomes in our region,” she said in a statement.
In the same statement, councillor David Lee said the five levels of the building would be “designed to sit above a one-in-500 year flood”, having a total functional area of about 9000sq m. “This is about creating a social, economic and cultural heart in Hervey Bay,” he said. Cottee Parker Architects and Bloc Design prepared the concept design report for council, with the overall project managed by Savills. Construction of the Hervey Bay library and council administration centre is expected to start in 2023 and be finished by mid-2025.
Article courtesy The Courier Mail 28/7/22
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Sydneysiders and Melburnians, put aside your equally outstanding flat whites for a moment. Stop bickering about whether great beaches beat cool laneways (they do) and desist from debating whether all baristas require waxed moustaches (ideally).
Because Brisbane is closing in on the title of Australia’s best city, and we must join forces to keep this subtropical upstart in its place.
Time magazine recently named Brisvegas on its “World’s Greatest Places” list, and omitted our cities. It’s a huge shock (and who knew they still published Time magazine?). But they might be onto something.
Time points to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will be hosted in the maroon metropolis. Brisbane will do a fine job, even though it’ll baffle the world when rugby league is added to the schedule and Queensland is allowed to field its own team.
Time’s most radical claim is that Brisbane is worth visiting now, but tourism is surging. Not only did Lin-Manuel Miranda recently drop in to catch Hamilton , but hundreds of Hamilfans flew up to watch his interview with Leigh Sales (presumably unaware that it would subsequently arrive on iView for free).
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