No word on $800m marina upgrade

Stephen O’Grady | 9th February 2010

No one is saying when work will start on the marina facelift, one of the key developments for Hervey Bay.

A START-UP date for work on the $800 million facelift of the Urangan Boat Harbour remains unknown and apparently as far away as ever as negotiations between the developers and the State Government continue.

A spokesperson for the Watpac group that announced the joint venture with the Seymour Group in May 2008 said this week that commercial confidence during the negotiation stage prohibited any comment on the development at this time.

About 200 more marina berths are planned for the harbour, along with upmarket apartments and a range of new accommodation.

At the time of the announcement a plan to upgrade the ferry terminal to Kingfisher Bay Resort was also included.

Kingfisher started running its ferry service from River Heads at the start of February and plans to open a new terminal office at River Heads later this year.

Also in negotiations with the State Government are representatives of Hervey Bay Boat Club.

The Department of Transport was approached about freeholding the long-term lease on the harbour property, after the effects of the 200 per cent rent hike began to squeeze.

The government upped the payment from $205,000 per annum to $600,000 in July 2008.

“We’re still going along alright,” Boat Club president George Duck said yesterday.

“We’ve just got to allow for the extra rent. We’ve got lots of other things we could spend the money on.”

Mr Duck said the Department of Transport had not been in touch with the Boat Club since general manager Ed Gibson was told a strategic review of state boat harbours was under way last November.

The Department email said the opportunity to freehold some long-term leases was an option under consideration.