WALKER GROUP’S DISINTEREST COULD BECOME REDLAND CITY COUNCIL’S OPPORTUNITY
The likely loss of the Walker Group to the Weinam Creek PDA project may be a blessing in disguise.
The leading development group has been hard pressed to provide a ‘viable plan’ that meets the needs of the community, otherwise it would have been public knowledge by now.
The question arises: why have there been delays over a number of years?
Our guess is that the infrastructure required for the community costs more than the commercial return for a developer.
That makes sense and also makes the case to move forward in other ways.
It is possible the developers had long ago lost interest in the site and the Weinam project.
It is believed that this situation does not apply to the Walker Group’s interest in the Toondah Harbour PDA site.
It is our opinion that the Walker Group’s disinterest in Weinman Creek is Redland City Council’s opportunity.
However for the council to bring the project to fruition; they will need to act more like a commercial developers than a government bureuacracy.
It is possible, if done correctly, a better plan for Weinam Creek could evolve and become reality sooner rather than later.
Under one banner involving one developer, it was always going to be a long and slow process.
There is a better way of going about it.
Redland City Council has already given indication of its long-term intent for the site.
Council is not disinterested it would seem, but probably a little bit excited at the possibilities.
With the future of the islands and Weinam Creek in particular in mind, Redland City Council has given every intention of its future directions with the purchase of Moore’s Farm for future mainland parking for the islands.
In fact, there are significant indicators that a Council-led development would be more focused on community outcomes rather than commercial returns.
It is believed the opportunity now exists for council to make the project move forward at a much quicker rate than would have been possible under the banner of just one developer.
Council may still be able to take advantage of the Priority Development Area’s State Government advantages and divide the project into several smaller developments that are all linked.
It would all hinge on the right plan being decided upon and then dividing the project into several elements involving multiple players.
You would not have to be Rhodes Scholar to work out the possible elements for the Weinam Creek PDA site.
It would not surprise if these contained:
• a foreshore marina;
• hotel accommodation;
• unit developments;
• shopping and cafe precinct, and;
• multi-storey car parking.
In this way, council could involve single and separate developers for each of the projects.
The result would be a better project in the long term produced at a much faster rate.
Anyway, that’s what we reckon!
It will be interesting to see just how ‘accurate’ we are in ‘reading between the lines’.