REVAMPED WATERFRONT

OPPORTUNITY’ FOR REVAMPED WATERFRONT AND ‘MEMORY’ WALK WITH NEW ISLAND JETTIES Island designer and artist, Bob Turner, reckons the foreshore work that comes with our new $34 million foreshore jetties, presents a ‘unique opportunity’. He says with the new jetties, Redland City Council is required to revamp the island foreshores. “Macleay Island has a new parking area and major revampment, but Russell, Lamb and Karragarra Island have not had any major foreshore work carried out,” he told The Friendly Bay Islander. He presented us with his sketches of what might be possible on Russell Island as an example. Bob Turner believes the island foreshores should be ‘more user and space friendly’, for starters. He also says any new foreshore work should allow a ‘memory walk’ to be included. “Many people come to our islands, and very few get to learn anything about our islands. “It should be there for all to see down at the waterfront in a specially designed area that I like to call a ‘Memory Walk’. Bob says apart from parking, the area should include open space parkland, a one-way in and one=way out vehicular management system, and the specially designed Memory Walk. He says this could comprise several panels of historical information. “This could incorporate several sections that tell pre-colonial, colonial and modern historical information. “It could include the original story of the Quandamooka peoples and other elements of our island history.” His sketches of the Russell Island foreshore also offer some other interesting ideas such as a ‘hub area’ for emergency drop-offs and pick-ups; an area for a portable coffee outlet; the memory walk and open space parkland as well as an area for x2 two level car parks. Certainly it is am imaginative and positive option. Bob has passed it onto the ‘powers-that-be’ and he is hopeful that some elements will be incorporated in Redland City Council’s final plan for the area, particularly the ‘Memory Walk’. “I’ll be watching with extreme interest,” Bob Turner said.