The multi-award winning Jack Evans Boat Harbour has taken another step towards, becoming the gateway to the Tweed, with the official opening this week of the new playground and amenities block by Tweed mayor Barry Longland.
“Jack Evans Boat Harbour (redevelopment plan) has been around since before I became a councillor,” Cr Longland said.
“There has been a lot of consultation on a concept plan here which dates back to 2006 when it was determined that we would, as part of improving the public domain in the shire, showcase this area to the shire and in a sense the gateway to NSW if you like.
“The Stage 1 project came in at $8 million, the Federal Government put in $1.8, the State government (Department of Planning) providing $230,000 towards this project but the remainder, the bulk of this project, was funded by developer contributions, through our Council. As you know these are amounts that developers contribute towards the enhancement of the public domain and the services that we can make available to our community.
“It is quite amazing to see how much this area has been transformed and what an asset it now is to the community.
“With the amenities block and the playground to complement the safe swimming area and the rock pools, this has already become a favourite spot for families having picnics, for swimmers, or people having a stroll and is sure to be a big part of people’s lives for many years to come.
“The Council staff who designed and built the project deserve all the accolades they get for the outstanding work they have done.
“It is wonderful to see this come to fruition.”
The opening of the new facilities mark the end of Stage 1 of the harbour’s redevelopment, recently recognised as one of the top public works projects completed in the State in the past year.
The project received an honourable mention award for the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia – NSW in the ‘Design and/or Construction of a Local Government/Public Works Project’ category.
The project has also received numerous other awards for the innovation and final product as follows, including Civil Contractor of the Year – Master Builders (for contractors Multispan Australia), Irrigation project of the year – Landscape Queensland Association awards for 2011, – Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture Design award and – Local Government Award Recommendation.
On hand to witness the latest opening of the Jack Evans Boat Harbour Project was Multispan Australia Business Development Manager Martin Hood, who was full of praise for the project. Multispan were heavily involved as contractors for much of the work on the walls and boardwalks although not on the amenities and playground. “It was quite a remarkable project for all involved. It was challenging from the start, with the environmental and performance constraint,” he said.
“We are certainly very happy with it. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into it, making this area not only a fantastic place for people to recreate in but also help the council with maintenance and the long-term costs of running and keeping this park. There are quite a few initiatives in here including the composite boardwalks system and the revetment wall system that was put through that will help with the long-term costs – to keep them down for the community.”
Stage 2 of the redevelopment is currently unfunded but the proposal includes the ‘Goorimahbah – Place of Stories’ cultural gardens and event space. A cafe/kiosk – to join on the end of the new amenities block, is also planned, along with the creation of a new entrance promenade landscape from Boundary Street.
