First glimpse: The vision for a vibrant Mackay riverfront

Picture sitting on century-old timber with your fish and chips as a gentle breeze sweeps in from the Pioneer River.

Picture sitting on century-old timber with your fish and chips as a gentle breeze sweeps in from the Pioneer River.

There's a busker playing nearby and you're already eyeing off a waffle from the nearby food truck for dessert or thinking about wandering back into the CBD for ice-cream.

There are kids climbing on the sculpted play element as the sun goes down and lights illuminate the pylons in the river that once supported fishing sheds, a nod to the area's roots.

Joggers and bike riders trundle past as they link up with the Bluewater Trail.

The vision for Mackay's riverfront is ever evolving, as planners hope use of the space will in the future too.

The last of the fishing sheds at 6 River St came down this week and workers are now sifting through the rubble for materials they can use in the new structures to be built at the site for public use.

 

 

Mackay Regional Council plans to make Chain Street the main access for the boat ramp and then block off part of River St for the public realm, likely up to near Carlyle St.

Then the southern part of River St could become one-way which would enable more angle parking instead of the limited parallel parking that exists now.

On the cleared land next to the pylons, there are character plans for a gazebo with seating and greenery.

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Mackay city and waterfront project manager Kylie Rogers said a flexible open design would allow pop-up events, food trucks and markets while also telling the story of the old SeaFresh building.

She said the waterfront masterplan vision was ultimately for a development out over the water on the freehold site at 6 River St but that had not yet proved commercially viable for developers.

 

"We can't see new developments on there in the foreseeable future so we're going to focus our efforts on the public realm to get people using and loving the space again," she said.

"The main intent is connecting the missing part of the Bluewater trail firstly because that part is quite derelict and not really used at the moment.

"It will really open up those views to the river which currently aren't there.

 

"The masterplan talks about a living laboratory so it is meant to be a space where you can have food trucks and have it activated with small-scale events and have it constantly changing to test ideas and to get people to use it. So if something doesn't work, try something else.

"Let's get people to love this space again, get it well connected, get it safe, get that connection back to the river and see what opportunities come after that."

Mayor Greg Williamson said it was important to "bring people along on the journey" and the vision for a development over the river could eventuate down the track.

But he said expressions of interest submissions suggested 8 River St was a more viable option for developers as the freehold was more land-based than 6 River St where the old SeaFresh building sat.

 

 

Cr Williamson said ultimately the whole level of River Street would need to be raised to support the kind of development envisaged over the water in the masterplan.

"There is significant interest from Renew Mackay and Sentinel and I'm very confident something will come out of that but they don't seem to think they can do 6 River St because of the costs," he said.

"It was a dormant Development Application for 10 years for a reason.

"The structure required to carry the 10-storey building was too expensive to build.

"But if the overwater development is not of interest to anybody then we will have already constructed the public realm component of that and we can just continue with it.

"I think that gives a better saleability to the block behind it too."

 

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Without a crystal ball, Cr Williamson said the council believed it was best to proceed with the public realm to take advantage of the unblocked river views.

He said there was potential for semi-permanent shipping containers on the site too, similar to the Eat Street Markets in Brisbane.

Cr Williamson said he could envisage popular CBD restaurants like Sorbellos or Roshnis doing pop-up offerings on Fridays and Saturday nights by the river.

"This space has the potential to create more business if we can get more people into town to enjoy that space," he said.

"I'm a firm believer that if we create more foot traffic in town, everybody wins."

 

 

Ms Rogers said the pylons, which the mayor calls The Sticks, would stay for now for aesthetic purposes.

"We figure if we don't need to take them out right now, let's just keep them there and tell the story of what was there," she said.

"People have their views on whether they think the sticks are ugly or whether they think there's a cool story to be told; I'm on the 'cool story to be told' bandwagon."

Cr Williamson said the council would link the history of the area to the river through placemaking markers.

A timber specialist was in Mackay on Monday inspecting the materials inside before the building was pulled down on Tuesday.

He found hoop pine in the roof truss, hard wood in the posts and even timber under-flooring that were protected because there was a foam layer between the timber and the concrete slab.

 

 

 

 

 

"We're salvaging all the material from this shed and there's some exciting, cool timber that's come out of it," Ms Rogers said

"So we're looking at using all that timber in the structures in the new designs.

"There's a new pavilion structure and some shade shelters along here as well that are going to look out over the river.

"We're trying to use the recycled material from this shed to do that.

"The material is more than 100 years old and he says he's never seen posts so big and so raw.

"He said you can see the marks from the axe where it's been chopped down by hand.

"None of it's been timber milled so it's beautiful raw material that's going to be used.

 

 

"So now we have to work out what are the pieces worth keeping and what's the parts that can be used in terms of landscape furniture.

"We want to be able to use the materials and keep the pylons there and have these structures that look out over them.

"There's opportunities for lighting these pylons and having an artistic feature too so it's day and night activated."

As well as Southbank, the council has looked at the Cairns Wharf area and how some of the original pylons have been retained.

 

Ms Rogers envisages food trucks, buskers and fitness groups would use the space, attracting locals and tourists alike.

 

 

"There's a lot of potential for it to be lots of things, there will be a lot of green space and shelters," she said.

The council expects the $800,000 demolition to be complete in March, leaving a naked green space with river views.

The design for the new space will be bedded down in the next month to six weeks.

The council is hoping to gain funding through the Building Better Regions Fund that will help with pontoons and other works at the boat ramp and Chain St as well as the riverfront public realm.

 

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If the BBRF application is successful, they hope to put the works out to tender in July and begin construction in October.

Even if BBRF money is not forthcoming, Cr Williamson said there was money in the council budget to begin the public realm process.

If everything goes to plan, Ms Rogers and Cr Williamson believe we could have the bulk of a new green space by the river completed by year's end.

 

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