Mackay city centre renewal dream takes shape
Slowly but surely, Mackay’s future city centre plans are beginning to take shape. Now, our leaders are calling for collaboration to put the puzzle pieces together.
Mackay
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No single entity will remake Mackay’s city centre into a world-class urban zone.
For it to happen, Mackay council will need to lean on the vision and expertise of artists, the business community, Indigenous Australians, musicians, developers and more.
“It’s more than just one person’s job or one entity’s job,” Mackay Region Chamber of Commerce strategist Vicki Smith said.
“It’s a collective effort – a collaborative effort – to bring in all of those different people and activities and interests to really put all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
It was the first time the council’s data and research into the city centre and the chamber’s think tank results had been disseminated openly to the public.
“All of the work that everyone has been doing is now starting to get to a point where we actually start to see the vision come to life,” she said.
Ms Smith said the think tank discussions emphasised the need to increase the city’s residential population, create vibrant lifestyle precincts linking the city centre with the Pioneer River, activate the urban core with events and experiences as well as maintain safety and connectivity through emerging technologies.
The chamber plans to sponsor a working group to help translate these themes into reality.
Mackay city and waterfront project co-ordinator Stacey Mills noted retail, especially Caneland Central, was a core reason people visited the city centre.
Without retail, the city centre had markedly fewer ‘destinations’ pulling people into it.
She said Mackay CBD, at 1.3km in width, was bigger than the Brisbane CBD and this made it a difficult zone to activate and renew.
Sean Kelly and Craig Percival from ReNew Mackay, a consortium leading the redevelopment of the city centre, spoke about their passion for Mackay.
Mr Kelly said the pair formed ReNew Mackay because they wanted to build iconic structures that could also act as a catalyst for more growth and development.
“When you think of Mackay, maybe the kangaroos on the beach or the marina, something like that, but we think this location (the CBD) here lends itself to becoming that iconic symbol of our region, of our city,” he said.
Mr Percival added ReNew Mackay had been diligently pursuing its plans for the city.
“We’re a fair way down the road with starting to get some full designs of what we’re proposing,” he said.
“Though we’ve had to take a while to get to this point, nothing has stopped, the wheels have been turning.”
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