Yeppoon Railway Station development: Retail shops, medical services, swim school
A proposed overhaul of a prime location includes six buildings, with plans for an indoor sport and rec centre, medical facilities, drive-through food outlets and more. See all the plans.
Rockhampton
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The Yeppoon Railway Station has been sitting vacant since 2004 but it could be a hive of activity in a few years’ time.
New development plans were lodged by high-profile international planning firm Urbis with Livingstone Shire Council on Monday for the 15,6320sq m site adjoining the railway station.
The decommissioned station site was subdivided in 2020, separating the land area and the heritage-listed station building.
Yeppoon Railway Trust, the company behind the development, bought the site in March 2022.
The company is registered to a Brisbane address and has a Brisbane-born director and a Chinese-born director.
The site is one of the two last undeveloped and vacant sites along James Street.
There is frontage on James, Park and Jeffries streets.
The development, named James Street Central, is for a mixed-use centre including retail shops, medical services, a swim school, and food and drink outlets.
There are two retail buildings at the north of the site, which are likely to have two or more tenants.
There would also be two detached food and drink outlets on the southwest corner, with dine-in and drive-through options.
The indoor sport and recreation and health care services buildings are to the eastern side.
An “urban park” will be provided on the James Street frontage as a space for pedestrians and parents to use while their children are at swim school.
There are pedestrian crossings throughout the development and 159 car park spaces.
Access would be from James and Park Streets with plans to close the access on Jeffries Street.
The landscaping plans include shaded and lush open-air features for the tropical environment.
The finer design details include awnings and glazing on the buildings to “create a comfortable and inviting pedestrian environment”.
The development is prosed to be delivered in three stages.
The council indicated it preferred not to have drive-through services for the food and drink outlets.
The developers have spoken with operators who have a “genuine interest” in the site and “consider there is a strong market for these facilities in this location” and require drive-through and dine-in facilities.
In response, the developers have designed the drive-through to be away from the core of the centre.
There would be no demolition or removal of any heritage features in the development.
The proposal suggests the development would boost the economic growth of the region with employment opportunities and service community needs in the area.
Council is working with Silverstone Developments on a master plan for the western 1.5 hectares of the site.
The proposal “supports any future redevelopment that is to occur at the Station Quarter site”.
The application will now be assessed by council planning officers.
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