Gold Coast cruise ship terminal to progress to next stage after council gives green light

THE proposed Gold Coast cruise ship terminal will go to the next stage after council gave it the green light this afternoon. But several councillors opposed the project. SEE WHO VOTED AGAINST IT

THE proposed Gold Coast cruise ship terminal will go to the next stage and provide more information to the state government about the potential project.

Councillors Glenn Tozer, William Owen-Jones, Peter Young and Daphne McDonald voted against approving the terminal to go ahead.

The terminal is estimated to cost up to $450 million and will be funded entirely by money from the private sector.

The council will now provide an initial advice statement to the state government which triggers the approval process.

The proposed offshore Gold Coast cruise ship terminal.

A business case and environmental impact study will need to be completed as a part of that process.

The environmental study is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

Mayor Tom Tate said a cruise ship terminal would help diversify the tourism industry and also help future proof the economy.

“We could have something that we could be proud of,” Cr Tate said.

Councillor Peter Young opposed going ahead with exploring the cruise ship terminal.

He said he was not convinced with the financial assumptions made in the feasibility report by Price Waterhouse Cooper.

The proposed offshore Gold Coast cruise ship terminal will go to the next stage.

“I am very concerned about the reliability of the assumptions made,” he said.

Cr Young said by his calculation it could also take a maximum of 12.5 hours to get 3000 passengers off a cruise ship but based on the number of vehicles available it would about four hours.