Tweed playgrounds: Jack Evans Boat Harbour to get new $5m water play park

In a boon for parents on the southern Gold Coast, plans have been unveiled for a major new water play park. But not everyone is impressed.

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A FREE, interactive water play park designed for children and teens has been proposed for the Tweed to help revitalise the city.

The development is the brainchild of the Tweed Chamber of Commerce which on Tuesday submitted the proposal to the Tweed Shire council.

If successful, the $5 million water play park would be built at Jack Evans Boat Harbour and include tipping buckets, shooting fountains, a junior waterslide and seating area for parents and carers.

An artist's impression of the water play park proposed for Jack Evans Boat Harbour submitted to council on Tuesday by the Tweed Chamber of Commerce. Picture: Supplied.

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Tweed Chamber of Commerce president Warren Polglase said the team had been working on the proposal for about 12 months.

Mr Polglase said it was hoped the “community-friendly, high-quality” park would attract tourists and residents from the southern Gold Coast.

“The chamber looked at water parks around Australia and they appeared to be extremely active centres,” Mr Polglase said.

Splash'n'Play centre at Ripley, Ipswich. Picture: Supplied.

“It creates tourism opportunities, business opportunities and it’s a great place for parents and kids to play and … we have nothing like that on the Tweed.

“Our catchment area includes Kirra and Coolangatta. There’s an enormous amount of tourists who go there and this will be three or four kilometres from where they stay.”

However the proposal was met with some resistance from Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry who questioned the sustainability of the water park.

Cr Cherry said she was concerned about the cost of water treatment and parking access.

“(The proposal) did come a bit out of left field but I can understand wanting to activate that space,” Cr Cherry said.

“It would definitely be great to incorporate elements of water play as depicted in the illustration, however, we are quite a long way down the process of community engagement for an inclusive park and play space.

Lane on the Strand Water Park, Townsville. Picture: Alix Sweeney

“We have already accepted a grant of $300,000 from the Office of Responsible Gambling, council has allocated $380,000 to the project itself and we are hoping to secure another $300,000 from the Everyone Can Play Grant.

“We did quite a serious consultation back in 2018 on what people want to see at Jack Evans Boat Harbour … all of that feedback has said they want nature-based play, more shade, more barbecues and advanced facilities.”

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