Consortiums in three-way race for $170m Springbrook cableway project
Three consortiums are eyeing off the $170m Springbrook cableway project. FULL DETAILS
The Springbrook cableway is attracting at least three interested proponents, in the biggest sign yet that the $170m Gold Coast hinterland project will get off the ground.
A City source close to cableway talks said the project was creating international interest, with three consortiums seeking information.
One of them is understood to be Australian-based.
An experienced councillor also confirmed the interest but believed there was a financial catch for Coast ratepayers.
Hinterland-based councillor Glenn Tozer said a consortium would not push the button on the project until the council clears all barriers.
The City source said potential investors were buoyed by the Coast’s tourism numbers which had been highlighted in an earlier consultant’s report to council.
“There are 13 million visitors to the Gold Coast each year. They (the proponents) are saying if we get one in 20 (to ride the cableway), it is going to go well,” the source said.
The consultant’s report to council said a cableway would cause a significant tourism uplift, including increasing the number of visitors per night staying on the Coast, attracting an average 1628 passengers per day and 594,302 passengers per annum.
The average revenue per passenger trip is expected to be about $55, with the new tourism attraction generating an annual gross operating profit of $31.2m.
A cableway would break even within five to 10 years of construction with a gross annual operating profit of $33m, consultants said.
But the City source admitted a potential owner-operator would want government and council to clear up barriers like native title, land management and community consultation.
“The City and the state would have to de-risk it. There have been too many false starts,” the source said.
City officers previously in discussions with councillors had indicated there was no proponent, with the council being the prime mover behind the project.
This masthead asked Mr Tozer if he knew about proponents and de-risking the project.
“Yes, I have heard the same about three proponents beginning to express interest in the Springbrook concept,” he said.
“But without more detail it’s difficult to know what they might be specifically interested in, except taking advantage of any benefits of government ‘de-risking’ the project.
“That ‘de-risking’ is funded by the taxpayer and ratepayer so I think it should be considered carefully.”
The City had resolved to consult First Nations and the community, and get more detail on a preliminary route and design elements for an Expressions of Interest, Mr Tozer said.
“That being said, the talk, both about the concept and about nature-based tourism more generally, is definitely stimulating interest from potential investors in major projects,” he said.
Mr Tozer who has previously put forward recommendations to “take no further action” on the project said investors wanted pathways cleared.
“There’s little doubt that any investors would want to principally wait until all the possible government ‘de-risking’ takes place, to advantage their ultimate capital contribution. That makes perfect sense for any commercially minded business,” he said.
Mr Tozer said he was concerned that council resources being allocated to this work would just be “adding to the eventual bidders’ possible bottom line” when they could be used for more achievable nature-based tourism projects.
“While the public might say they like the idea of a cableway, I doubt they like the idea of half million visitors treated human waste in Springbrook being absorbed into our water supply at Hinze Dam. Proponents will need to navigate that reality in due course,” he said.
Mr Tozer last month said the cableway would need either a waste treatment plant or huge storage tanks for trucks to take the sewage down the mountain.
The Gold Coast’s mountain community does not have a waste treatment plant like Kuranda - the location of another cableway - in north Queensland, he said.
Mr Tozer believes the majority of Springbrook residents are opposed to a cableway. Environmental group Gecko is campaigning to protect the world heritage rainforest.
But Mayor Tom Tate believes there was “general community support” for the project.
