Toowoomba council could take two years to finish end-use designs for Quarry Gardens project

Supporters of one of the most discussed and anticipated projects in Toowoomba will need to be patient, with a key step expected to take until 2024 to complete.

A key step in the development of the highly-anticipated Quarry Gardens project could take until 2024 to complete, the council has revealed.

Councillors voted at Tuesday’s ordinary meeting to endorse the Bridge Street Quarry advisory group’s recommendation around the rehabilitation of the site for future public uses.

The committee, which is chaired by Councillor Kerry Shine, features a number of stakeholders including tourism groups, small business leaders and residents along with several councillors.

With two options taken to detailed design from a decision in December and geotechnical reports of the site completed, the advisory committee endorsed an option for council to actually delay the required earthworks until a later date.

Kerry Shine. Photo Bev Lacey

This was because starting the rehabilitation process, which would make the site safer and more formalised in its shape, would potentially limit what the site can be used for before “future uses” were identified.

Mr Shine said the committee wanted to see the end-use planning works completed within 12 months, but staffing shortages pushed this out until the 2023-24 financial year.

“Whether the council does the work itself, that will be decisions made down the track — the council teams have a lot on their hands so it may be contracted out,” he said.

“The advisory committee would like all the work done in the next financial year, but council officers said they might need 24 months to complete the work — hopefully not, but it could be.

“Council is understaffed there are a lot of vacancies and every department is affected so we need to do this properly.

“This has been wanted by the community for decades, so we’ve got to be prepared for more patience.”

The Quarry Gardens was first discussed about 30 years ago after the decommissioning of the site by the old Toowoomba City Council.

While numerous concept designs and other reports were completed in that time, the project got a significant boost when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the State Government would fund a business case in 2017.

The council also included the project in its Covid-19 pandemic response capital works program in 2020.

Safety works were funded by the council, but all studies have indicated rehabilitating the area would be expensive.

More recently, Wagner Corporation’s John Wagner offered 200,000 cubic metres of soil to aid in the works.

The offer was declined by the council.