Toowoomba council set to delay Railway Parklands project as Groom MP Garth Hamilton takes aim

Groom MP Garth Hamilton has slammed the council over delays in progressing the $25m Railway Parklands project slated for the CBD.

The long-awaited Railway Parklands project looks set to be shelved by the Toowoomba Regional Council, in a move that has been slammed by the local federal MP as a “massive failure”.

The council has revealed it will “reconsider our approach” to the $25m CBD project, which was announced in March 2022 as part of the SEQ City Deal to deliver housing and community infrastructure to a five-hectare site north of Victoria Street.

It has sparked severe criticism from Groom MP Garth Hamilton who says he holds serious concerns for the leadership of the council and its ability to deliver on promises.

The news comes as the council faces increasing financial pressure over the upcoming Cressbrook Dam spillway upgrades, which are slated to cost at least $270m and must be completed by late next year.

Flyover concept shots of the upcoming Toowoomba Railway Parklands project in the CBD.

The TRC has appealed for a bailout from the state government, despite having known about the project for years, but will potentially have to go $300m into debt if support is not granted.

The Railway Parklands, billed as a green space to rival Queens Park, was planned to be delivered by council in a three-way funding agreement with the federal and state governments.

The business case was supposed to be completed by the end of the year, with the $20m in state and federal funding needing to be spent by 2027.

But environment and community general manager Nick Hauser said the council had “more immediate budget priorities” than the Railway Parklands.

“While Toowoomba Regional Council is committed to the Railway Parklands project, there are more immediate budget priorities to address, especially given our financial constraints around essential infrastructure upgrades, most notably the Cressbrook Dam Safety Improvement project and ongoing flood recovery works,” he said in a statement.

“Council must give priority to community expectations for the delivery of our critical services and upgrades in the first instance.

“Council needs to re-consider its approach in line with the City Deal funding stipulations and its own competing priorities.”

Mr Hauser said the council had requested more information from the federal government over the need for the project to activate housing, arguing this differed from the original intents of it.

“Council is seeking additional information from the Commonwealth Government in relation to its funding allocation, which is tied to addressing housing supply at the site,” he said.

“This request differs from the original intent of the project when Council first advocated for funding for the provision of a parkland.”

Member for Groom, Garth Hamilton. Australia Day celebrations at Picnic Point in Toowoomba. Thursday, January 26, 2023. Picture: Nev Madsen.

This was rubbished by the federal MP Mr Hamilton, who said the council’s own press release from 2022 discussed housing as one of the key outcomes.

“Their response is entirely wrong, so I’m concerned that council has somehow lost touch with what this project was intended to do,” he said.

“Even council spoke about this being to address housing in their own initial press release.

“They say there are more immediate budget priorities, and what is more immediate than housing?

“I now hold serious concerns for Toowoomba council’s ability to deliver projects.”

The delays could hold political implications going into the next federal election for Mr Hamilton, who championed the project as one of his few victories since being elected in 2020.

But he dismissed those notions, saying the pressure was on the council to deliver on time.

“I went into bat for the funding and secured it, this is a massive failure of delivering — they were happy to stand beside me at the announcement saying they could deliver it,” Mr Hamilton.

“I’ll continue to fight for projects and funding for my region.

“This is a project I’ve been chasing for months with letters, phone calls and emails to all stakeholders since the funding was won.”

Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald, who has had meetings with Mr Hamilton in recent months, was contacted for comment.