Toowoomba Regional Council moves $2.9m from planned Quarry Gardens project after unsuccessful State Government grant bid

After failing to win a State Government grant to cover half the project, the Toowoomba Regional Council has reallocated funds from its $3.3m Bridge St quarry rehabilitation project.

The Bridge St quarry.

The Toowoomba Regional Council has been forced to reallocate money designated for the long-awaited Quarry Gardens project, after it failed to obtain a grant from the State Government.

The council had set aside $3.3 million for the rehabilitation of the Bridge St quarry in its $50 million pandemic response investment program, with the plan for half of it to be funded by state money.

But quarry advisory committee chair Cr Kerry Shine revealed the TRC failed to obtain the tourism-based grant and decided to put the funding towards other projects.

Just $400,000 will be spent of developing a detailed study into the redevelopment requirements, while $450,000 would now go towards the Barlow Rd culvert replacement, $2.05 million to the region-wide asphalt program and $400,000 into refurbishments to the Empire Theatre.

Cr Shine said the setback was “disappointing”, considering the rehabilitation of the site would take some time.

“It didn’t happen with the applications we’ve put in, so for this year what we’ve done is to reallocate that $3.3m into other projects,” he said.

“I certainly was disappointed, we had an expectation we would get it.

“But the applications most likely to succeed were the tourism ones, and the problem was the money wasn’t to entice tourists here straight away, it was for the rehabilitation of the quarry.

“We want to make sure that $3.3 million is spent in the next 18 months.”

Cr Shine said the TRC would look at other funding sources for the project next year.

“Whatever schemes come up, we’ll take a look at them, but it’s a given we’ll continue to apply for whatever we can get,” he said.

The committee went on a site tour of the quarry earlier this month.