Wagner Corporation lodges application to Toowoomba council over $237m Wellcamp quarantine facility

The owner of the controversial Queensland quarantine facility, which has sat mostly unused for nearly two years, has revealed the likely future use after a major application filing.

The controversial Wellcamp quarantine facility will become a hub for workers on major projects like the upcoming Toowoomba Hospital, which its owners say is an appropriate use for a “community asset”.

Wagner Corporation has lodged plans with the Toowoomba Regional Council for a change of use on the $237m Queensland Regional Accommodation Centre, which has largely not been used since it was mothballed in August 2022.

Since the project was approved and ordered by the Queensland Government in 2021 to house people during the Covid-19 pandemic, it bypassed the council’s planning department.

The State Governments Wellcamp quarantine facility, the Queensland Regional Accomodation Centre, in 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

According to the report by Precinct Urban Planning’s Paul Kelly, the 1000-bed centre has been envisioned as a temporary workers’ accommodation site to support the construction of major projects.

“The proposed worker’s accommodation facility addresses an urgent need for temporary workers’ accommodation for the construction of state and regionally significant projects for the Toowoomba region including the new Toowoomba Hospital,” the report said.

John Wagner, quarantine hub at Wellcamp Airport. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“The design and layout of the premises allows potential sources of nuisance and impact to be appropriately managed to ensure the development will not adversely affect surrounding amenity or cause environmental harm.”

While the application is largely a formality to establish its use with the council, it marks the most significant progress on finding a permanent use for the facility.

Wagner Corporation chairman John Wagner said he wanted the “highest and best use” for an asset he believed would benefit the community.

“It’s a community asset and we intend to use it as such, for the betterment of the community,” he said.

“There’s the hospital, the Toowoomba to Warwick pipeline, the Cressbrook Dam upgrade, the Cressbrook pumped hydro plan.

“We’ve had a lot of approaches, but we want to get the highest and best use — we want to make sure it’s the best thing for Toowoomba.”

The application is impact-assessable, meaning it will likely head to a special meeting of council for approval.

Mr Wagner said he was hoping for a fair process, believing the council’s planning department had undergone a positive change under the leadership of former state integrity commissioner Dr Nikola Stepanov.

“It’s the process you go through, (the council) will go through their due processes and follow the guidelines,” he said.

“We’ve seen an extremely positive change in the department since Nikola has been there.”

Most recently, the facility was used as a set for a movie starring David Wenham and accommodation for international firefighters during last year’s bushfire season.