Councillor Paul Truscott defends location of new Maryborough admin building

A Maryborough councillor says the council’s new headquarters will be well above flood level and provide extra parking for the CBD.

Amid ongoing debate about the placement of the new admin building, councillor Paul Truscott said building in the planned location in Kent Street would help solve issues in the CBD, despite concerns about the area being in a flood zone.

A Maryborough councillor has defended building the Fraser Coast Council headquarters on the site of the original admin building, explaining why he believes it is the right move for the future.

Amid ongoing debate about the placement of the new admin building, councillor Paul Truscott said building in the planned location in Kent Street would help solve issues in the CBD, despite concerns about the area being in a flood zone.

The new building would have a multi-level car park, which would solve flooding concerns by lifting it above the flood level, Cr Truscott said.

It would also add additional parking to the CBD, which was sorely needed, Cr Truscott said.

Concerns had also been raised about moving the library from its current location in Bazaar Street, with fears it would cause a deadzone in the CBD.

But Cr Truscott said there were plans for the site and the library space would not be left empty.

The decision has caused some division in council.

The demolition of Maryborough's old council administration building.

Both Mayor George Seymour and Deputy Mayor Darren Everard voted against the motion when it came before the council last month.

This week, Maryborough MP Bruce Saunders and former Maryborough City Council CEO Noel Gorrie also said the decision was wrong.

“The location of the previous administration centre was in a flood area,” Mr Gorrie said in a rare Facebook comment.

“You could build a new centre with a floor level above a Q100 flood level but you would not be able to access it unless you used a boat or maybe a chair lift from the City Hall clock tower, but even then I’m not sure if you could still access the back of the City Hall.”

Cr Truscott said floods were far from a regular occurrence, and if the building was surrounded by water for one week every 10 years, it wouldn’t be a disaster and the carpark could be easily cleaned while the building would remain undamaged.

“Council put the development on hold as it evaluated proposals from landowners to build an admin centre for us on other properties within the CBD,” he said.

“After evaluating eight proposals, we have decided to continue with the redevelopment of our existing site on the corner of Lennox and Kent Streets.”

Fellow Maryborough Councillor Daniel Sanderson also voiced his support for the decision, saying the decision had been put on hold to consider other properties within the CBD, but after reviewing eight proposals , the council had decided to continue with the redevelopment at the existing site.

He said having the administration building across from Maryborough City Hall made sense from a logistical point of view.

“Council have had various discussions about this, including a three hour workshop before the project came to the meeting, so we could go through and consider the various options.

“The decision wasn’t made lightly.”

The new building will accommodate council’s customer service centre, financial and administrative functions, and a new Maryborough Library.

Originally published as Councillor Paul Truscott defends location of new Maryborough admin building