Sunshine Coast transport: Maroochydore business figures ramp up push for heavy rail inclusion in transport plans

High profile business figures playing key roles in the development of the Maroochydore city centre have spoken out about the need for a heavy rail link. VOTE IN OUR POLL HERE

MAJOR players in and around the new Maroochydore city centre have demanded transparency from the state government as fears grow a key transport connection into the CBD has been derailed.

SunCentral chief executive John Knaggs this week called on the state government to present its “full plans” to the public after a lack of reference to a passenger rail link to Maroochydore CBD in the latest Mooloolah River Interchange modelling.

Mr Knaggs said the state- designated priority development area had been designed as a transit-orientated city centre with a designated corridor for passenger rail from Brisbane into the city centre as well as a major transit plaza for train, bus and mass transit systems to link.

He said public transport was critical to the ability to attract people to the city centre to work.

“The rail is absolutely critical to the future (of the Maroochydore city centre),” Mr Knaggs said.

SunCentral chief executive John Knaggs.

Mr Knaggs said a commitment to the connection to Maroochydore would give certainty of investment and development form which could spark further investment in the CBD.

He said while the Olympics presented a great opportunity, the investment in public transport should be made regardless as it had been “long overdue” in the region.

“There seems to have been talk of the rail stopping at Kawana since apparently so much of the Olympic-related activities may take place there,” Mr Knaggs said.

“This would be a bad outcome for the region. Everyone should be very concerned about that.

“I’m sure that business and community would expect passenger rail and other public transport infrastructure to be delivered so that all of the region north of the Mooloolah River was properly serviced and that included the Maroochydore city centre.”

Mr Knaggs said full plans should be made public as “significant” investment had been made in the Maroochydore CBD based on “long-held” plans for a passenger rail into the city centre connecting to Brisbane.

Maroochydore Chamber of Commerce president Brendan Bathersby said the chamber and the business community were concerned about what appeared to be no consideration for the inclusion of heavy rail within the Camcos corridor in the current Mooloolah River Interchange proposal.

He urged the state government to revise its modelling and said he feared if it wasn’t it may be overlooked and the opportunity to deliver the vital infrastructure before the 2032 Olympics could be lost.

Long-time Coast development and prominent Maroochydore identity Mal Pratt said he thought it was “important we get a pretty fast rail to Brisbane”.

He said people accessed Brisbane from the Coast for a whole range of reasons and he hoped the Olympics bid would bring long-term infrastructure.

One of the Coast's most prolific property developers, Mal Pratt. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Mr Pratt said a passenger rail link to Maroochydore would deliver a “bit of an effect everywhere”.

He said Maroochydore was short of parking as it was and the CBD was a logical location to have the rail link extend to.

“It’s (Maroochydore CBD) probably the first thing you’d go to,” he said.

Habitat Development Group managing director Cleighton Clark said a passenger rail link to Brisbane was “core for the Sunshine Coast”.

“We’d obviously love to see the rail go in,” he said.

He acknowledged that buyers of their current Maroochydore CBD projects weren’t speculating on the premise of heavy rail and were attracted for other reasons, but a heavy rail link would provide an added bonus.

He said the Sunshine Coast loomed as a key site for the Olympics and given it was poised to host events it was the “perfect location for a lot of the infrastructure” which he said should include a heavy rail link to Brisbane.

Habitat Property Group managing director Cleighton Clark.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey last week refused to commit to a heavy rail connection into the Maroochydore city centre by 2032.

He said the state government was committed to North Coast rail line upgrades, delivering a mass transit system and the Camcos heavy rail concept.

Mr Bailey said it was not a case of one or the other for the region.

He said further planning was being progressed to deliver faster rail between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast which included use of the Camcos corridor as an option.

He said the Camcos proposal would “not be compromised” by the Mooloolah River Interchange upgrade and said a future rail link had been accommodated as part of the interchange project “with an alignment determined during the detailed design phase”.

It was understood Walker Corporation had recently advocated to the state government to produce new online renders of the Mooloolah River Interchange project to ensure heavy rail was allocated all the way into the new Maroochydore city centre.

Originally published as Sunshine Coast transport: Maroochydore business figures ramp up push for heavy rail inclusion in transport plans