Toowoomba Railway Parklands included in SEQ City Deal, Groom MP Garth Hamilton and Mayor Paul Antonio announce

A long-discussed and floated project to revitalise the Toowoomba CBD has been given a huge boost, with $25m included in the SEQ City Deal. Details here:

Former Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce vice-president Peter Eldridge has welcomed the inclusion of the $25m Toowoomba Railway Parklands project in the SEQ City Deal, nearly 30 years after he sparked the concept.

Nearly 30 years after he conceived the idea of creating a beautiful green space in the centre of Toowoomba, Peter Eldridge’s vision is finally being realised.

The former vice-president of the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the inclusion of the first stage of the Railway Parklands into the SEQ City Deal, injecting $25m into the CBD to improve liveability and facilitate more inner-city living.

The announcement was made by Groom MP Garth Hamilton and Mayor Paul Antonio on Monday, with work to start hopefully within the next 12 months.

The long-discussed project will turn the defunct railway yards between Victoria and Bridge Street into a linear parkland precinct with a range of community and family facilities.

Celebrating the inclusion of the $25m Toowoomba Railway Parklands project in the SEQ City Deal are (from left) Mayor Paul Antonio, Groom MP Garth Hamilton, Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts and former Toowoomba Chamber vice-president Peter Eldridge.

It’s also hoped the infrastructure will spur on developers to create higher-density living projects in the area.

Mr Eldridge said it was satisfying to see real progress on a concept he and the chamber first devised in the early 1990s.

“I recollect very well that in 1993, that the Chamber took the initiative to talk to QR in Brisbane regarding this land and we also spoke at length to the Toowoomba City Council,” he said.

“Things do take a lot of time to come to fruition in Toowoomba, we’ve found over the years there are a lot of people who have good ideas but it takes a lot of time.

“This $25m is a great start to get things really happening.”

Mr Eldridge said he hoped a significant portion of the funding, which will include local, state and federal input, went towards cleaning up Gowrie Creek.

“That’s going to take quite a bit of money and a lot of effort,” he said.

Mr Hamilton said the parklands was a perfect fit for the city deal, which includes $1.8bn for an entire pipeline of projects for the southeast.

Flyover concept shots of the upcoming $60m Toowoomba Railway Parklands project in the CBD.

“When I came to office and listened to the community, this project absolutely stood out as one that ticked all the boxes,” he said.

“I’ve fought very hard to make sure this project was included, because it’s a very important project for Toowoomba’s CBD.”

Mr Antonio said the council would take the lead on the parklands’ design and development over the next five years.

“This parkland of course will join with the Queens Park but you’ve got a great area around here which is a priority development area, a PDA,” he said.

“It will incentivise the private sector to build confined living in this area, people walking rather than driving to work.

“We’ll be doing the design, but there will be three levels of funding in there.

“As soon as we get the paperwork done, we’ll be moving ahead.”

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts welcomed the funding, adding that he would love to see the city get a water park for the first time.

The overall parklands project is worth $65m and will be developed over a number of decades.

Wagner Corporation director Denis Wagner. Picture: Kevin Farmer

WAGNER SLAMS HAMILTON OVER LACK OF FUNDING

The powerful Wagner family has accused Groom MP Garth Hamilton of failing to advocate for federal funding towards a major motorsport and entertainment project just outside the city.

The $170m Wellcamp Entertainment Precinct was included in the new SEQ City Deal that was announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday morning.

However, the project still only has $40m in funding from the State Government, with Wagner Corporation hoping for the same amount from a federal level.

Its inclusion in the city deal suggested the precinct was a sure thing, but company director Denis Wagner said a start date on construction was dependent on further negotiations with the State Government.

Mr Wagner also took aim at Mr Hamilton, saying he could have advocated more for the project.

“We’ll talk further with the state and will make a decision — the state funding was conditional upon the federal funding, so I’m not sure where this leaves the state,” he said.

“It’s really disappointing Garth hasn’t gone to argue for money (for the WEP) for this region, because the real beneficiaries are the small businesses in the city.

“In almost every electorate, their local members go to Canberra and build the case for funds to be spent in their electorates — that certainly didn’t happen in this case.”

In response, Mr Hamilton said he pitched the project to Minister Paul Fletcher, but it didn’t fit the criteria.

“The parameters for this City Deal are about a funding bucket towards liveability and connectivity,” he said.

“I took the project to the minister, we got a response (no).”