Hervey Bay Gossip

Back on February 8 Strewth asked if the development bubble had burst here in Hervey Bay, something that the Gossip has been wondering about for some months now. Several times we’ve mentioned that there has been a slowdown for small business here in town and pointed to the slow take up of some commercial developments as a sign that things are not going as well for Hervey Bay as it might otherwise appear.

It’s been known for a while that the last whale watching season was not as good for operators as previous seasons have been. Then we had the wet weather over Christmas that really hurt a number of the tourism related businesses here in town. Poor tourist seasons have a flow-on effect for the rest of the town and if thathose poor seasons weren’t bad enough other factors have also had an impact here.

The upwards creep in interest rates, the cessation of work on the Centro expansions and the collapse of a major building contractor hasn’t helped the situation either so we seem to be in for some interesting times in the months ahead and perhaps we really will see a slowdown in development here in Hervey Bay.

So let’s take a look at some of the affected areas around Hervey Bay.

The resort site in Freshwater Street Hervey Bay that has seen no work since the fencing went up just after Christmas.

One of two construction sites between the Esplanade and Watson Street Pialba. This site seems to have some work going on while work on the other may have stopped.

Courses at the University of Southern Queensland here in Hervey Bay may have been slashed but construction work on the extensions is still proceeding. There were workers on site when this photo was taken last Saturday.

A commercial development in Luizzi Street Hervey Bay that was completed in October. Of the nine units available in the development only three are occupied. Construction of a proposed new development across the road has not yet begun.

These units in Central Avenue Hervey Bay were completed late last year … all of them remain unoccupied.

And out at the industrial estate at the airport things aren’t much different. There’s a lot of empty land, a few commercial complexes going up, one or two that have been occupied and others like this one.

It certainly seems that development has slowed here in Hervey Bay and you would have to wonder if other developments along the Esplanade will now proceed.

Is the redevelopment of the corner of Fraser Street and the Esplanade still to go ahead? A few of the affected shops are empty but nothing more appears to be happening.

Unfortunately this is a town that depends on development so things may not be too bright for Hervey Bay in the short term. And that ‘term’ may be longer than many might hope for because we’re now about to become part of a much larger regional council area and the needs of this area will have to be balanced with the needs of the other areas that are to be amalgamated with Hervey Bay.

edited to remove a dead link

As more and more high-rise development takes place along the picturesque Esplanade here in Hervey Bay people are beginning to discover that the White Shoe Brigade still have a grip on the reins of power here in Queensland.

One man’s protest at that power that overwhelms the little people has been to paint his house home on the Esplanade a bright yellow.

The sign he’s erected says it all.

For Sale $5,000,000

This privately owned property is lawful. A memorial to inept Queensland politicians and our Council who refuse to protect (as other states do) adjoining properties from illegal damage caused by development construction, especially below ground car parks, thus leaving adjoining property owners exposed to expensive litigation in an often futile attempt at justice

Hence

Development at any Cost!!

Construction of a new resort development will soon begin next door to this house.

Ted looks like he’s been taking lessons from the John Howard School for Dealing With Difficult Questions.

Well the town plan for Hervey Bay has been approved and the buildings are going to rise higher in some parts of the town.

I can understand why some people are already feeling angry about the new plan and Ted Sorenson’s response on the television news last night really seemed to indicate that he couldn’t care less about what many people here in town think.

The comment from one councillor that all these high rise developments would include bars and cafes on their ground floors that the people of Hervey Bay could enjoy was just delusional. We already have bars and cafes we can and do enjoy – we don’t need more in places where the rents are going to be so high that normal people won’t want to pay the prices these places will have to charge.

Now let’s hear from those councillors who got elected on a platform of keeping development along the Esplanade under control.

 

It seems that within 12 months Hervey Bay will have its own Big W with approval being given for the further development of the Pialba Place shopping complex.

When work finishes in approximately 12 months not only will we have Big W but we will also have a further 17 speciality shops as well

Speaking of shopping centre developments in Hervey Bay, whatever happened to the planned developments up at the Centro Plaza?

Weren’t we supposed to have an even bigger complex by now?

Is it really true that the plans have been with Council for two years and Hervey Bay City Council officers are yet to even look at them?

Could it be that the developers are suing the Council because of this?

Reed Property Group of Maroochydore have announced that a new 125 room resort will be built in Hervey Bay for the Cendant Hotel Group – better known as Ramada.

The resort will be part of a large investment in resorts by Ramada and by the time construction is completed there will be 10 resorts spread along the Queensland coast.

Construction of the resort in Hervey Bay is not expected to start until 2007.

Last week Hervey Bay City Council signed off on a $50 million dollar plan to breathe life back into Pialba and details of the plan have now come to hand.

The plan includes:

Turning Main Street into a four lane road between McLiver Street and Urraween Road

Constructing feeder roads across the cattle paddocks between Main and Nissen Streets

Extending Urraween Road east

Extending Torquay Terrace beyond the intersection with Main Street and across the old railway line to Charles Street

Extending Old Maryborough Road towards the east behind Woolworths

Construction of a Civic Centre and Council Chambers on Old Maryborough Road

Construction of student accommodation

Extending the Link Mobility Corridor parallel with Main Street to Urraween Road and with branches into Kawungan

Encouraging the construction of high-rise buildings up to eight storeys high along Main Street south of Boat Harbour Drive

Developing the foreshore at Pialba into an area that would be attractive for visitors

When the work is finished Pialba will once more be the heart of the city.

Bones found on Tuesday at the site of a Colyton Street development are headed for the John Tonge Forensic Centre in Brisbane for testing to see if they are human.

The site were the bones were found is claimed by the Aboriginal community as an ancestral grave site but developers say that despite an investigation of the area there is no proof that the land does contain any aboriginal graves.

The area where the bones were foujnd has been cordoned off but work will continue on the parts of the site.

The Hervey Bay City Council has announced plans to re-develop the Pialba area of the city. $50 million is the expected cost and we can also expect to see the roads leading into the city from the Doolong area to be part of that re-development

It seems that the Anchorage Caravan Park at Urangan is soon to be cleared out and turned into something quite different. Various rumours are circulating and some suggest that a theatre or even a casino will be built on the site.

However the information that we have received via people who may have some idea is that Ramada is back and is interested in building a resort on the site. Whether that really is the situation is not yet clear.

One thing is for certain though, more and more tourist developments are going to happen in Hervey Bay and the older areas close to the water are definitely prime candidates for redevelopment.

Update: 10 January 07
The site has now been sold and the land has been cleared. You can find the story here