Queensland’s Maryborough City Council has signed an agreement with national development company, Maryborough Investments Pty Ltd, to develop the Fraser Coast Marine Industrial Park and re-establish the marine industry in the region. Maryborough Investments Pty Ltd have agreed to invest an estimated $20 million into the area.
It is anticipated the Fraser Coast Marine Park will attract anchor tenants in boat building or large scale marine fabrication, as well as a full range of marine service and maintenance operators.
Maryborough Mayor, Councillor Barbara Hovard, said the project was all about bringing new business and employment opportunities to Maryborough – as well as complementing existing marine based businesses.
“It offers opportunities to train and employ our young people, and to stop young people leaving region,” she said. “The project also gives us the chance to reclaim our place as a major player in marine engineering and boat building. For 100 years Maryborough was home to the Walker’s foundry, with the shipyard one of the nation’s leading builders of naval ships, barges and dredges – and we want to build on that proud marine history.”
Maryborough Investments Pty Ltd Director, Wayne Fussell, said the company took into consideration the strategic location of Maryborough and the potential for growth of the marine sector in Fraser Coast. He said the introduction of direct jet services from Sydney and the interest it would generate in the Great Sandy Strait and boating in general was also a major factor in the company’s decision to invest in the project.
Maryborough has also joined forces with the Cooloola Regional Development Bureau and Hervey Bay City Council to market the Great Sandy Strait as a destination for recreational boating and cruising yachts. Councillor Hovard said the combined potential of both projects was staggering, with both due to come on line at the same time.
“There are development applications and/or applications for sea bed leases for hundreds of marina berths across the Great Sandy Strait already waiting for approvals,” she said. “Together with Maryborough’s urban renewal plans, the vision is to utilise the Mary River as a catalyst for substantially increasing commercial marine and maritime activity for Maryborough.”
Maryborough City Council, in conjunction with the Department of State Development and Innovation, has spent four years and substantial finances investigating the potential of the marine industry for the region. Work on the industrial park is expected to commence early next year.
