Community asks Walker to fix rusty Redlands

The Redlands community is showing overwhelming support for the redevelopment of Toondah Harbour, telling Walker Corporation to fast track its rejuvenation.

Retired local Linda Pearson was scathing in her assessment of the current Toondah Harbour terminal.

“Decrepit and rusty and it’s a junkyard. It’s not nice to go out there all. Can’t wait to get on a ferry and get out,” Ms Pearson said.

Chantelle Pello has lived in the Redlands for 40 years and said there is no reason to take her young family to Toondah Harbour right now.

“Absolutely needs a revamp definitely. There’s no incentive to go out there at all,” Mrs Pello said.

Cleveland mum Alyce Johnson said the lagoon pool is one of the star attractions for locals wanting more to do in the Redlands.

“I think it will bring a lot of life to the area. At the moment it’s a bit slow, Cleveland is a bit of a retirement village,” said Mrs Johnson.

“I’m looking forward to the lagoon pool for the kids and everything like that. I think it will be great for the area. We actually live in Cleveland so we’ll be able to walk there and I think it will be a great development.”

Walker Corporation’s Toondah Harbour spokesman Dolan Hayes said the company has intensified its community information sessions and found the call for change is incredibly strong up and down the Cleveland coast.

“Out on the streets, the community is telling us a Redlands revival is long overdue and they are loving our vision of the new Toondah Harbour,” Mr Hayes said.

“We have always known the silent majority are pushing hard for the project to get underway and that has been confirmed on the streets as we welcome positive support from students to seniors.

Young concreter Mitchell Gough said he’s looking forward to working on the waterfront and staying local.

“As a young bloke it would be great to start working in the local city, instead of driving an hour and a half to work every day,” Mr Gough said.

The project will give a big economic boost to the region, providing 1000 jobs per year during construction and an estimated 500 ongoing jobs in retail, commercial and tourism-related activities.

“Tradies have told us more construction in Cleveland can’t come soon enough because local jobs will mean they don’t have to travel far from home and their families,” Mr Hayes added.

Walker will continue to hold community information touchpoints over the coming weeks, on the streets and at local shopping centres across the Redlands.

In 2013, the Redlands City Council and the Minister for Economic Development Queensland, championed the Toondah Harbour Priority Development Area (PDA).

Redlands City Council went out to tender because it didn’t want to slug ratepayers to fund the $116 million infrastructure upgrade costs, including the ferry terminal, additional car parking, and the deepening and widening of the navigation channel.

Walker Corporation, known across Australia for their outstanding community masterplanning, was selected to deliver the Council’s vision after a rigorous Expression of Interest process.

Tourism will also thrive with the new Toondah Harbour bringing an estimated 50,000 additional visitors to the Redlands Coast each year, injecting $17 million in new income for local businesses in Cleveland, North Stradbroke and the Bay islands.

The Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be put out for community consultation in the coming months once it passes adequacy checks.

“We are confident the independent experts have been extremely thorough in their analysis to make sure the Toondah Harbour project will improve and enhance the environment,” Mr Hayes said.