Future of cruise terminal in State’s hands

The City will write to the Premier seeking confirmation that the Ocean-side Cruise Ship Terminal project will be considered as an option in the Southport Spit Master Plan process - and request the coordinated project application be re-assessed.

The letter will ask the State to rule in – or out – both the Oceanside cruise ship terminal; and a site at Doug Jennings Park as a potential second option.

Further, the Mayor will ask the Premier to continue to progress the project in parallel with the 18-month Southport Spit Master Plan which concludes in July 2019.

“To consider the ocean-side cruise ship terminal project, you need a lot of technical information and what better way than to get all the key players involved in the future planning of The Spit to work together to achieve the best outcome for the City, the State and public,” said Mayor Tom Tate.

Mayor Tate said the Spit Master Plan process had started and while the City was invited to be involved in the community-led planning process, details of the City’s role was yet to be confirmed with the State.

“The Premier expected the Council to submit a business case and we have done that. It demonstrates a Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) between 3.0 and 3.9 for this project which is exceptional for a large scale project of this nature,’’ he said.

“The project has the potential to deliver almost $3 billion in economic benefit to the City over three decades, expanding our visitor offer and generating new jobs. The case is compelling.

“We will continue to undertake all steps to inform the City’s, and State’s, decisions.”

The State has indicated any future allocation of State land on the Spit will be considered and dealt with in accordance with The Spit Master Plan.

Mayor Tate said the Southport Spit Master Plan process timing would ensure all relevant ocean-side cruise ship terminal information was ready to inform the master plan and determine the merits of the proposal through a coordinated project process.

“The Coordinator General was concerned about the two projects causing confusion for the public so let’s work together with the State to prevent any confusion and uncertainty,” he said.

“We can sort this out in the memorandum of understanding and we hope this confirmation from the State will provide further clarity and give the City confidence to progress further investigations.”

A further report will be provided to Council after the State Government provides its feedback. The Southport Spit Master Plan is expected to be completed in July 2019.