Council moves on Lake Proserpine Masterplan

Acting Mayor John Collins said Council had developed a clear vision for establishing and improving recreational and tourist facilities at Lake Proserpine.

“The masterplan was developed after a site audit and field investigations and workshops between Council, Sunwater and key stakeholders.

“This Lake Proserpine Master Plan is an exciting step toward making Proserpine an even stronger regional town within the Whitsunday Region.

“We are just waiting for the final sign-off from Sunwater who have agreed in principle to a 30-year wet and dry lease on Lake Proserpine,” he said.

“Council has previously received $1million funding from the Tourism Recovery Fund following the impacts to the region from STC Debbie for this project, which was jointly funded by the State and Federal Government.

“Our Economic Development team have since leveraged that $1million and Council have allocated $500,000 and used it to apply for additional matching funding of $1.5million through the Building our Regions Program.

“Council are expecting an outcome to this application by late January / early February,” Cr Collins said.

“Every extra dollar we can attract from external sources allows us to be able to do more of the staged Masterplan so any time Council can turn $500,000 into $3 million is a good outcome.

“Our ultimate aim is to make Lake Proserpine a tourism hotspot attracting additional drive tourism to our land based attractions in the region with flow-on benefits including local jobs.”

Future recreational uses within the Masterplan include: 1) Camping and low impact accommodation facilities. i.e RV parking, cabins and glamping 2) Upgraded recreational facilities and overflow parking areas 3) Central gathering area / amphitheatre for events 4) Pontoons for enhanced access between the water and landslide areas 5) Enhanced arrival and information facility 6) Upgraded boat ramp and parking areas 7) Rationalised water-based recreation areas