Bunbury gets $24m for new waterfront
Bunbury’s status as WA’s second capital city has received a boost after the State Government approved $23.8 million to redevelop the city’s waterfront.
Lands Minister Brendon Grylls announced the funding in Bunbury this morning, resolving a long battle between the State Government and the local community over which areas should be developed.
Mr Grylls said he hoped a plan for more shops and commercial and residential development around the port and to the north of the city would allow Bunbury to take advantage of WA’s growth and attract people.
“Bunbury really already is the second capital and what we want to see is the continued opportunity for growth,” he said.
“The waterfront development has been a challenging issue for a long, long time and talked about forever and not much done.
"By breaking it up into stages we know we have good community support for Koombana North and Marlston North and we can get on with it.
“From my point of view this is certainly stage one and more work is to be done.”
Mr Grylls said about 11,500 square metres of land will be developed for residential, office and commercial space.
A previous $45 million plan to redevelop the Bunbury waterfront announced in 2006 stalled because of bitter community opposition to the redevelopment of some parcels of land, in particular Koombana South near the entertainment centre, which some hoped could be preserved as "green space".
Mr Grylls said the latest plan would boost Bunbury's vibrancy.
“We are trying to drive more apartment living and good quality offerings make people make the break from quarter-acre blocks,” he said.
Bunbury MLA John Castrilli would not rule out future attempts to develop Koombana South but said work needed to start on the first stage of the development.
Work is expected to start next year.
