Advertisement

Inlet plans open for comment

Plans for a total revamp of Leschenault Inlet — including a water playground and Asian-inspired gardens — is due to go for public comment at the end of the month.

The Leschenault Inlet masterplan encompasses a wide area stretching from Koombana Drive to Queens Gardens and past the Parade Hotel.

The plan has divided the inlet’s foreshore into 10 “precincts”, such as the Mangroves, The Quays and the Frank Buswell Foreshore.

City of Bunbury director of strategic integration Geoff Klem said there was a great deal of community interest in the plans.

“The aim is to create an attractive set of things to do so people move from the Entertainment Centre to a restaurant and then along the foreshore,” he said.

“Having the whole area joined up so people can move from one precinct to another is something which has never been achieved at the inlet.

“Hopefully people will be able to move from one activity node to the next and spend a whole day at the inlet.”

An artist's impression of part of the revamped Leschenault Inlet


The plans gained unanimous approval from the Bunbury City Council at this week’s meeting and are expected to be ticked off next week.

The public will then be able to provide their feedback at the council building, library or online until the end of January.

Mr Klem said once the plans had approval the council would look to take the concepts into the design phase.

He said the council would be looking to the State Government for funding for capital works.

“It won’t all be done at once but in bite-sized chunks,” he said.

“It will make a magnificent entrance to the city and people are excited about the vision and enhancing the foreshore.”

It is hoped the revamp of the inlet will tie in the expansion of the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre and stage one of the Bunbury Waterfront Project at Koombana North.