Parkz News Cairns water park seeks approval

[Parkz News]

Cairns water park seeks approval

Australia’s water park boom looks set to continue with plans recently being submitted to Cairns regional council for Adventure Waters, a new $30 Million water park.

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[GoGoBoy]

I'm really hoping this will give WhiteWater World a much needed kick up the bum. There is now no more excuse to keep delaying the planned expansion. This new park is going to be bigger than WhiteWater World on opening even before stage 2. The longer WWW delays the more likely it is that these other parks will reveal these new slides and get in first

[Gazza]

Whats going on? A Laser tag thing gets 6 pages of discussion, and this gets nothing. Anyway, it looks like a really good park, naturally the things I am most happy about are the tornado alley and bowling alley (Pretty funny, I go start a thread on them and an Aussie park comes through with the goods ) Too bad they won't be coming till later on down the track.....3 parks here now have Tornado Alleys on the drawing board, stop torturing me and open one One of my favourite features is that Lazy River, it will work well as a transportation system, plus it has some nice little added features like the theming and the wave generator. But the opening line up are good choices, they all seem to be high capacity rides, and the crowd pleasers. A little observation I made is that the Mammoth Slide is a direct clone of the one at WnW. The place gives me an excuse to head up to Cairns anyhow (or stop over on the way to Asia)

This new park is going to be bigger than WhiteWater World on opening even before stage 2.

Are you sure on that one? Matching up the attraction counts: Cave of Waves = Lazy River Temple of Huey = PIPElines BRO = 6 Lane Octopus Rip = Mammoth River Slide Green Room = Tornado 45 Wiggle Bay & Pipeline Plunge = Play pool & Waterplay Structure Supertubes = Flowrider I guess Little Rippers = No equivalent I dunno if it would give WWW much of a kick in the bum...If WnWs relentless efforts aren't then what will a park 1447km away do?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Gazza, i think once we see ground breaking it will be something to really get excited about but we have seen concept art in the past which never comes to pass. If it gets off the ground, I am all for it, as we do head up to cairns every now and again, and this is an excuse to go more often. Above everything else I think this park allows a little more room if not an opening line up, but they don't look like they're going to muck around with it much. I'll reserve judgment until i see the block of land they're building on. It will be a real shame if stage one and two take up all available land and leave nothing for further expansion. Keep an eye on this thread though - it may be quiet now, but wait until they break ground..... then it will go triple platinum.

[Gazza]

^Plug Dillon Rd Cairns into Google Earth ...the park is basically surrounded by sugar cane, so I imagine down the track they could just buy a chunk of land if they needed to expand.

[dreamworld_rulz]

This is great news although we could probably expect an open date of around 2011-12

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Holy Crap - Way to bump dude....

[Gazza]

Not really, I mean it is only the second news article on the front page, and appears after a few seconds.

[Gazza]

I was just googling, anyway, some renderings have been released. Interesting to read that Steve Peet is onboard with this. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php...mp;postcount=16

[brissy phil]

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/10/2...local-news.html $3b theme park dream revealed Thomas Chamberlin Wednesday, October 28, 2009 © The Cairns Post PLANS for a $3 billion US film studio, water park, extreme sports complex, resort and hotel precinct have been unveiled publicly on the eve of a Cairns Regional Council vote on a separate water park proposal. Designed to mirror projects in Los Angeles and Florida, the theme park and film studio from proponent Tropical Resort Developments Pty Ltd would be the centrepiece of the development, due east of Edmonton. Organisers say the project would cost about $3 billion and be completed by 2027 in three stages, starting in 2012. Tell us what you think. Does Cairns need a theme park like the one proposed? Post a comment or vote in our poll. But the matter will not go to the Cairns Regional Council for approval. Earlier this month, Queensland Co-ordinator-General Colin Jensen declared the plan, in development since 2006, to be a "significant project" requiring an Environmental Impact Statement assessed by the State Government. The proposal is on behalf of Melbourne-based TRD Consortium Holdings Trust Pty Ltd, which includes members Paul Davies Film and Television Enterprises, Housing Industry Promotions and Tom Blair. Mr Davies is a past director of marketing for the South Australian Film Corporation who has produced Australian feature films, television mini-series and telemovies. He is also the founder of the Entertainment City Consortium which included Paramount Studios US as the major entertainment partner. Mr Blair was the senior project manager for Disney’s new Grand Californian Hotel in Anaheim, California, and has other connections with Viacom and Paramount Pictures. Their proposal lists an association with the Cunningham Group, an urban and community architect and design firm which works with the likes of Disney, Universal, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said a significant project declaration was not an indicator of government support but signalled the start of a whole-of-government environmental assessment process to be managed by the co-ordinator-general. The development is an area zoned R1, utilised for growing sugar cane, between the MacAlister Range (to the west) and Murray-Prior Ranges (to the east). Advance Cairns Chairman Russell Beer said the project would be a boost for the region and a great opportunity to diversify the local economy. But Cr Paul Gregory, who represents areas south of Cairns, was sceptical of the project going ahead, saying it would have a "large number of obstacles to get over" because the proposal was in the rural landscape area of the Far Northern 2031 regional plan. Former Cairns mayor Kevin Byrne said a similar proposal came before the council in 2006 and he thought it had "very little chance" because it appeared far from Cairns and needed a large amount of government environmental approvals. "We need to be very careful at the moment about embracing proposals because some proposals are achievable and other proposals are frankly not achievable," he said. Meanwhile, the council will today vote on Paul Freebody’s plans for a $35 million water park at Smithfield, which council officers have recommended not go ahead because of flooding, environmental and planning concerns. Mr Freebody said it was "fantastic" there was now another proposal similar to his, but he was sceptical about its size. Edited October 28, 2009 by brissy phil

[Gazza]

Meanwhile, the council will today vote on Paul Freebody’s plans for a $35 million water park at Smithfield, which council officers have recommended not go ahead because of flooding, environmental and planning concerns.

Well, the water park has gotten up, and was approved 7-4 in a council vote. http://www.cairnsblog.net/2009/10/cochrane...g-some-fun.html http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/10/2...local-news.html

[Reanimated35]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/don...tml?autostart=1

[joz]

Another update on the water park, and this time it looks like someones crawled out of the woodwork to lodge an appeal: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/01/3...local-news.html

Appeal puts Cairns water park plans off track Brad Ryan Saturday, January 30, 2010 © The Cairns Post CAIRNS' $35 million water park development could be delayed for months or even wiped off the board, with a nearby sugar mill primed to fight its construction. Mulgrave Mill has lodged an appeal against the Adventure Waters park, arguing new traffic will create dangers near an existing cane train line and a proposed flood wall will push waters onto cane growing land. Pictures: Cairns waterslide theme park The mill's general manager, Peter Flanders, cited Cairns Regional Council officers' original recommendation to reject the development because of environmental, flooding and planning concerns. Those recommendations were overruled when a majority of councillors voted to approve the development in October last year. "We believe that development would be better off on a different site, especially given that it's a floodplain," Mr Flanders said. "It will set a very bad precedent for the whole Barron Delta area." Video: Adventure Waters promotional video The 7ha development site, fronting the Captain Cook Highway at Smithfield, formerly housed the Vic Hislop Shark Show. Adventure Waters chief executive Paul Freebody said he was disappointed and puzzled by the move, which was putting hundreds of construction jobs on the line. "I've owned that property for three years and I've never seen a cane train on that section of track," Mr Freebody said. He said the flood wall was being built mainly for insurance purposes, and would only be needed in a 1-in-100 year flood event. "We ran the council's flood model and it was clearly reflected (the flood wall would cause) no adverse effect on any adjacent property." Mr Freebody revealed he had hoped to "surprise Cairns" by opening the park in time for Christmas, four months ahead of a publicly-stated goal to be operating by next April". "This will be tied up in court for three to six months, maybe 12," Mr Freebody said, adding the mill should expect costs of about $500,000 to engage the experts needed to mount a strong case. Mr Flanders said the relevant section of rail track was used for about three weeks a year. He said he had not spoken to the developers and was prepared to meet with them to discuss the appeal. Asked if he would consider dropping the appeal in return for compensation, Mr Flanders said: "That's not something I've discussed with anybody; what we've said is that we are willing to talk (but) basically we are following the appeals process and it’s normal for there to be some sort of process of mediation." The park will employ about 300 workers during construction and more than 200 staff after it opens.

I'm starting to think that no new park of any sort will ever open in Australia. It seems no matter where anything is proposed there's always a minority of people who manage to kill new parks off. Hopefully this one makes it through, it looks like a fantastic little park, and I think would be a real boon for domestic tourism in the area.