Now suddenly BOTH are "going to happen"? I somehow doubt it - they seem too nicely packaged as diversionary ploys for the government during a bad news week/month/year as well as a "welcome to leadership" announcement for Anna Bligh.
Why the skepticism? Well, both are $1bn projects - so clearly we're talking about private funding, not government - but what makes it "so attractive" now? But what really put me off was the dodgy "artistic impressions" provided for the projects. Certainly the one in Townsville looked absolutely crap. I recall the original concept drawings made for the CBD Renewal taskforce back in 2001/02 - they looked "thought out" - these ones look like "ah, just throw in a bunch of canal estate homes and see what happens".
You see, the problem stems from location - we're talking about the outer breakwater - yet we have townhouses within metres of the rocks!!! Clearly not well thought out in a cyclone prone city. Yet the original concept kept this area as a buffer, with parkland at the very front and buffer zones for housing. It was actually a smart balance.
So that's why this crazy "impression" is just vapourware - it keep the punters happy (for now). But don't expect anything to happen for years (if ever).
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