Member for Cook Cynthia Lui (centre) inspects the initial concept for the Rocky Point boat ramp upgrade with Weipa Town Authority Rio Tinto representative Tim Ryan, and elected members Lisa Scharf, Jaime Gane, Geoff Robins and Trent Gordon on 22 July. Photo: Supplied.
The chair of Weipa Town Authority (WTA) is urging residents of the western Cape York township to ensure their voices are heard as planning for the $12 million upgrade of the Rocky Point boat ramp gears up.
WTA, Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ), the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and Member for Cook Cynthia Lui hosted a community information session about the project at the Weipa Bowls Club on 22 July, however, the event attracted less boaties and fishers than had been anticipated.
WTA Chair Jaime Gane said while the turnout had not been huge, valuable information had been provided, adding people still had a month to have their say.
“We had some long-time locals and avid boaties who were able to provide plenty of useful information, which will assist the TMR team during the next phase of work, which will include gathering data around water depths, winds, currents and that,” she said.
“Local knowledge is critical in projects like this to ensure the best outcome for the community.”
MSQ, which owns the facility, is leading the upgrade in partnership with WTA, which manages the asset, as part of the State Government’s 2024-25 Transport and Roads Investment Program.
Ms Gane said the concept being used as a starting point still required significant input from users of the facility to make the most of the $12m project.
“The current concept designs that WTA have were just that, a concept,” she explained.
“Using that concept as a starting point, TMR will work on doing some desktop modelling, loosely based on that concept, but including the data inputs and feedback from the initial community information session, to present a couple of design options that would fit within the budget, and address the most important issues raised by the community.
“We definitely want to make sure that we get it right; $12 million is no small amount, and by working closely with TMR and the community in the design phase to make sure that we are capturing all of the nuances of that site and, allowing for them, we will end up with a fantastic facility that ticks all the boxes.”
Ms Lui said the collaboration between the State Government and WTA would ensure the township had the best possible facilities to offer boaties and fishers.
“This is an important step forward and I’m excited to hear from the community on how we can help provide better facilities for them at the Rocky Point boat ramp,” she said.
“I’m proud to be working alongside the Weipa Town Authority to drive this project forward.”
Following last Monday’s meeting, community members can submit written feedback on the project by emailing [email protected] before 20 August.
