Latest News

Councillors endorse back-up plan for park

mously endorsed a back-up plan to redevelop McLachlan Park in Maclean. At the council’s February meeting, Cr Andrew Baker put up a detailed motion for a more modest redevelopment of the park should the council’s staff be unsuccessful in negotiating “alternate methodologies for delivery of the park”. Negotiations with three contractors who tendered for the project failed, as reported to the December 2015 council meeting, “on the basis that that the revised prices are higher than the available budget”. Councillors subsequently instructed staff to bring a report to the February 2016 meeting that investigated “alternate methodologies … (including but not limited to scope of work) to deliver the Construction of the Redevelopment of McLachlan Park”. However, the report was not tabled at the February meeting “due to some difficulties in quantifying scope and pricing experiences” and, as a result, the “matter will not be reported until March 2016”, the report to council stated. Cr Baker’s motion, seconded by the mayor, Richie Williamson, was not debated. Cr Williamson said Cr Baker’s reconstruction plan was “somewhat complex, but also self explanatory”. “I’ll have to check the record, [but] was that the first unanimous vote on this item?” he quipped to muffled laughter from the councillors. “We’ll check the records.” Councillor Baker’s alternate plan, which refers to the Maclean Riverside Precinct Plan (sometimes referred to as the Clouston plan] for location details, includes: • The construction of new public toilets near the bus stop rotunda (and demolition of the toilets near Spar); • Construction of one new boat mooring pontoon and the replacement or refurbishment of the existing pontoon. • The modification of the existing car park and surrounds at the southern end of the park, to improve function, use and traffic-flow of the area; • The reduction of the footpath’s width to about 1.5metres, or less and variable, to provide a corresponding increase in grassed area to the park wherever possible; • The removal of the elevated imported earth fill, which is to be replaced with topsoil and turf at an elevation of about 300mm above existing footpath and generally to be level throughout the park; • The replacement of the camphor laurel trees with super-advanced trees of a suitable type on the centre line of the north-south park alignment; • The construction of manually replaceable levee panels at two locations; • The construction of a suitable paved walkway of variable width to a maximum 1.8 metres on the riverside of the levee; • The installation of five suitable and unobtrusive picnic-table and seat structures, and the provision of basic public-park amenities, such as water provision and waste receptacle facilities; and, • The provision for any future-use services infrastructure or facility considered appropriate to the boardwalk type strategy envisaged in the Maclean Riverside Precinct Plan. The council’s staff will table the results of negotiations with tenderers, in accordance with the Vee Design plans for the park, at the March 2016 council meeting. Councillors accepted a $177,870 tender from the Brisbane landscape architecture company, to deliver a detailed design and manage the construction of McLachlan Park, at its March 2015 meeting.