$3.5b vision for Bunbury

More than $3.5 billion of projects are planned for Bunbury by 2031 to deal with a rapidly expanding population and the city’s role as economic centre of Western Australia’s South West.

If all goes to plan, Bunbury will be home to one of the biggest developments of its kind in Australia.

The City of Bunbury will hold a major public forum this weekend to discuss the City Vision Strategy, which aims to take advantage of Bunbury’s significant waterfront land, to expand tourism, and to better integrate the commercial and community aspects of the city.

Bunbury serves as the major service centre for the greater South West region, and with the population expected to double over the next 25 years in the Greater Bunbury area, the city wants to proactively plan for growth in a whole-of-city way.

Cox Architects has been appointed to make preliminary plans for City Vision, while SGS Economics and Planning has been appointed to undertake a study to forecast future growth for the local economy.

Major projects included in the City Vision strategy include more than $400 million for the Outer Harbour development, including a marina, fisherman’s wharf, five-star hotel and residential accommo-dation, and $1.2 billion to increase inner-city residency by 10,000 people.

This includes high-rise development in the CBD and outer harbour precinct.

City of Bunbury executive manager for city development, Tony Brun, said the concept of what Bunbury was should be redefined, and that the community had been very supportive so far.

“We have to plan for the population increase that is going to happen and make the most of it – we want the community’s input up front, and the plans should have their support, not be controversial,” Mr Brun said.

“We are hoping that by June or July 2006 the planning approvals will be in place and that Bunbury will become a genuine alternative and competitor to other regional cities such as Townsville, Cairns, Geelong, Toowoomba and Newcastle.”

City Vision divides the city into five main precincts, each with a distinct plan for development – the greater CBD, ocean drive, the outer commer-cial district, Withers/Minninup and College Grove/Super Campus.

City Vision Taskforce chairman Don Williams said while Bunbury was surrounded on three sides by water, this aspect of the city had not been used to its best potential.

“It is a unique city that, over the next two decades, will undergo dramatic change and integrate its natural attractions with its urban environment to become one of the truly great regional cities in Australia,” Mr Williams said.

Following the summit this weekend, the City Vision Taskforce will finalise the plans and present them to council for consideration.

“With council approval we will be able to move to the implementation stage and get the ball rolling,” Mr Williams said.

In order to fund the $3.5 billion worth of development, Mr Brun said the release of crown and council land would initially be used to fund infrastructure upgrades.

It was expected, however, that the bulk of the development would be funded by the private sector.

Mr Brun said the council would be proposing an unprecedented plan to the State Government whereby money obtained from sales of state land should be put back into the city to aid upgrades of infrastructure.

 “We will formally request this from the Government, and the only reason we can even entertain the idea is because the growth here is going to be so strong,” he said.

Several major super funds and trusts had shown interest in Bunbury, but an integral part of their investment was certainty in the planning system, according to Mr Brun.

City of Bunbury Mayor David Smith said the City Vision plan continued a direction that Bunbury has been taking since ‘Bunbury 2000’ was initiated by the Labor government of Brian Burke.

“Bunbury is in a position where it can attract external investment capital and a wave of significant redevelopment due to a natural growth in the population,” Mr Smith said.

“We need to take control of that growth and development and try and ensure it doesn’t happen in a disjointed manner.

Mr Smith said Bunbury’s major strength moving forward was its diverse economic base, which included mining, transport and construction, agriculture, Bunbury Port, production industries and the administrative facilities to support these.

“Bunbury has a very strong economic base, and we need to build on that and foster and encourage industry while trying to maintain the ethos and style of Bunbury,” he said.

• The reporter stayed in Bunbury as a guest of the City of Bunbury.