A GRANT District Council elected member has expressed frustration the former boatyard site in the heart of Port MacDonnell remains undeveloped.
This follows council listing the sprawling Sea Parade site for sale in November 2015 in a move to attract private investors.
At council’s recent meeting, Cr Gill Clayfield questioned whether council’s vision for the site was “achievable” and called for a fresh look at the contamination level.
She said the former boatyard had been sitting unused for “some 15 to 20 years”.
“This has been dragging on for a very long time with nothing happening,” Cr Clayfield said at the meeting.
“I wonder whether the idea of a motel is ever going to take off when currently people are moving away from that style of accommodation.”
She said the tourism trend was seeing a shift towards apartments and villas.
Cr Clayfield also queried whether council could undertake some new testing regarding the level of contamination at the site.
The elected member revealed members of the former boatyard committee – which was now disbanded – had an agreement that half the site would be turned into lawn and carparking.
“I know I have raised this before and everybody says we can’t do it,” Cr Clayfield said.
The councillor said there was also speculation two businesses wanted to establish premises in Port MacDonnell, but could not find “buildings suitable”.
Adding to the debate, Cr Graham Slarks said the site could not be left “like that forever”.
He also questioned whether trees could be planted on the site if there was no likelihood of a development moving forward.
Council chief executive officer Trevor Smart said council adopted the “tourism/retail” concept for the site around three years ago.
“This concept hasn’t generated much interest at all … so what the appropriate use of the land would be is a fair question and a good one to further explore,” Mr Smart said.
“Whether it is a mixed development or whatever it may be, I’m not sure what the solution will be to attract some investment and development to that site.”
He said other types of developments were worth exploring.
The executive said the concepts released by council were only guides to “generate interest” from developers.
“My understanding is council hasn’t excluded any type of development on that land,” Mr Smart said.
Consultants working on “The Waterfront” design have indicated they had some ideas for the “potential use of the site”.
Mr Smart said council could undertake more testing to gauge the level of contamination at the site, which was predominately a groundwater issue.
“We can do further testing to see what has moved and what hasn’t,” he said.
Mr Smart said groundwater contamination hindered the planting of grass or trees on the site and the Environment Protection Authority was responsible to provide guidance on what could be done on the site.
Following the discussion, councillors agreed to fund fresh contamination testing.
Council has owned the former commercial boatyard site since 2006 when it was handed over by the state transport department.
