Shaping Bowen's Future - Have your say

Re the beautiful Bowen project. The concept of Bowen green core is great, using environmentally suitable trees. A flagstaff hill multi purpose venue is definitely needed. i
To tap into the cruise ship market, emphasis should be on regional food and indigenous tourism.
The more cycle and walking/hiking tracks we can have, the better.
No need to produce separate maps just include the walking and cycle trail information and maps in the Bowen information book, a great local resource for tourists and residents alike.
Agree with others, the plan should include upgrading the Horseshoe to Rose Bay walking track as well as establishing new Kings Beach boardwalk/track.
Great to have interpretive signage and information about the Juru people.
Making use of the recycled sewage water is a win/win already makes the town look greener.

The plan includes completed projects and projects already underway, I'd like to see a Masterplan that shows more of a future achievable vision for Bowen.
I agree with most regarding the walking track, what an asset this would be for locals and visitors alike.
I'd like to see some development and infrastructure in Bowen that encourages people to move here, after all more rates coming in means more infrastructure. Bowen is such a great place to live .

I feel as though majority of these projects will fail to attract more people to the town. I think there is an oppurtunity with the amount of travellers through the region to draw them into town with a short term camping/caravan area. The base of flagstaff hill out at kings beach would be the perfect area. A large grassed open space with large shade trees and ammenities provided for short term stays with a nightly fee payable could be a way to draw the travellers into and through the town. Could put a maximum stay of 2 or 3 nights or so to prevent it having a large effect on the local carravan parks and charge a small fee to cover the maintenance and policing costs. Would be large draw card for anyone travelling through the area and get people driving through the town centre to showcase Bowen.

The Bowen masterplan is very short term and lacks long term vision, reads more like a repair and maintenance plan. A more holistic approach incorporating health, education, arts and culture for the long term, staged and with expansion and alternatives provided.
I think we are all guilty of thinking too small. Why not take a leaf from other shires books such as Winton, they thought big, built big and paid big but look what an iconic facility they have, “The Matilda Centre”.
We have a beautiful main street and centre of town which could initially incorporate a hub centre with the front beach and Mullers lagoon offering alternative and or additional sites, we are overflowing with potential.
Bowen was to be the capital of north Queensland, if we started thinking more like a capital we may attract more capital.

Re the beautiful Bowen project, overall I love it except for the street signs - please change them, I can’t read them, the writing is too small. Love the concept of Bowen green core. I like the idea of the flagstaff hill multi purpose centre and agree it is needed. The more cycle tracks we can have, the better. Yes to interpretive signage . Yes to kings beach walking track. Making use of the sewage water makes good sense. Good on council for providing a battery recycle facility. Overall I think our council does a good job.

I personally believe that the walking track between Horseshoe Bay, Murray's Bay and Rose Bay should be at the top of the list for works. The track is so neglected and such a hazard for trips and slipping. The track is commonly used by visitors and locals including myself and is dangerous in a lot of spots, especially when there has been a small downfall of rain. The views from the track are stunning and there is so much potential for the walking track to be a serious talking point and feature of Bowen. Works to the track will also boost and encourage a healthier lifestyle to locals which is a bonus in itself. Would love to see the path widened, concreted with proper steps, signage/signs with some facts/info about Bowen and perhaps some tall standing light/lamps that are solar powered for when it gets dark quicker in the afternoons during winter period. So much potential.

Can we please get sewage to merinda, in this day and age sewage is a pretty basic service that every town should have, Those enviro tanks are rubbish with huge maintenance costs,

Loving seeing all the new infrastructure proposals, but nothing in the master plan about social and community health and wellbeing needs.
I think the days of councils being just rates, water, and rubbish are long gone. The council is here to represent what the people need in all areas.
I would like to see a greater awareness of these needs, and with time and money also allocated to these needs...... like encouraging more doctors, dentists and allied health workers into our region, with incentives to choose us over other regions and perhaps offering office space and accommodation assistance.

Brisk Bay badly needs a mail service, we cannot get some parcels delivered to a PO Box.

The walking tracks linking Rose, Murray and Horseshoe bays I feel have been an long overlooked part of the activation of the beaches precinct. They should be used as a larger piece of work connecting Flagstaff/Kings Beach right around to the Queens Beach area. If the tracks or boardwalk could be lit or semi-lit via solar, it would allow visitors and locals to stay at the caravan parks and holiday accommodation and be within walking distance of bars and restaurants of that entire area. Hopefully this would drive development of a tavern/takeaway at Rose Bay and compliment the proposed development of Murray's Bay.

I would love to see Council go into partnership to turn the iconic Jetty at the front beach into a centre piece for the work that has already been completed down there (sound shell/waterpark/seawall). Would be great to see markets and activities (food vendors/live music) hosted on a restored jetty even once a month. I think it would activate the Front Beach area as well as there is plenty of land ripe for investment. Hopefully the flow on would eventually creep into the main street to revitalise the CBD as well.

I am so happy to see these current plans and look forward to their fruition.
I note that the Flagstaff Hill development will be complete by the end of 2022. I feel that the CBD to Flagstaff Hill connection footpath should have a completion date that aligns with the completion date of the Flagstaff Hill development.
The foot and bike traffic will increase significantly..
There are currently many users of this route by both cyclists and pedestrians and it as it stands, is not safe.
Safety should be a number one priority for consideration for WRC, especially if they are going to be responsible for the increased traffic on this route.
It would be great if the rate paying residents could see the outcomes of this community consultation or be provided with a response.
I also feel that community consultation should commence prior to or during the planning of projects and not mid-project to ensure that WRC are focusing their energy into projects that the community feels are a priority. The below resident from Rose Bay has raised quite valid points.
In the case of the Flagstaff Hill development, it will certainly be fantastic to have a venue in that location, however, the capacity for the venue is questionable. This facility will accommodate a function for no more than one hundred people. One hundred people is a small wedding and an even smaller event/conference. There is no venue currently in Bowen that can accommodate more than 160 people except for a marquee in a park
To capitalise on the location, some community consultation could have been sought. The design could have accommodated an extension for a planned upper level for conferencing and events to take a capacity of 250 people. This had the potential to be a game changer for Bowen but the acquired funding limited the project severely. . The design did not have a vision for expansion. The budget should not determine the project, the project should determine the budget and then the funding sought.
I would also like to see WRC contract local business and tradies for all local works. This would encourage a circular economy that our residents and businesses want and deserve.

Hi, I am a resident of Rose Bay, I'm all for new infrastructure for the improvement of Bowen, however, it should be noted that key tourist destinations such as Horseshoe Bay, Greys Bay and Rose Bay have been neglected for so many years, and for the most are currently in a bad state of disrepair. I would like to see all existing areas throughout Bowen beautified and at least maintained to a standard that equivalent or better than you see at other regional towns, prior to the creation of new works.
For example, and in brief, it could be said that the walking track in its current state at Edgecombe Bay is not user friendly for all. My partner an I use this track daily and often see our grey nomad visitors struggle to navigate what can be in some instances be quite a dangerous trail. It would appear the track has not been properly maintained since its construction back in 1985. In my opinion this track has the potential to be one of the best walking tracks in Queensland.
Lets fix up what we already have first