Shire puts a million towards Torquay Town Centre

THE Surf Coast Shire has allocated $1 million to mobilise improvements in stage one of the Torquay Town Centre Project and will pursue major state and federal government funding contributions.

Council is seeking up to $5 million combined from other levels of government to enable the work outlined in the Torquay Town Centre Urban Design Framework.

The biggest change in stage one will be the conversion of Gilbert Street to one-way traffic. The works will also include intersection realignments, crossings and roundabout installation, footpath and laneway upgrades, and streetscaping and landscaping.

The shire’s $1 million will be allocated from its 2017-18 budget surplus.

Surf Coast mayor David Bell said the Torquay Town Centre Project was one of the council’s key advocacy priorities, adding that attracting external investment would be critical and the time was right to seek support.

“This substantial contribution from council is required in order to demonstrate our commitment and leverage the necessary funding.

“We will be submitting applications to Regional Development Victoria’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund and the federal Building Better Regions Fund.

“Our community contributed passionately to this project during the engagement period. We look forward to gaining government support and seeing the first stage underway.”

The Torquay Town Centre Urban Design Framework was adopted in December 2017 following extensive community consultation and provides a clear vision for improvements.

The cost of the overall town centre project is $12.3 million.

“We need to meet the needs and expectations of our growing community by creating a more vibrant and inviting town centre,” Cr Bell said.

“An estimated 2,200 new jobs will need to be created in Surf Coast Shire by 2036 to cater for population growth and we anticipate Torquay town centre will be a key provider of some of those jobs.”