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THE race to build a cruise ship terminal on the Gold Coast may be about to get hotter after the state government put an end to ASF Consortium's $7.5 billion plans for Wave Break Island.
The Breakwater Group, one of the early proponents of the cruise ship terminal brushed aside in favour of ASF by the former Newman government, has kept alive its plans to locate the facility just south of the Seaway on the ocean side of The Spit.
It is now pushing to meet with the state government to plead its case for the development which it has described as "superior" to the Broadwater alternative proposed by ASF.
It says the Breakwater plan "removes the need to undertake widespread, disruptive and expensive dredging within the Broadwater and the Seaway".
Breakwater group managing director Craig Perry says he is hoping to secure a meeting with the government to consider the proposal after Development and Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham today said that "everything is on the table except Wavebreak Island and the Broadwater".
Perry says the company has been "active and pushing" since it was dismissed from the original expressions of interest process for being non-conforming.
"We're in a position where our team have funding and we've requested a meeting with the state government to at least table what we have as a solution so this whole process can correctly run.
"I'm not suggesting they should only be speaking to us."
The Chinese-backed ASF Consortium has already indicated it will be reviewing its plans in the hope of complying with the government's new guidelines.
However, Mayor Tom Tate has all but given up hope of a cruise terminal for the Gold Coast, telling a media conference this afternoon that is still keen to see a multibillion-dollar integrated resort developed in the city.
Tate, who identified a lack of political will to undertake a cruise terminal on the Gold Coast, has suggested the old Southport Hospital site would be the best available in the city for an integrated resort.
But Perry is not giving up on his plan, saying that a cruise terminal is essential to add greater depth to Gold Coast tourism infrastructure.
"We've never stopped looking at it. We always knew the Broadwater option would never work. We were only really concerned that the government would completely throw it out. We've requested meetings with the state government but have had no response as yet."
Perry says he believes the Gold Coast will eventually get a cruise ship terminal and that The Spit is the only place for it.
He says the Breakwater Group has allowed for some development on the Broadwater in its original plan, but he says the group is looking to minimise this in accordance with the government's requirements.
"This proposal is the only one that delivers an operational cruise ship terminal," says Perry.
"We've overcome the issues with refuelling and we have a plan that is acceptable in all tidal conditions and in 99 per cent of weather conditions. We still need to do some high- level detail modelling, but our experts don't foresee any complications."
The Breakwater Group's proposal will involve local, national and international development groups participating directly in the built form of the Broadwater Marine Project.
"It is going to stimulate the local development economy," says Perry. "We can get various development groups to get involved in the project rather than see one Chinese group build it all. It de-risks the project immediately."
Breakwater Group is a company led by Perry, Cardno Queensland director Graeme McIlwain and former Australand executive David Lawrence.
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