First stage civil works costing $25 million are set to commence on the new Maroochydore city centre, creating more than 150 jobs over 12 months.
New roads, footpaths, cycleways, lighting, parks and landscaping will take shape in the civil construction works, as well as the installation of underground services and smart city infrastructure that will position the CBD amongst the most technologically advanced in Australia.
SunCentral, the company overseeing design and delivery of the new city centre on 53-hectares in the heart of Maroochydore, said the start of civil works was a significant milestone for the project.
“The foundations of this new CBD will be unlike those of any other Australian city centre,” SunCentral CEO John Knaggs said.
“We will have three separate conduits for NBN Co, Telstra and the new CBD’s dedicated Smart City fibre optic network, as well as the first CBD-wide underground Automated Waste Collection System (AWCS) in Australia.
“Around 1.7km of AWCS pipes will be laid beneath stage one of the CBD.”
The pipes will allow waste to be transported underground at speeds of up to 70kmh to a central transfer station – making footpath garbage collections obsolete in the new city centre.
Mr Knaggs said eight new streets are included in stage one of the CBD, creating lots for commercial, retail and mixed use development, with a central block to be transformed into a public park.
“The cost of works to be completed in this first stage is approximately $25 million and it is estimated that at least 150 jobs will be generated in the construction and professional services sectors," he said.
“Over the longer term, the new CBD is expected to create more than 15,000 jobs and provide a $4.4 billion boost for the Sunshine Coast economy.”
The civil works construction will continue into early 2018 and will be completed by a range of contractors including Sunshine Coast-based firm Shadforths Civil Contractors; ENVAC for the AWCS pipe network and several sub-contractors.
In his report The Activated City: Imagining the Sunshine Coast in 2040, released last month, demographer Bernard Salt predicted 550,000 people would be living on the Sunshine Coast by 2040, attracted by its entrepreneurial spirit, ‘hipster’ culture and connectivity.
Mr Salt said key growth triggers for the region were the expanded airport, the new Sunshine Coast University Hospital, a proposed light rail project and the creation of the new CBD at Maroochydore.
