The land for a proposed motorsport park in Mount Isa could soon be acquired, following environmental impact studies conducted by Mount Isa City Council.
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The 2017/18 Sports and Recreation Strategy was the first stepping stone towards developing a multiuser motorsport park, which has stemmed interest from local motorsport groups and enthusiasts.
Mount Isa City Council Deputy Mayor and North West Motorsports Park Chair, Phil Barwick, said land had been identified south-east off Lake Moondarra Road.
"This block is located on the city end of Lake Moondarra Road," Cr Barwick said.
"We believe it is very suitable, close enough to town but far enough away to not be a nuisance.
"I have had some early discussions with Mount Isa Water Board and they're going through the process of releasing the land to Council through the state."
Because the land is on a water reserve, Cr Barwick said environmental studies had to be conducted before the land could be released.
"There has been an environmental impact study done on the water and it has been quite positive in favour of the park, so we are just putting that information together to give to the state," he said.
"Next part of the process is to conduct a full environmental impact study, that takes into account where it is, noise, pollution, access, proximity to town and all the other things other than water.
"There is a whole range of things that need to be established so we can access the land and make sure the land is suitable for the use."
Cr Barwick said the time frame on securing the land was unknown.
"It's with the state - they've got their own processes and we need to respect that, but we have definitely been active to do what we can do to get the approval carried out," he said.
"After that we would like to engage a consultant to begin the concept design."
Cr Barwick said the consultation process for the design would engage all stakeholder groups in Mount Isa.
"That will include any of the various motor and motorsport groups that have expressed interest in development of a purpose-built precinct," he said.
"That process will include the full range of the drag strip, burn out pad, time trials, off-road groups, go-karting and things like that.
"The aim of that is to capture all of that and the capacity of all groups that want to be involved in this because Council don't want to be operating or running this facility."
Cr Barwick said ultimately what was developed in the motorsport park would need to be self sustainable.
"Council want to enable it because we think its important to the lifestyle of the city, but then we don't want it to be a burden on the ratepayers at all," he said.
"We believe it has a lot of precedence around the country and there is a lot of support for something like this, it creates tourism, and visitors and an economy of its own. We think that it has huge potential given our location between Darwin and Townsville, even to some extent the southern centres.
"We want to get a grip on what the demand is, what the local groups are wanting, because there is no point us building a park that isn't going to be used, it needs to be used extensively."
READ MORE: (2013) Motorsport complex still on agenda.
Once a design concept has been created, an advisory group will then be established.
"Expressions of interest have been called since the Sign On Expo and interest in that has been high," Cr Barwick said.
"I certainly want to drive this project, I am very big on the idea and I know there is a lot of interest around town on it.
"Once we get those background things cemented then it will migrate into an advisory committee. Out of that we hope that it will turn into a facility management committee that Council will participate in that at some level.
"My idea at the moment, is that someone would operate and run the facility as a viable entity moving forward.
"The development of the park might start off as a staged development, where we start off with one or two elements of it and develop the rest of it as time goes on. It will depend on how we attract funds from the state government."
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Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
