SCENIC Rim Regional Council voted to endorse a one-off reallocation of $1.6 million from existing and future works in order to cover blow out costs to stage one of the Gallery Walk carpark.
Prolonged wet weather, an increase in earthwork scope beyond initial estimates, procurement changes, unforeseen resource constraints and challenging market conditions were blamed for the cost blowout.
At a special meeting on February 4, councillors were presented with three options to finance the additional cost: the reallocation of funds from existing works, which officers said was the preferred option, using unallocated loan funds or general revenue from the bank.
Mayor Tom Sharp said the situation was not acceptable and he would be making a statement to the region in due course.
In the meeting Division 3 Cr Stephen Moriarty expressed concern the reallocation of funds would result in a rate increase.
He also queried what lessons had been learnt and what steps could be taken to ensure cost blow outs don’t occur on future works across the region.
During the meeting Division 1 Cr Amanda Hay said pushing out projects was not a good option and she could not support the additional costs.
She also questioned whether stage two would be done in a more cost-effective manner.
Cr Hay said the carpark was a signature project for Tamborine Mountain and the entire process has been disturbing.
Following a closed session, she repeated that she was not in favour of the reallocation of funds from capital budget which would mean reallocating existing projects and pushing them out into the next financial year, if not further, and she didn’t want it to result in additional rate costs.
“When we put projects up there needs to be more consideration to the impact on rate payers and those in the affected area,” she said.
She said she would be proposing paid parking in the carpark in the future.
The $6 million project is being funded by $2.1 million from the State Government’s southeast Queensland Community Stimulus Program and $3.9 from Scenic Rim Regional Council revenue.
Councillors voted unanimously to support the reallocation of $1.6 million to finish the works, due for completion in May/June 2026 with monthly reporting from council officers.
Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce vice-president and Gallery Walk shop owner Dwayne Chanter said he was just pleased to hear the project was still going ahead.
However, he said turning the carpark into a paid one was not ideal.
He also expressed concern over how the blowout would affect Stage Two of the development, which is the most important part, to repair the damage to the footpaths.
