Lakeland’s tourism gateway to Cape York will be revitalised after receiving $998,000 in funding through Round 4 of the Queensland Government’s successful $295 million Building our Regions (BoR) program.
The project is also being supported with $290,000 from the Cook Shire Council, bringing total funding to $1,288,000.
Member for Cook Cynthia Lui said the new gateway will include a tourist information centre, interactive sculpture park, rest stop, and a walkable board game that can be played via a mobile phone app.
“Visitors to Cape York have increased by about 6000 vehicles since 2012, with more than 27,000 visiting vehicles driving the cape in 2018,” Ms Lui said.
“Lakeland is the unofficial gateway to Cape York and these revitalisation works will help attract more people to the Far North.”.
Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said the centre will act as a central information point for travellers.
“From where to stay and what to do – national parks, 4WD adventures, local culture, heritage and environment – people will be able to stop by and find out how they can maximise their visit to the cape.
Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott said the growing tourism opportunities for the region are immeasurable and present great potential for jobs and career growth, small business development and investment.
“These opportunities will be lost without appropriate tourist information in key locations to influence travellers to stop over,” Mr Scott said.
“We are very pleased that the Queensland Government has come on board to help us deliver this important piece of tourism infrastructure.”
Round 4 of Building our Regions will see the Palaszczuk Government partner with 37 councils on 49 projects – work which will create an estimated 657 jobs.
Under previous rounds, the program has allocated $225 million to 174 critical infrastructure projects across the state, generating 1762 jobs and attracting additional investment of $353.5 million from councils and other organisations.
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