Mayor Ian Tiley has signalled it’s high time to start addressing the completion of the Maclean CBD Riverside Precinct Boardwalk.
In a Mayoral Minute at the April Ordinary Council Meeting at Maclean Council Chambers, Mayor Tiley moved a motion that Council seek State and/or Federal funding to enable an updated, relevant, and compatible design and estimate for the completion of the boardwalk, and to subsequently seek funding to complete the project.
After some discussion, the Mayor’s motion received unanimous support from the nine councillors.
The upgrades have been in the making since the Butterworth Plan spawned the idea three decades ago.
In 2012 Council adopted a resolution for an amended Maclean Riverside Precinct Plan. At that time issues were identified with the requirement for the NSW Fisheries to be relocated in order for Stage 3 to progress.
“There were concerns regarding the perceived need for property acquisitions including the Fisheries premises,” Mayor Tiley said.
“It is now over ten years since the resolution was adopted by council. There are considerable benefits of completing the boardwalk including enhancing tourism, passive recreation, connecting the courthouse precinct with the relatively new McLachlan Park, and opening the CBD to the Clarence River. This latter benefit was one of the original goals of the Butterworth Plan.
“There is now, I am advised, modern technology which would enable placing of pylons in the river to go around the Fisheries building and any other structural impediments in the remaining section to avoid acquisitions.”
Cr Bill Day echoed the Mayor’s push for the boardwalk completion to be addressed by Council as a matter of priority.
“I believe we owe a commitment to the Maclean community,” Cr Day said.
