Full steam ahead on Townsville cyclone shelter

Member for Townsville Mandy Johnstone and Minister for Main Roads, Fisheries and Marine Infrastructure and Member for Thuringowa Craig Wallace today turned the sod on the $5.4 million category five cyclone shelter at Heatley Secondary College in Townsville.

Premier Anna Bligh said the shelter was one of 10 being constructed in North Queensland as part of the $60 million cyclone shelter program jointly established by the Bligh Government and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

“The start of construction on this project represents another huge step forward for our $60 million cyclone shelter program,” the Premier said.

“This government is getting on with the job of building these cyclone shelters for the people of North Queensland – the Townsville community can expect to see this shelter complete by the end of November, weather permitting.”

Baulderstone Queensland Pty Ltd won the tender to construct the shelter at the end of last year.

Ms Johnstone said the cyclone shelter at Heatley Secondary College was an extremely important project to the Townsville community.

“Not only will this facility provide a safe and secure shelter for locals in the event of a category five cyclone, but it will also act as a multi-purpose sports facility for year-round use by locals,” Ms Johnstone said.

“In addition, it’s an extremely welcome boost for the local construction industry, supporting approximately 36 jobs over the life of the project.

“By using a select tender process we deliberately targeted local contractors, in turn maximising the opportunities for flow on benefits to local suppliers, sub-contractors and the local community.

“Having an office in Townsville, Baulderstone is very familiar with the local market and have established working relationships with local sub-contractors and suppliers – so through this project they have been able to stimulate the local construction industry and make use of local resources.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be here today to witness the start of construction on this cyclone shelter, which will have such wide-reaching benefits,” she said.

Mr Wallace said the shelter would be located on the current site of Heatley Secondary College’s outdoor volleyball courts.

“The new building will be more than 1,500m2 in size and will include a multipurpose sports hall for sports such as netball and basketball,” Mr Wallace said.

“A sports lab classroom is also included as part of the facility for year-round use by the school – this classroom can also be used for refuge during a disaster, similar to the sports hall area.

“There will also be office space built into the facility, with the key purpose of providing communication facilities in the case of a cyclone – however throughout the year, it will provide office accommodation and staff amenities for teaching personnel.

“The building will have 10 toilets and five showers, and two water tanks in the roof which are gravity fed to the toilets and showers during a cyclone.

“It will also contain a kitchen, a generator room and a storage room for chairs that would be used during a disaster.

“In the case of a cyclone, the town power supply may cease in which case a generator is activated – if the generator fails, emergency batteries stored in the cyclone shelter will commence operation.”

Minister for Government Services, Building Industry and Information and Communication Technology Simon Finn said the shelter would ultimately make the Townsville community more resilient.

“This cyclone shelter will be constructed in accordance with the Design Guidelines for Queensland Public Cyclone Shelters and will be capable or withstanding winds of more than 300 kilometres per hour, as experienced in a category five cyclone,” Mr Finn said.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) is managing the delivery of the Townsville cyclone shelter, as well as shelters in Ingham, Bowen, Port Douglas, Proserpine, Tully, Weipa and Yeppoon.

The cyclone shelter in Mackay is being managed by the Department of Education and Training as part of the delivery of a new Eimeo State High School. The Edmonton cyclone shelter is being designed and delivered independently by the Cairns Regional Council through a grant funding arrangement with the State Government.

“In total, the cyclone shelter projects are expected to support 400 jobs over the life of the program,” Mr Finn said.

Media contact:
Mandy Johnstone’s electorate office: 4772 4711
Craig Wallace’s electorate office: 4773 3116
Minister Finn’s office: 0429 683 442