Bowen – beautiful one day, even more beautiful the next

Bowen is set to become an even more attractive location for domestic and international tourists through $5 million funding from the Palaszczuk Government towards the Whitsunday Regional Council’s ‘Developing Bowen Townscape – the Beautiful Bowen’ project.
 
Visiting Bowen to announce the funding, Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the project would see an abundance of beautifying works in the town centre.
 
“The townscape improvements will clearly enhance Bowen’s existing charm and further the town’s reputation as a tourist destination,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
 
“Increasing visitor numbers and improving their overall experience will obviously boost the local economy and on top of that, the council estimates this project will create or support 55 jobs, which is terrific news for locals.
 
“Apart from tourism, the great legacy from a project like this is that it will not only increase liveability for Bowen residents, it could also attract more families to live in this spectacular part of the world.
 
“This is another example of the Palaszczuk Government delivering on an election commitment for regional Queenslanders.” 

The Beautiful Bowen project works will include:

• feature steel signs north and south approaches of the Bruce Highway
• extensive tree planting and turfing
• new installation of art and art canvas walls
• feature lighting to signage and art
• upgrading roundabouts, streetscapes
• upgrading footpaths
• street furniture including seats, bins, bubblers
• signage and wayfinding

Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Andrew Willcox said the townscape works will make an enormous difference to the Bowen community. 

“The people here are rightly proud of their town and these improvements will give them an even greater source of pride as they see more and more tourists staying here for longer periods,” Cr Willcox said.

“The council appreciates the State’s support following the damage inflicted by Cyclone Debbie last year and this project is a wonderful example of what can be achieved when the two levels of government work together for the community.”
 
The Beautiful Bowen project works are expected to be complete by mid-2019.
 
Media contact: Martin Philip 0427 194 548