Backing for surf park at Torquay

Hamish Heard
A Torquay tourism group yesterday greeted plans for a $7 million surfing theme park in the town with a big thumbs up.
Surf Coast Shire this week unveiled plans to investigate a revamp at Torquay’s Surfworld Museum, including a new indoor skate precinct and surfing-related water theme park.
A Simply Great Leisure Consulting Group report stated the project would ensure Torquay’s recognition as the “home of the international surf industry”.
The proposal was one of three options the consultants identified for the precinct, including leaving it unchanged or spending $9.5 million on a “cultural heritage attraction” with theatres and an eating and retail precinct.
The report estimated the drawcard would lure an extra 200,000 to 250,000 visitors to Torquay each year.
Torquay Commerce and Tourism president David Muir said the surfing theme park option was the most suitable.
“The concept behind having a theme park for surfing is a no-brainer and we’re in full support of it,” he said.
However, he said the proposal had to be adapted so it could offer the town’s tourism industry year-round benefits.
“As it is, it won’t get a flogging all year round but certainly for those three or four months of the year it would draw a lot of people in,” Mr Muir said.
“To get the most out of it a section needs to be undercover or heated so it could have a year-round purpose – something you could use when it’s only five degrees outside.”
Mr Muir suggested a roofed section with heated water as a way to attract tourists during winter.
While the organisation was excited about the possibility of a surfing theme park, Mr Muir was quick to point out no money had been set aside for the proposal.
“At the moment it’s just a work in progress,” he said.
The report stated council was unable to fund the project within five years unless it secured government grants and advised the shire to begin exploring private investment opportunities.
Councillors this week voted to send the report to Surf Coast Tourism Board members for comment.