By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
Fact finding trip to investigate Asian developers’ plans for mega fun park…
BANGHOLME’S paddocks could be home to a giant theme park under a proposal from a China-based developer.
Greater Dandenong Mayor Jim Memeti said Chongqing Mexin (Group) Industry Pty Ltd could possibly create either a Chinese or Gold Coast-type theme park.
“We’re really excited about securing something like this,” Cr Memeti said.
The company has proposed building the theme park within a 43-hectare paddock at 616 Frankston-Dandenong Road.
The site is in a green-wedge zone which is close to Eastlink.
Cr Memeti and the council’s Greater Dandenong Business group manager Paul Kearsley will visit the city of Chongqing on 23 October as part of a council-paid business trip to a Chinese trade fair this month.
Mr Kearsley said they would visit several factories as well as the proponent’s Changjiang Scenic Spot theme park.
“The purpose of this part of the trip to China is to visit the theme park to see its size, type of operation etc… to get an idea of what might be proposed for the site on Frankston-Dandenong Road,” Mr Kearsley said.
Mr Kearsley said Chongqing Mexin’s owner had indicated he could provide government and chamber of commerce contacts in the city – which may provide opportunities for Greater Dandenong businesses.
In August, a $500 million Chinese theme park was unveiled by a different consortium for a 15-hectare site in Wyong shire, NSW.
Talked up as a tourist attraction to rival the Sydney Opera House, the Chappypie China Time theme park is expected to open in stages from 2016 and attract a growing Chinese tourism market.
Mr Kearsley said it couldn’t be assumed that the Bangholme proposal would be similar in style.
“I’ll be going (to Chongqing) with an open mind, looking to see if the park fits in from a business point of view – its business model, what jobs it might create, whether it would include a hotel and conference centre.
“We want to see if, as an investment, it’s a good thing for Dandenong.”
Grant Hailes, who is managing director of development consultants Beveridge Williams, said preliminary investigations into potential markets were in train to determine the “right sort” of development for the site.
For more on the impending council trip, see page 51.
