By Chris Thomson | posted on July 6, 2018
WITH the University of Western Australia beating TransWA to the punch by securing Albany’s former train station for its wave energy centre, the intrastate bus operator is planning a new terminus at a vacant block across the street.
A City briefing paper shows a bid from UWA defeated offers by TransWA and the South Coast Natural Resource Management group for the right to lease the train station building.
The paper outlines a plan for TransWA to use a new bus canopy and portable ticketing office it intends to erect on 58 per cent of a grassy, City-owned site on the other side of Proudlove Parade.
TransWA is scheduled to stop pulling its buses up outside the historic building by June next year.
Leasing the council plot would cost TransWA $9600 a year for the next three years, at which point a rent review will ensue.
The City plans to build a car park on the remaining 42 per cent of the plot, as pictured.
Council staff have budgeted $148,940 to build the car park and for design and civil works.
Of that amount, TransWA has agreed in principle to contribute $83,449 for design and civil works on its side of the block.
Financing the ticket office and bus canopy will also be TransWA’s responsibility.
A recommendation to approve the lease agreement and $148,940 budget allocation will be considered by a City committee on July 10, ahead of full council deliberations further down the line.
