The State Government is planning to upgrade the Wellington Point boating facilities to provide increased capacity for launching and retrieval of trailer boats, more parking for vehicles with trailers, and improved safety.
This is likely to cost several million dollars but will greatly benefit the few hundred boaties and jet skiers who use the Wellington Point ramps.
Three design options have been published by Maritime Safety Queensland, as part of a State Government community consultation process.
All three design options for the Wellington Point boating facilities upgrade carefully stay outside the Moreton Bay Ramsar site, and include:
- Construction of two new floating walkways for access to boats launched from the boat ramps on the southern side of Wellington Point Jetty;
- Construction of a large new breakwater south of the Jetty; and
- A short extension of the breakwater on the northern side of the Jetty.
Community Information Sessions
The Government is holding community information sessions where people can come along for a face-to-face chat to understand the project better:
- Session 1: 12pm to 2pm on Tuesday 26 May 2026
- Session 2: 5pm to 7pm on Wednesday 27 May 2026
- Location: Level 2, Palms Atrium
Redland Sporting Club, Anson Road, Wellington Point
Design option differences
The design options differ significantly in how they deal with provision of parking for vehicles towing trailers.
Marine Safety Queensland’s “Leading Option” has a wide new breakwater creating reclaimed land with room for 35 new trailable parking bays, 16 new car parking bays, 2 accessible trailable parking spaces, and 2 accessible parking spaces.
The “Alternative option 1” features a much narrower breakwater with no car parks, just a concrete pedestrian path. But this option would extend the existing bitumen car parking area further south to provide 49 new trailable parking bays, 36 new car parking bays, 2 accessible trailable parking spaces, and 2 accessible parking spaces. A “significant part” of the Wellington Point Reserve would be re-purposed to make room for the extra car parks.
The “Alternative option 2” includes construction of the narrow breakwater south of the Jetty, but no additional parking.
Demand forecasting study
The need for an upgrade of the Wellington Point boating facilities was discussed in the Queensland Recreational Boating Facilities Demand Forecasting Study 2022 for the Redland Local Government Area which was prepared by consultants BMT and published in April 2023.
BMT estimated an “active fleet’ of trailer boats using boat ramps in the Redlands on a good boating day. This comprises trailer boats owned by Redlands residents (62%) and boat users visiting Redlands from Brisbane (17.7%) or elsewhere (20.3%). The estimated total active fleet size was projected out to 2041.
This study found that the Wellington Point boat ramps were used by about 15% of the trailer boat fleet using facilities in the Redlands. The William Street ramps at Cleveland Point were used by 24% of the fleet. The Victoria Point (Colburn Avenue) ramps were used by 22% of the fleet.
Using these numbers, we can calculate the projected number of users for the Wellington Point boating facilities.
| Year | 2021 | 2026 | 2031 | 2036 | 2041 |
| Redlands active fleet on good boating day | 1,599 | 1,704 | 1,798 | 1,880 | 1,961 |
| Wellington Point share of active fleet (15%) | 241 | 257 | 271 | 284 | 296 |
BMT’s report included a proposal for Wellington Point which is similar to what Maritime Safety Queensland is currently proposing as its “Leading option”.
The BMT version included a net gain of parking spaces for 75 trailable parking bays.
The demand forecasting study estimated that the proposed works for Wellington Point boating upgrades would cost a total of $6.2 million.
This cost estimate, published in April 2023, was within a plus or minus 50% range i.e. between $3.1 million and $9.3 million.
The total cost estimate included $3.2 million for “waterside infrastucture” and $3.0 million for “landside infrastructure”.
It’s likely that in Queensland’s overheated construction sector, the cost to deliver such a facility will have increased enormously since 2023.
Environmental and other issues for Wellington Point boating facilities
BMT’s proposed solution “allows for the maximum capacity to be achieved between the existing dredge channel area and the boundary of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site”.
The three design options currently put forward for consultation by Maritime Safety Queensland also align the proposed large new breakwater next to the boundary of the Ramsar site. The Ramsar boundary is shown as a dashed line in each of the design options.
Given the proximity of the proposed works to the Ramsar site consideration should be given to referring the project to find out if the Federal Government will deem it to be a controlled action under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
Construction of the new facilities would be in the Moreton Bay Marine Park so would still require State Government environmental approvals.
A business case for the proposed project would also need to discuss consultation about Indigenous culture and heritage issues.
Even if you do not expect to be using the proposed boating facilities, you may still wish to comment on the various design options.
The proposal to expand boating facilities at Wellington Point Reserve is likely to have some impact on the amenity and enjoyment of this area by non-boating people, especially if Alternative 2 is selected which would expand the bitumen car park for new trailable parking bays.
You might want to comment on other facilities in Moreton Bay that may have more urgent needs for upgrades.
Have your say about Wellington Point boating facilities
Maritime Safety Queensland is inviting people to have a say about the proposed design options for upgrading the Wellington Point boating facilities, by completing an online survey.
The survey asks the following questions:
- Where do you live or normally travel from when using the Wellington Point Boating Facilities?
- How do you currently use the Wellington Point Boating Facilities?
- Having reviewed the leading design and the two alternative designs, which option do you prefer?
- Would you like to provide any comments to explain your response to the previous question? (optional)
- What features or improvements are most important to you at the Wellington Point Boating Facilities?
- Are there any environmental, cultural, or community considerations that you think should be taken into account during the business case process?
- Overall, do you support an upgrade to the Wellington Point Boating Facilities to improve safety and efficiency? Yes/No
- Do you have any other comments or suggestions about the Wellington Point Boating Facilities Upgrade Business Case?
- Would you like to receive project updates by email?
If you want to provide a long submission, send it to: boatinginfrastructure@msq.qld.gov.au
Have your say by Sunday 31 May 2026.
Redlands2030 – 15 May 2026
Updated 24 May 2026 with inclusion of details about two community information sessions.
