Bowen Jetty engagement
Community input has played a central role in shaping the future of the Bowen Jetty. This page provides a detailed overview of the engagement activities undertaken during the pre-design phase, outlining how locals, stakeholders and Traditional Owners were invited to share their views and ideas.
From surveys and pop-up sessions to workshops, stakeholder meetings and youth initiatives, these activities helped NQBP understand what the jetty means to the Bowen community, how it is used today and what people would like to see in the future. The feedback gathered through these engagement activities has directly informed the concept design and ongoing planning for the project.
An online survey on the two concept design options was open for four weeks to understand what locals valued and wanted in the future Bowen Jetty.
Download the summary of the survey results.
To reach all residents and businesses in Bowen with information about the jetty concepts and encourage widespread feedback, a community flyer was developed and distributed to residents and businesses in Bowen via Australia Post.
Pop-up information sessions were held in the community at Bowen State High School, Bowen PCYC, Centre Point Plaza Shopping Centre, Bowen Community Markets and at the Bowen Show.
The information sessions allowed people to chat with the project team, learn more about the concept design options and how to have their say through the survey.
Further engagements with key stakeholder groups to seek feedback on the concept designs included Bowen Collinsville Enterprise (BCE), Whitsunday Regional Council (WRC), Maritime Safety Queensland, Bowen Chamber of Commerce, Save the Jetty Committee, Bowen Community Centre and a local developer.
The project engaged specialist consultant, Dr Kim de Rijke, to undertake a Cultural Values Report as part of the design development and included a face-to-face site visit.
Discovery phase engagement summary: March 2024
How locals had a say
Thank you to all in the Bowen community who gave input into the pre-design phase of the Bowen Wharf Project.
What we heard
In this Discover phase, you told us what you value about the jetty, how you like to use it, what improvements are needed and ideas for the future.
These eight key themes were consistently raised:
The winners of the Design your Dream Jetty Competition have been announced.
Around 100 Bowen youth designed their dream jetty as part of the art competition held by NQBP.
Check out all of the entries on the competition page.
The pre-design phase online survey was open for just over four weeks with 601 responses received.
Most respondents were local to Bowen and gave feedback about how the jetty is used, what is most valued about the jetty and ideas for the design.
Insights from this survey build upon the feedback from a previous community survey about the Bowen Jetty run by the Bowen Chamber of Commerce.
We met with the Kyburra Munda Yalga Board and other Juru Elders and walked the jetty together.
Emerging themes from our conversations during these visits include the protection and preservation of local marine life and further education of the Bowen and visiting community of Juru’s occupation of Bowen pre-settlement and their continued connection to Sea Country.
We are excited about the opportunity to strengthen the Juru story through the Bowen Wharf Project through ongoing conversations and engagement.
A workshop was held with 38 Bowen State High School students from years 7 through 12.
The two-hour workshop aimed to give a voice to Bowen’s young people about the future of the jetty and to give interested students hands-on experience with a real-world design project.
The project team held two workshops with 33 Bowen local community members, elected representatives, business representatives, tourism operators and community groups.
The EbD workshops provided insights and input from a representation of the broad Bowen community in the important pre-design phase.
These sessions helped define the place brief, align expectations, identify the right uses and facilities to incorporate into the design and better plan for current and future needs.
View the Enquiry by Design presentation.
An open information session was held at the Bowen PCYC.
Information presented at the Enquiry by Design workshops and feedback given to date was shared and discussed with the 13 members of the community who attended.