Whitsunday Regional Council has established a Major Projects Advisory Board to oversee almost $200 million of regional capital projects to be delivered by council over the next 18 months.

The board is made up of WRC Mayor Andrew Willcox, deputy Mayor John Collins, chief executive officer Barry Omundson, director of engineering Jason Raiteri, chief staff officer Paul Fendley (secretariat) and five  independent board members recruited from around Australia.

The independent board members include Proserpine old boy and former Queensland treasurer Andrew Fraser, procurement and contract specialist Brad McCosker, major capital program delivery expert Nick Jukes, urban planning and major project delivery guru Michael Kerry and IT expert and business process specialist Peter Carr.

Cr Willcox said he was elated to have such a diverse and experienced board to help ensure council delivered the long list of major projects including Shute Harbour Restoration, Airlie Beach Foreshore Revitalisation, Greening and Growing Bowen and Whitsunday Coast Airport upgrades.

“CEO Barry Omundson and I identified a risk to efficiently delivering council’s normal 2017/18 $30 million capital works program in conjunction with the $200 million in co-funding projects to help rebuild our region post Tropical Cyclone Debbie," he said.

“This board has been established to provide advisory oversight to ensure we increase council’s capacity to deliver an unprecedented project delivery program over the next few years.”

Having recently returned from speaking at the European Union Parliament in Brussels, Peter Carr said the opportunity to assist the Whitsunday region was a “no-brainer”.

“Having attended St John Bosco in Collinsville from 1979-81, I feel a true affiliation with communities across the region and am delighted to be invited to work in an advisory capacity.”

Nick Jukes lived in Mackay and Bowen in the early 1980’s and was involved in the infrastructure delivery at Hay Point and Abbot Point ports.

“I visited the Whitsundays regularly and learned to appreciate the potential of the region from a development and tourism perspective,” he said.

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