Drift restaurant ‘eyesore’ given green light to lodge revitalisation plan
FOOTAGE of the Drift restaurant smashing into the Go Between Bridge became an enduring image of the 2011 floods. But the shell which remains more than four years later is an “eyesore” Christopher Levy wants to endure no longer.
Resident Christopher Levy says the Drift restaurant site on the Brisbane River is an eyesore. Photo: Chris McCormack.
The Auchenflower resident said the prominent building perched on the Brisbane River at Milton had become a “disgrace and an eyesore on our beautiful river”.
“It is literally rusting away, helped along by a liberal dosage of vandalism and graffiti,” he said.
Drift restaurant at Milton was destroyed by flooding in January 2011. Picture: Long Bruce
Permission granted by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) on May 12 for lease holder Kenneth Allsop to lodge a development application with Brisbane City Council could pave the way for the site’s revitalisation.
The tenant has a 30-year lease on the state-owned pontoon.
However DNRM and council disagree about the next step of redevelopment.
“The leaseholder has been progressively cleaning up the site since the 2011 floods, and commenced some reconstruction and site preparation works in late 2013,” the DNRM spokesman said.
“However, further construction work on the site now depends on Brisbane City Council granting approval of a development application and any necessary council building approvals.”
A Brisbane City Council spokesman said work continued towards rebuilding, however any development application would need to be submitted to DNRM as the assessment manager.
Mr Allsop was unable to be reached for comment.
State Mt Coot-tha ALP MP Steven Miles said residents would welcome a new restaurant.
“We have many great restaurants and cafes and whole districts but there are not many that are situated literally on the river.” he said.
“We’d all love to see something new there and it would certainly be better than the shell there currently,” he said.
Source: Courier Mail - Quest Newspaper, Douglas Estwick, July 16th 2015
