Beach revamp under way

Stage one of the long-awaited Middleton Beach redevelopment has begun, with Tricoast Civil starting the preliminarily works yesterday morning.

It was the first major work at the site since the Esplanade Hotel was demolished in 2007.

Initial works will include the realignment of Flinders Parade and the roundabout. Tricoast operations manager Damon Lawrence said it was exciting to start work.

“We’ve been looking forward to this, we’re excited to get under way and it’s going to be a good project,” he said.

“The first part for us is to do the realignment work for that section of Flinders Parade, so we’re going to do that as soon as we can.” Mr Lawrence said he expected the initial realignment to be completed by December.

The roadworks will realign Flinders Parade between Barnett Street and Adelaide Crescent and construct a new section along the Middleton Beach foreshore.

The realignment drastically alters the current intersection, pushing the main roundabout further west, allowing for a hotel development to the north-west of the Three Anchors restaurant.

The Middleton Beach activity centre was approved by former planning minister Donna Faragher in January, paving the way for construction works to begin on the area, which includes the former Esplanade Hotel site.