'Can't keep bleeding money': Will revamp make us Australia's Mediterranean?

But the ideas - which include a geothermal spa and hotel accommodation - would require private investment and state government intervention on Crown Land rules to make it possible.

City councillors on Monday, February 5, 2024 voted unanimously to adopt a staged plan for a reimagined Flagstaff Hill after it went out for public consultation.

Cr Debbie Arnott said the 50-year-old facility did not suit today's environment.

"It's tired...the buildings need work," she said.

"Council cannot keep bleeding money into a facility that's in such a decline."

Cr Arnott said visitation numbers were dropping, and the council was tipping in $720,000 each year to keep it, and the attached visitor information centre, open.

"It's just not driving visitors to the region," she said.

"We've found the reinvestment in the sound and light show did not result in additional visitation."

Cr Arnott said Flagstaff Hill was located on one of the most prominent positions in Warrnambool, and the plan gave them an "opportunity" to take real advantage of the site.

She said there were more than 500 responses to an online survey, and most agreed the attraction needed to be reimagined.

"If we want to be looking towards the future, if we want to create a better tourism destination we need to be able to adopt this plan," Cr Arnott said.

"We need to get involved, adopt this plan. I fully support this new vision."

But she warned it was going to take some work.

The vision includes turning the water pond into a spa and a wellness centre as well as a 40 to 80-room hotel complex, a brewery or distillery and storm-viewing tower and lift.

Cr Max Taylor said the days of sailboats sitting in the water pond were no longer an attraction to Flagstaff Hill - most vessels being removed in recent years after they began to rot.

"Life is changing and the drawcard of tourist attractions is changing," he said.

"It has been identified in the reimagined vision and opportunities plan that a geothermal wellness and heated water spa park would be a preferred option to secure the future of Flagstaff Hill as a major tourist attraction."

Cr Taylor said Warrnambool lies 38 degrees south of the equator, while 38 degree north runs right through the middle of the Mediterranean sea.

"Why not envisage Warrnambool as the number one Australian Mediterranean geothermal wellness and spa attraction along with the already successful Deep Blue Spa Resort," he said.

"This potential attraction would surpass most other Victorian tourist attractions and promote and market Warrnambool as a most desired place to stay and visit in Australia.

"Undoubtedly, a business case proposal will have to be conceived to identify this drawcard along with new lease terms for the site and invite financial contributions from the private sector."

Cr Richard Ziegeler said he would love to swap Warrnambool's wind with the Mediterranean's.

He said the ideas for a reimagined Flagstaff Hill had come from the community, not consultants, which was "critical".

Cr Ziegeler said it was heartening that part of the vision for the site included First People's-led experiences.

But he said Flagstaff Hill also had important museum artefacts that needed to be looked after.

Cr Otha Akoch said it was exciting to see a vision to bring back life to Flagstaff Hill and generate income for the city.

He said it had been a liability on the council budget for many years.

Mayor Ben Blain said if the council followed the vision for the site "it could continue to be an asset for our city".

Councillors also raised concerns about the impact of the new Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority on its plans for the site.

Chief executive officer Andrew Mason said the plan provided officers with a framework for where the important community asset needed to go over a "longer period of time".

In the first two years of the staged project, a detailed site masterplan and designs would be done including unlocking investment opportunities for First Peoples-led experiences.

In three to five years, the aim is to deliver interim capital works and progress planning related to commercial investment opportunities.

The final stage, which is at least five years away, will be progressing commercial investment.

Some of the public feedback labelled the ideas "pie in the sky dreams" and raised concerns about the double-up of geothermal businesses in Warrnambool. But there were also those who labelled the ideas "fantastic".