Located in North Queensland, Hinchinbrook Shire’s ‘Our Town Our Future’ strategy is believed to be Queensland’s most awarded project, having taken out seven State, national and international awards.
Jointly developed by Council and consultants Vital Places, the strategy focuses on catalyst infrastructure projects for the town of Ingham. It is designed to reignite growth and strengthen the town’s unique identity and lifestyle, ultimately delivering more than $330 million in direct benefits to the region.
Public infrastructure investment initiatives include the Tyto Wetlands Centre, a cultural and technology centre, business incubation cluster, sustainable housing, environmental parklands, town trail, and an annual events program.
The strategy has been endorsed by State and Local Governments as a model of ‘smart infrastructure’ that could assist other communities outside major regional centres struggling to survive.
Queensland Local Government Minister, Warren Pitt, said the Ingham project has created a regionally significant hub that supports emerging cultural and environmental businesses in the Shire.
“The Ingham project showcases some of North Queensland’s best features and boosts the local economy,” Minister Pitt said. “Ingham’s Tyto wetlands attract tourists from all around the world, and this project will ensure the wetlands are conserved for many years ahead.
“I commend the Ingham community for a project that helps capture the area’s identity while caring for the environment.”
Vital Places Director, Robert Prestipino, said fringe townships throughout Queensland needed to prosper through the growth of their regions to ensure their long term vitality and character.
“The best way to promote local employment and preserve lifestyle is to secure the right infrastructure,” he said. “Small subregional communities need infrastructure investment that delivers more than traditional responses that focus on growth management issues of our regional cities.
“Road widenings, transport corridors and urban consolidation don’t mean much when you have a declining workforce and an above average ageing population. We need investment in infrastructure that supports the creation of quality local employment in a lifestyle setting where it’s easy to raise a family.”
Hinchinbrook Shire CEO, Robert Clark, said smaller townships need private investment in new business development, and pubic investment in infrastructure is needed to create the catalyst for private sector investment and confidence.
“Each community has its own character, but by following the model we’ve used in Ingham, communities can be innovative in identifying what’s unique to them and what needs developing in their Local Government area,” he said. “It can also help them build an outcomes focused plan they can take to State and Federal Governments for funding support.”
The process behind Our Town Our Future is now being applied by a unique collaboration of Hinchinbrook Shire, Burdekin Shire and the newly amalgamated Charters Towers Regional Council, to focus regional planning and development.
The NQ3 Enterprise Strategy is articulating the special needs of low growth areas around Townsville to secure public infrastructure investment as a catalyst for their social and economic sustainability.
The process is being facilitated by Queensland’s Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry (DTRDI) as a best practice model of Local Government collaboration in North Queensland.
Regional Director – Northern for DTRDI, Peter Mellor, said the model provides a targeted approach towards the bigger vision for a region and the elements needed to support that vision.
“In most cases, these elements are infrastructure related, and the model helps communities identify infrastructure funding opportunities,” he said. “Place-based enterprise supports regional and rural centres by helping them connect and collaborate
with their neighbouring regions and cities.”
For further information contact Robert Clark at Hinchinbrook Shire on
(07) 4776 4600 or Robert Prestipino at Vital Places on 0414 550 975.
