A free lesson

AND now for something completely different — let’s talk about Townsville.

This tropical city sits on the frontier of Queensland’s vast outback and is the self-declared capital of Australia’s state of “Far North Queensland” (FNQ).

For the record, FNQ isn’t really a state — just don’t tell the North Queenslanders that, they’d all be devastated.

You see, according to FNQ locals those “southerners” in Brisbane wouldn’t have a clue.

And the arctic villages of Sydney and Melbourne have only been vaguely heard of up there.

The locals are largely a very happy lot. Sure, they’re still dark at Clive Palmer for the Queensland Nickel disaster but many are on his case to get things going again.

Yet, to a person, none would swap for quids the spectacular sunny days and balmy evenings of their FNQ “winter”.

To be fair, their “summer” is intense, hot, wet and energy-sappingly humid, testing even the hardiest, with the odd cyclone.

While Newcastle and Wollongong have economic and industrial histories akin to Geelong, Townsville has many similarities at a very practical level and brims with ideas and experience we could well draw upon.

Let’s start with a problematic CBD mall. Our Lt Malop St mall was for years only pedestrianised, then cars were brought back but is still not quite right.

Townsville had the (much longer) Flinders St Mall running through the heart of their CBD. It was pedestrianised for years, but most traditional retail businesses gradually moved out.

People voted with their feet, partly as they could not easily park and partly due to the contemporaneous rise of large suburban shopping centres. Sound familiar?

Cars now drive both ways on a refreshed Flinders St and you can park along much of it. But the retail damage seems long done and Townsville’s CBD is now gradually reenergising with offices, hotels, eating establishments and medium-rise apartments.

Intertwined is the vexed issue of paid CBD parking. To encourage people back into their CBD, this year Townsville Council reduced parking fines and introduced free 15minute parking. Press a special button, the meter prints a ticket and you park free for that time.

When parking for longer, council simply allows 15 minutes more than the time printed on the normal paid ticket.

The Townsville council predicts this will allow “everyone the chance to drop into the city to pick up a coffee, return a library book, post a letter or run errands without having to pay for a park”.

Such measures alone won’t solve CBD issues — there are no silver bullets — but are among those good “one percenters” that can only help. Plus, and more esoterically perhaps, such an offer conveys a greater sense of welcome.

In the bigger picture, both cities have city deals. Geelong’s deal still remains largely on paper and subject to continuing political argy-bargy.

Yet Townsville’s 2016 city deal — the first in the country — is already delivering with the federal and Queensland governments actually collaborating, despite being of different political colours.

The Townsville City Deal progress report of April 2018 cited commencement of the $250 million North Queensland Stadium, a major water supply improvement project, Port Channel upgrades and a business case for a new rail corridor as practical outcomes of their deal so far.

Our city deal currently hinges largely around Geelong’s longawaited Convention Centre.

Daniel Andrews promised this on the same night as he announced the formation of the Geelong Planning Authority in 2015. We must keep pushing actively for this deal and for the centre.

Since 1993, hosting conventions has become an integral component of Townsville’s economic credentials. Convention attendees are among the highest yielding travellers. Yet, at a capacity of 800, the Townsville Convention Centre is now proving too small, according to the Townsville Bulletin — a good lesson for those planning Geelong’s centre.

Geelong can well draw on practical ideas from other major regional cities like Townsville, not necessarily imitating but enhancing. Learning from others is an essential characteristic of a truly clever and creative city.