QUARRY GARDENS HOPE FOR FUTURE
FOR more than 20 years, the Quarry Gardens project has languished on infrastructure priority lists.
The 10-hectare abandoned quarry is a jagged reminder of an untapped opportunity despite extensive plans once drawn up investigating its world-class potential.
Proponents believe it will rival the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island and let Toowoomba further live up to its Garden City tag.
But whether the project, costed at up to $60 million including a concert hall, education centres and miles of walking tracks, is ever constructed remains to be seen despite support from tourism bodies, the business sector and football legend Shane Webcke.
“You know, the Carnival of Flowers is fantastic but it’s only one week of the year.
“This could be a year-round attraction bringing visitors from all over the world,” he said.
A WORLD-CLASS Quarry Gardens project perched on Toowoomba’s escarpment would define and transform how the world sees the city.
Competing tourism bodies have a united end goal of boosting visitor numbers but the strategies vary.
However, both embrace the virtue of the Quarry Gardens project and the long-term benefit to the city and wider region.
Funding for the project, which is estimated to cost up to $60 million and once had a firm commitment from the State Government, remains the major roadblock despite it remaining on various priority infrastructure lists since 2003.
For Southern Queensland Country Tourism CEO Mary-Clare Power, it has the elements to be Toowoomba’s “hero attraction”.
“We don’t have something that will really put us on the international and domestic map, and I keep drawing the comparison to the Butchart Gardens,” she said.
“The alignment between the two is quite uncanny in that it started life as a quarry.
“For Toowoomba to aspire to have something (that is) complementary to Carnival of Flowers, it does give us an attraction and an absolute reason for the whole of Australia to come here.
“It’s a long-term vision. I don’t expect to see something like this in my professional life (and) there have been people well before me with this vision.”
Repeat visitors remains the key focus of SQCT as it irons out marketing plans for Toowoomba and wider Darling Downs region.
In doing so, Ms Power said the momentum would build for new projects to meet the tourism demand.
“At the moment we sell ‘come and have a country experience’, or ‘experience the four seasons that others don’t have’,” she said.
“That message into a Sydney or Melbourne market means little.
“What makes ours different and this is what I try and get into the minds of our people - the Granite Belt, the boutique wineries, turn that into your strength.
“For the domestic market and intrastate market, it’s about getting away from the coast and the country experience.”
Beyond the big projects and drawcard events such as the Carnival of Flowers are untapped ventures easily realised, according to Tourism Darling Downs.
Still in its infancy, the group - backed by big business and industry operators - sees Toowoomba becoming synonymous with a “unique, high country Australian experience”, CEO Ruth Wetmore said.
“I don’t know that we need a major attraction to be a successful destination, particularly if you look at Asia,” she said.
“There’s no question in my view (the Quarry Gardens) would be a spectacular attraction for our region.
“We have assets in the farmland and (Asian tourists) love the concept of going on to the family farm.”
Those visitors will be drawn to the region for specific experiences when the tourism fundamentals are done well such as how it is best promoted locally.
“Our biggest asset is our big skies,” she said.
“I’d like to believe we would be synonymous with a unique, high country Australian experience and you can define that with our sunny skies, open skies, beautiful natural landscape and sophisticated living.
“The great food and wine, the great experiences, and capitalise on what is unique to us.”
As an expected 200,000 visitors flood Toowoomba in the coming days, the groups are committed to refining existing experiences with a long-term view of growing the domestic market before capitalising on the growing international markets.