‘TELL THEM THEY’RE JOKING’ Story, Page 2.
Roma St no challenge to Carnival
BRISBANE is dreaming if it thinks one garden in the Roma Street Parklands will rival the entire Carnival of Flowers.
That’s the message Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio is today sending to the River City, after The CourierMail published an article saying the park could be a “thorn in the side” for the Garden City’s top event.
BRISBANE is kidding itself if it thinks Roma Street Parkland is any competition to the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers. That is the message Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio is sending to the River City after The Courier-Mail, The Chronicle’s sister publication, published an article saying the park could be a “thorn in the side” for the Garden City’s top event.
The article highlighted the park’s Spectacle Garden, which features 15,000 plants throughout it and “includes an informal croton hedge with contrasting red and yellow colours in a stylised interpretation of the Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent”.
“Roma Street Parklands planted 15,000 plants,” Cr Antonio said. “Now try Toowoomba, for the Carnival this year we’ve planted 177,000 seedlings and 12,000 bulbs.
“Brisbane is kidding themselves. One swallow doesn’t make a summer. They’re joking.”
Cr Antonio said he had “a bit to say” to Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner about the suggestion that the Brisbane park was better than Toowoomba.
“We have the occasional discussion of this nature,” Cr Antonio said.
“While Roma Street Parklands might be okay, I don’t think there is a chance they can compete with what we have in Toowoomba, with almost 300,000 attendees during carnival in 2019.
“Look at what we’ve achieved, we have a 71 year history, we’ve won major awards … places like Queens Park have been enjoyed by generations of Toowoomabanites going back to 1800s.”
The 2020 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers will run from September 18 to 28.