TATE A VISIONARY
TOM Tate’s vision for Southport sets up a strategic blueprint for the entire city. The Mayor’s proposal to use council land as a honeypot for two commercial towers with the State Government as anchor tenant is an inspired gambit. Southport is in dire need of urban renewal.
TOM Tate’s vision for Southport sets up a strategic blueprint for the entire city.
The Mayor’s proposal to use council land as a honeypot for two commercial towers with the State Government as anchor tenant is an inspired gambit.
Southport is in dire need of urban renewal.
It has made strides in recent years and remains officially recognised as the CBD.
Now it needs a fresh injection of capital and activity. And it cannot truly be considered the city’s commercial and government heart until it has a sizeable bureaucratic centrepiece.
The parcels of land in question have not realised their full potential. Indeed, there have been sporadic efforts to develop them for many years to no avail.
They are perfect sites for the sorts of developments Cr Tate is envisaging.
The business case, with the State as flagship occupant, would be irresistible to investors and banks.
Moreover, these developments would be the very definition of urban renewal.
They would lure high-earning white-collar workers into Southport, underpinning flow-on investment in small businesses, retailers and the housing market.
No less significant would be the volume of traffic removed from our arterial link to Brisbane, with hundreds of workers no longer needing to make the daily trudge up the M1.
The towers would house public servants in satellite offices across a range of major departments, including health, education, transport, police and of course tourism.
Their construction and State Government tenancy would enable the council to move back to its rightful home in Southport. The mantra of leading urban planners across the planet is to decentralise and develop cluster cities surrounding the core CBD.
This plan fits neatly into that thinking. Fewer cars equals less congestion and lower carbon emissions.
It also improves productivity and enhances the quality of life of workers spending less time on the motorway.
It also crystallises the identity and purpose of Southport which in turn creates a clearer picture of the entire Gold Coast.
Historically, Southport has always been our CBD. It’s where our government, our hospital, our court, main police station and other administrative functions were based.
That is still largely the case. Gold Coast University Hospital is one of the biggest in the state.
Our Supreme Court – which our weight of population will bring here sooner or later – will be in Southport.
And Griffith University’s biggest campus is also in Southport, straddling the hospital.
Building these towers is the logical next step. If it doesn’t happen now, Gold Coasters in years to come will condemn those who denied it.
Kate Jones has been a good friend of the Gold Coast and invests much of her time here. So she will understand as much as anybody in Cabinet why this makes sense. These towers will be catalytic developments that deliver better services for ratepayers, spark an economic renaissance for Southport and set the strategic pathway for the Gold Coast.