Scott’s right at home in FNQ
A WELL-TRAVELLED SENIOR TOWN PLANNER WHO GREW UP IN RURAL VICTORIA HAS FOUND HIS NICHE IN THE COMMUNITY-MINDED FAR NORTH CAPITAL OF CAIRNS, WRITES ALICIA NALLY
SICK of Melbourne’s cold, traffic-clogged streets, Scott Sibly realised he needed a change.
Enter a job advertisement for a senior town planner with Veris at their eight-person Edge Hill office and the 35year-old applied, was offered a position then and there and a fortnight later was on a plane to the tropics.
It is not the first time the son of a Gippsland cattle farmer has taken a geographical leap of faith for the betterment of his career.
That career, which started about 13 years ago, has mostly evolved in the regions of Victoria, and for a year in historyfilled Surrey, south of London.
But the move to Cairns in September last year is one Mr Sibly said had already been full of challenges and discovery.
“The environment is amazing, the people, there is always something on up here – that is part of what drew me to Cairns,” he explained.
“The regions I worked in around Victoria are similar to Cairns – they still have community spirit. You get to see what the community values.
“Being up in Cairns there are a lot of characters and everyone has their stories. I didn’t know how much history was up here.
“I grew up on a farm in rural Victoria and I really think there is a right way and a wrong way to develop. Plan- ning is subjective and there are grey areas but there is a way to do things right and protect the rural areas and the environment and grow.
“Growing our regions and protecting our assets is very important.”
Footloose and fancy-free, with no partner or kids, Mr Sibly has bought a place in Cairns and is on his way to becoming part of the community.
At the moment that involves regular yoga classes across the road from his office and later down the track, possibly attending AFL games.
Helping the Dalyston AFL team win its first grand final in 26 years in 2015 is one of Mr Sibly’s greatest achievements.
“I’d been in three losing grand finals before that. My uncle played in the last grand final they won in 1989 and came all the way from Perth to watch that game,” he reminisced.
After retiring last year – Mr Sibly had played since he was 11 – there is a bit of a hole where the team camaraderie used to sit, but one his new life is set to fill.
“When I was in the regions down south I felt I was at work but life and work mesh here a
FOOTLOOSE AND FANCY-FREE, WITH NO PARTNER OR KIDS, MR SIBLY HAS BOUGHT A PLACE IN CAIRNS AND IS ON HIS WAY TO BECOMING PART OF THE COMMUNITY
I WENT TO ENGLAND ABOUT 25, AND I DIDN’T HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT I WAS DOING, WHEN I LEFT I WAS VERY CONFIDENT AND HAD SO MUCH EXPERIENCE SCOTT SIBLY
lot and I think that has a lot to do with the wild environment you’re in,” he said.
“There is so much potential, Cairns will go from strength to strength, I don’t see why it wouldn’t.”
And some hard-won experience is what Mr Sibly will bring to the Far North planning industry.
“I went to England about 25, and I didn’t have an idea of what I was doing, when I left I was very confident and had so much experience,” he said.
“In Surrey, the community there places a high value on heritage, it was hard to get a stable for a horse but on the flip side I was trusted to make some pretty important decisions and the community trusted town planners to preserve their built heritage.
“I had to do some enforcing work, too. There I was, a farm boy from Gippsland knocking on a door telling the owner they didn’t have a permit for a conservatory.
“I also went into a property where the Queen spent some of her childhood and this crazy Portuguese millionaire was ripping the place apart. It took me half an hour to walk down the driveway and I didn’t know if I’d make it out alive.”
Professionally, completing a precinct structure plan for Warragul in 18 months – it would usually take five years – is a project Mr Sibly is most proud of.
“We had about 300 submissions, had to work with a lot of landholders, but I loved going to work, I love working as a team,” he said.
“I played Sim City a lot as a kid and my mum suggested it in Year 12. Town planning is generalist, you’re not a specialist but you build up a bit of general knowledge and you can mange projects and clients.
“In Cairns, there seems to be a lot of uncertainty about what the very near future will hold, but there is also a lot of positivity, too. This will always be a place for growth and development.”