Open your eyes to rival cities

IN TODAY’S ( Wednesday, 19- 4- 17) Opinion Page, Cr Jenny Hill, Mayor of Townsville, had submitted an article, entitled “The truth behind that $ 200 million council surplus”.

I read Cr Hill’s explanation, and really felt after reading the whole article, I should have saved myself some time and stopped after the first paragraph.

Cr Hill has to understand that the council budget isn’t “her” budget alone. It is the budget belonging to the residents of Townsville, and my thoughts are she needs to open up the purse strings a hell of a lot more and try to get more life into this city.

There is no encouragement from Townsville City Council or Townsville Enterprise to invest in this city. If there happens to be interest from private investors, it must be well hidden. When you go down to Ipswich or up to Cairns, you can actually see the progress that is happening in both of these vibrant cities.

Townsville sits dormant because Cr Hill and her councillors can’t see past their office doors that Townsville is at a standstill. May I suggest that Cr Hill and CEO Adele Young open up Google and do a search on Mayor Paul Pisasale and Cr Bob Manning and see what they have both done for the cities of Ipswich and Cairns respectively. I’m sure you both would be in total awe and wonderment! C. G. FOSTER,

Kirwan.