Council seeks fresh ideas
THE Hinchinbrook Shire Council is calling for fresh ideas for the future use of the Tyto Cafe in the entertainment and conference precinct, as well as the adjacent iconic Ingham Visitor Information Centre on the Bruce Highway.
A motion to authorise council CEO Alan Rayment to seek formal expressions of interest in both assets was carried 7-0 during the council’s most recent general meeting.
Mayor Ramon Jayo told the Townsville Bulletin that the council had already been con
A GROUP of emerging leaders from Townsville Grammar School were impressive with a series of insightful questions about disaster preparedness during a visit to the Hinchinbrook Shire Council on Thursday.
During the course of f an hour-long presentation, Mayor Ramon
Jayo was peppered with queries from the Year 11 geography students that ranged from local government responses to calamities to the district’s ongoing economic diversification to create jobs for school graduates.
“Disaster management, the key thing to it is what?” Cr Jayo asked the 10 students fanned out along the council table.
“Preparedness?”
Terry, 16, asked.
“Preparation, you got you’ve got to be ready.”
Cr Jayo said Hinchinbrook was particularly flood-prone as the area was essentially a river delta, suffering flooding on an almost annual basis.
“We need to know what is happening at all times be
Conroy it, tacted by multiple parties interested in utilising the cafe, former well-regarded restaurant Enrico’s at Tyto.
The modern cafe, next to the council library, art gallery and conference rooms, overlooks one edge of the expansive and popular Tyto Wetlands, home to numerous saltwater crocodiles, turtles an abundance of birdlife and walking trails.
Cr Jayo said the council was seeking input from “anyone who has an idea, who has a dream or a view as to what it could possibly be used for to see if we can value-add to that cause for us to be prepared you need knowledge,” he said, demonstrating the council’s state-of-the-art online Emergency Management Dashboard.
Asked about the Hinchinbrook’s ageing population with many not having internet access, Cr Jayo said one of the biggest challenges was communicating the fact that facility over there”. The conference facility has been ticking over with the support of local businesses, while the cafe has been hired out on an adhoc basis for functions.
“Since COVID there’s been a lot of innovation and there are some great ideas floating around so we want to know what best suits our facility, what best suits our community to attract more people, more industry, more activity to the area.”
In a report to the Hinchinbrook Shire Council, director of community and development services Nick Mcgrath floodwaters were coming.
“All of you folks, I could reach you in four seconds flat with a text message, or put it on Facebook, you guys are good but take the little old dear who is 85, they don’t have texts, they don’t have all this new digital information, which is instantaneous,” he replied.
“We do have a caring community, neighbours do look said studies undertaken by Tourism and Events Queensland show traditional information centres may have had their day given the explosion of digital marketing.
“The studies suggest priorities and delivery of that service must be assessed to remain competitive and relevant.”
Cr Jayo said, like the cafe, the council was open to proposed alternative uses of the Visitor Information Centre in a bid to “try and refresh the appeal of that area”.
“We are not going to go away from that. Obviously we after each other, we’ve got a pretty good street system.”
Asked for more specifics by Conroy, Cr Jayo said the “old methods”, namely radio, television and street-to-street megaphones if need be.
“With me, I’ve got to go and see my mum and tell her there’s a cyclone coming. She says ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ and I say ‘I’m here telling you now’.” do need an information centre, we are just seeking and trying to encourage people to give us ideas,” he said.
The mayor said the key to boosting local visitation to the district that boasted a staggering number of world-class attractions was getting people to stop in Ingham.
“We know for a fact that if we can get people to stop, and that if we can talk to them about what’s available, we can increase visitation in the area,” he said.
“We are seeking anyone who has got a great idea as to make the VIC more attractive.”
Asked about the Hinchinbrook’s declining rural population, Cr Jayo told the students that the local economy was heavily dependent on the sugar cane industry, which continued to shed jobs due to technological advancements.
He said that in an effort to halt the decline and increase employment opportunities, the council had embarked on an ambitious, multi-pronged program to increase visitation to the district, which he described as “one of the most idyllic and picturesque spots on the east coast”, as well as diversify the agricultural sector.
“Because the district (has previously) not promoted new industry, all our young ones are in Townsville with you lot,” he said.