Diversity poses own challenges

SPANNING from the suburban streets of Condon to the large blocks and rural properties of Pinnacles and beyond, the Townsville City Council’s Division 4 is diverse.

Mike Greenaway says after 34 years living in Condon there is nowhere he would rather be.

“Crikey, yes, it’s a good place to live,” he said.

“It’s not far to the supermarkets, we have the nice drive along the river and you’re a little bit out of the city.”

Mr Greenaway said too many public housing properties around his neighbourhood were not kept tidy and the council’s maintenance had slacked off in the suburbs.

“We need people to have a bit more civic pride,” he said.

He said there were problems with crime, particularly with youth running around late at night, but it was not going to make him move.

Cr Mark Molachino said the diversity of the division reflected differences in socioeconomic status.

“We’ve got rural acreages and some top- shelf houses as well as small residential homes,” Mr Molachino said.

“There are some legacy issues around jamming a lot of community housing into the same streets.

“We’ve got turf farmers five minutes’ drive from shopping complexes and a number of estate developments.”

Cr Molachino said the challenge for him was to represent the whole community and try to change negative perceptions about some areas.

“There are some specific problems that do require a bit more input … people talk to me about crime in the suburbs.

“We have a beautiful river running along the length of the division and we need to activate that area.

“We need a large good shopping centre and we have had proposals for such a centre in the Upper Ross.”