Perhaps one of the most challenging jobs for Gympie Regional Council is to plan for growth. Key to this is to have a sound planning scheme which allows growth in the right areas but at the same time protects rural and residential property owners, not forgetting both commercial and industrial businesses.

One only has to drive around Gympie to see aspects of both good and bad planning decisions from years gone by. In today’s world, Mary Street would not be approved due to the huge impact floods have on business owners and the community.  

An example of good planning is our sporting fields located in flood prone areas. The impact to these fields during flood is minimal, however it allows us to have Albert Park, One Mile Ovals, Jack Stokes Oval, netball and pony clubs and the majority of our parklands for community use.

Questions we must ask; is it appropriate to have residential housing adjoining industrial properties which are both located in close vicinity to our major land fill site? Or is it appropriate to have residential housing zones alongside our livestock sale yards, which is, and will continue to be, a major economic driver for our region?

The last thing any resident would like is to have a noisy or disruptive manufacturing business as a neighbour. 

Gympie Regional Council’s planning scheme currently has some challenges. Council is some two years down ‘the track’ of having major deficiencies in our planning scheme rectified. We have undertaken significant work and engaged with the department of State Development to alleviate the lack of suitable industrial land and give our local businesses the opportunity to expand as well as to attract new business to our region. 

It’s not an easy job, and certainly hard decisions aren’t always popular, but it’s vital that we plan for our future.

Mayor Mick Curran