Last week, myself, six councillors, and senior staff visited Ipswich City and Toowoomba Regional councils. The purpose of the trip was to gain an insight into how larger councils operate, and how they implement innovation in an ever-changing local government scene.

The tour covered libraries, sporting facilities, parks, walking trails, administration buildings and ICT infrastructure. This was not only an opportunity to see their facilities, but to also discuss topics such as economic development, governance structures, marketing, strategic planning and city centre masterplanning with councillors and staff. By taking note of the challenges and successes experienced by other councils, we can predict, plan and progress towards the betterment of the Gympie region.

It was also pleasing to note a number of areas in which our council is ahead of our much larger neighbours. For example, our Gympie Town Centre revitalisation program is more advanced in some aspects than the city centre planning project being delivered in Toowoomba City, and our regional “Our Towns” program is delivering on-ground enhancements that were of great interest to Toowoomba’s economic development staff, where such projects have not yet been considered.

The trip reinforced how important it is to look beyond our boundaries to gauge both how we are travelling as well as understanding how other organisations have adapted to our changing world. A good business always keeps up to date on the innovations occurring in their respective industry and local government is no different.

Cr. Mick Curran, Mayor