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Economic planning gaining the ascendancy
1 August 2009
To return to the Coast from overseas last week and see a completely new and urgent focus on the economy and job generation was really encouraging.
Most reassuring of all is the way in which the Regional Council is now becoming much more directly involved in economic issues. The quality of life and social stability of the Coast long-term, demands that they maintain that focus. Local governments around the developed world have increasingly acknowledged their important leadership role in this respect.
The most tangible expression of this leadership is the welcome support for the ‘fast-tracking’ of the Sippy Downs town centre.
This town is designed to generate new kinds of jobs and begin the process of reducing our reliance on businesses like tourism, with so much casual employment, and construction, where jobs are sporadic.
The link between the new town and the University will be an important and close one.
We receive enquiries from some major businesses interstate and internationally, all of which are interested in connections with the University, its graduates, its linked teaching programs and its research. The companies want larger premises in the long-term than can be accommodated in our Innovation Centre. The new town centre developers will provide this additional capacity, and hopefully, a unique university town will emerge with an emphasis on technology-related jobs, as well as many of the usual retail activities, within a pedestrianised environment and striking, functional architecture.
The links between universities on the one hand and businesses and hospitals on the other, seems to increase markedly each time I visit key development areas overseas and the success stories are multiplying.
A long-term regional master plan for our economic development is now what is needed, and a job-generation summit, as part of that overall plan may well be important.
But the time for short-term fixes alone has gone, and nothing will diminish the need for continued Council leadership on economic planning, and we are seeing the signs of a good start.
In strong growth mode, the University remains committed, more than ever, not just to growth for its own sake, but for the advancement of the Region as a whole, so will be a major partner in this new economic future, if we get the blueprint right.
Professor Paul Thomas AM is Vice-Chancellor and President at the University of the Sunshine Coast.