Characters of the North: Brazier Motti’s Stephen Motti reflects on a rewarding life
Meet planning veteran Stephen Motti, the understated business leader who has influenced nearly every major development in Townsville over three decades and predicts a bright future for the city.
One of Townsville’s most respected business leaders, Stephen Motti has played an understated yet important role in shaping the city over the decades, helping position it capitalise on what promises to be a bright and prosperous future.
As a senior town planner and experienced director of long-running North Queensland planning firm Brazier Motti, Mr Motti’s fingerprints are all over most of Townsville’s key infrastructure, housing, and commercial developments.
Composed, measured, considered, and good humoured, Mr Motti has a way of making people sit up and pay attention when he’s talking about challenges and opportunities facing the city.
Several locals tried unsuccessfully to nudge him into the recent mayoral race in the hope that his business nous could steer the city back onto the right track.
This is partly due to his impressive history of contributing to professional and community organisations, which has earned him an enviable array of accolades and accreditations.
He is a fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and Australian Institute of Company Directors, is a former president and life member of the Townsville Chamber of Commerce, chair of the Townsville Fire WNBL Team, and sits on the boards of the Property Council Queensland and Port of Townsville Limited.
“I’ve been very fortunate, my whole career’s really been one of being empowered by others. Everything I do, I look to ensure I’m keeping good company and learning,” Mr Motti said.
“(Participating in) different community groups and professional groups has opened doors to work opportunities, to collaboration, to doing a higher degree and complexity of work, and delivering different results.”
Born in Townsville in 1968 to Laurie and Lyn Motti (both originally from Ingham), Stephen is the eldest of five children.
“I went to Holy Spirit, then onto St John Fisher’s and Iggy Park, where I did a range of activities. I played rugby league … got into drama and did a number of the school productions,” he reflected.
“With a mate, we used to have a Friday afternoon radio show … playing the latest music and talking rubbish as school kids do … and I also found my way on TV a few times doing regular segments on children’s program Kids Army and the Happy Sam show.”
Growing up with a father who was building communities through his role as a surveyor provided the inspiration for his future career, although being stronger with words than numbers, not a fan of being outdoors in the North Queensland heat, his preferred career path was town planning.
Travelling south to the University of New England, he obtained a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning and met his wife Cherie, a scientist who has since earned a PhD in natural products chemistry and is employed by the Australian Institute of Science.
“At its most basic, being a town planner is about the enhancement of community and it is delivered through collaboration with others,” he said.
After graduating from university, Mr Motti deliberately selected the smaller Gatton Shire Council in the Lockyer Valley to cut his teeth as planner, to be mentored and “do a lot of things early” rather than being pigeonholed into certain activities in a larger city.
It was a call from Tim Brazier who was continuing the business founded by his dad Keith, and Stephen’s dad, that enticed Stephen back home in 1994 – when the highly-liveable city was buzzing with economic development, had a great health and education system, and the North Queensland Cowboys were about to debut.
Mr Motti said he had seen the city go through a rollercoaster of different paces and cycles, from the “powering” 1990s, to the economic downturn of the 2010s and the pandemic.
He said there used to be 1700 residential allotments being produced annually, which slumped to 240, but the city has recovered to be doing 1400 these days – “still about 400 off the pace”.
“The tide has certainly turned. We can see momentum now. We see transactions happening. People are investing in the city, again, they understand its opportunity and more importantly … the projects are starting to come out of the ground again,” he said.
This confidence has been reflected within Brazier Motti’s walls, with six staff members in the process of buying into the business to become shareholders.
“They’re prepared to back the business, but they’re also prepared to back the region and that excites me. In the next 10 years we’ll see tremendous growth in Townsville, it’s got the ability to provide an affordable product in a liveable and sustainable environment fairly quickly.
“We could find ourselves assisting and unlocking some congestion to the south. I genuinely think it’s Townsville’s time to play that stronger role.”
Beyond his career, Mr Motti is a long suffering follower of Italian Rugby and enjoys red wine – two passions not necessarily mutually exclusive.
He is a big fan of live music – everything from witnessing perennial favourites like Pearl Jam and Oasis, through to Hilltop Hoods at Townsville’s recent One Street, One Day Festival.
Stephen and Cherie have also travelled extensively around the world, with the continents of South America and Africa among the highlights, but every destination offers inspiration for what could work in Townsville.
The collaborative concept of place-making was a successful strategy he saw implemented around the world – a people-centred approach to planning, designing, and managing public spaces to improve people’s health, happiness, and wellbeing.
Looking to the future, Mr Motti wasn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon.
“With Cherie, we’re probably looking to work differently and that means taking on and contributing to other boards and community groups, to do our best to ensure the prosperity of the region and the city, and certainly more travel … and another Pearl Jam concert or two along the way.”
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Originally published as Characters of the North: Brazier Motti’s Stephen Motti reflects on a rewarding life
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