‘Model city’ now aware of its international possibilities

Toowoomba had money but it lost imagination, and the daring ambitions and promise of youth. This has changed, with a quick volley of catalysts.

Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport general manager Sara Hales. ‘As a region, we’ve grown up and we are ready to take on the world.’ Picture: Jamie Hanson

Not so long ago, it seems, I sat with airport developer John Wagner and watched the first pour of concrete on the construction site that was to become our passenger terminal.

He turned to me and said, “This is an historic moment, Sara.” I thought to myself, the whole endeavour is historic. That was in January 2014, and I’d been with Wagners for about three months.

Like so many others, I was drawn to the project to build a brand new airport for Toowoomba. I was drawn to the drama, the excitement, the glamour of aviation, the opportunity to work with smart and passionate people.

Even more, though, I was drawn to everything that it stood to mean for the community of Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. I was drawn to the opportunity to make a difference. To make travel easier for families, to make a serious and lasting impact on our economy.

To connect Toowoomba, the beautiful, strong and reliable city set among Australia’s premium agricultural lands, to a fast-moving world of opportunity.

Over the past four and a bit years, I’ve been asked the same question, so many times by economic analysts, government departments, journalists, friends and family “What is it about Toowoomba?” “What is driving the startling economic growth and opportunity in the region?”

Toowoomba has been held up as a model for regional economic development and regional representatives from around Australia have visited us to work out how they too can experience the level of investment and economic growth that Toowoomba has benefited from over the past five years.

So, was it all because of the Wagners’ investment? Is it the Second Range Crossing? Is it exceptional regional leadership? Or was Toowoomba always exceptional? Did these things merely waken a sleeping giant?

Toowoomba is a traditional regional city, whose economy was originally built upon the strength of a fertile farming region. As a beautiful city, it became a centre for education, health and trade. It became a refuge from hotter regional climates and larger cities. Toowoomba welcomed investments in defence, and boasted a strong, broad economy.

Economic growth was steady, neither enjoying the giddy heights of mining industry driven growth, nor the dismayed bubble-pop which often follows.

Instead, Toowoomba chugged away in the background, steadily tucking capital into its back pocket and biding its time.

Although the economy was strong, it was boring. Toowoomba’s youth left the town in droves, chasing shinier opportunities, the excitement of a world which continuously got smaller, and a more diverse, metropolitan existence.

Toowoomba had money, but it lost imagination, and the daring ambitions and promise of youth.

This has changed, with a quick volley of catalysts over a couple of years. A coffee culture spawned in the laneways. Street art murals whispered of a young, arts-led culture on the city’s historic walls.

Local heavyweights spent $200 million on a stunning airport. A leading investment corporation splashed out $500m on a major shopping centre upgrade. A world-class data centre mushroomed overnight. Billions of dollars of investment flowed into the region in continuing infrastructure and commercial projects.

Immigrants and refugees flowed into the region with their hunger for a better life. A civic leader with a unique and warm heart set a tone of inclusiveness, and ambition among the rich traditions of the town and district which he loves so much.

Toowoomba and the Darling Downs stirred. A new world was out there. And, set among leading business people, and significant investments, a culture of entrepreneurialism, of ambition, of leadership and of sheer “get it done” evolved.

From Toowoomba to the world is not just our story, as the region’s airport, this is our region’s story. As a region, we’ve grown up and we are ready to take on the world. As an airport, it’s our job to get you there.

Sara Hales is Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport general manager.