Cable car, cable car. There’s been lots of tourism talk in Toowoomba lately, and inevitably, lots of talk about the need to build a cable car to the top of Table Top. Other ideas that always pop up with this topic are a water park (I’m on board) and a giant lamington. (Because Toowoomba is where lamingtons were invented.)
In the right hands these ideas could be great. In the wrong hands they could be costly eyesores that draw a few tourists and that no local in their right mind would use.
Before we go building massive pieces of tourist infrastructure Toowoomba Living would love to see a few initiatives that make life better for residents first. Let’s build our own awesome party, and then invite everyone to it.
Here’s a few ideas. (Warning: fairy lights ahead.)
1. Upgrade the Bell Street Mall
The Bell Street Mall should be top of any and all lists when it comes to improving our lifestyle in Toowoomba. Muller Bros, The Bungalow and Basket and First Coat have definitely helped bring life back to this part of the city, but it’s still in dire need of a Kwong Sang Walk style upgrade.
There’s a strange shelter shed thing and old water feature and not much else in this mall.
A redesign could open it up enough to accommodate hosting those food truck events that Toowoomba loves. Add a butt tonne of fairy lights, and hey presto! A new place to go in Toowoomba.
Bringing some life back to this mall may help enliven the back half of The Chronicle Arcade, which is pretty quiet these days too.
2. Pimp up Picnic Point
Been up there at night recently? It’s a gorgeous space sitting dormant.
So, let’s get live music in at nighttime. A busking competition? An open mic night? An all ages music space?
Or how about installing an outdoor cinema for summer nights? A few local foodie businesses could get together and combine their wares to sell us picnic feasts while we watch movies – much like the already popular Moonlight Cinema model.
Ever thought about an art installation that’s all about lights – like a mini Vivid Sydney? It could be permanent or ever changing. Picnic Point and many other places around town would be great venues for a project like this. Much like First Coat we could encourage local, national and global artists to participate.
Also. Fairy lights, all the time. So many Instagrammable possibilities here.
3. Fast tracking the Toowoomba Railway Parklands Project
The benefit of this idea is it’s already approved by the Government! This is a long-term project looking at transforming the rail yards area into a series of open spaces including an extensive network of pathways, cycleways and new bridge crossings.
When this development application was open for consultation people called for a South Bank-style swimming precinct. But this was knocked back in favour of a ‘water play plaza’. Which sounds great. Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s been kinda hot. A place like Willow Springs for kids and adults alike this summer would have been entirely welcomed.
As far as I can tell, there’s no timeline attached to this project. What are we waiting for? Let’s get this project happening now. A community space like this is something very lacking in our town.
View the development application documents for this project on Council’s website.
4. A Winter Wonderland Festival
Here’s a fun thing about Toowoomba. It gets super cold. That’s not something that happens in many other places in Queensland. Could we not entice our northern friends down to the South East corner by celebrating that we actually have seasons? And give us all something to do in the dead of winter instead of waiting all year for our allotted two weeks of fun at Carnival time?
Wouldn’t a Speigeltent-like covered space in Queens Park, or Laurel Bank Park (or both?!) featuring theatre and cinema and comedy and music be kinda cool? We could have some mulled wine under fairy lights and pretend we live in Canada and it’s about to snow. We could have fake snow.
5. A giant vertical garden
Let’s put a floral wildcard on the table. Could part of the Range escarpment be transformed into a vertical garden? Like our very own Hollywood sign, but with flowers. And then we could hot air balloon past it. With champagne (and fairy lights).
6. Solve the CBD parking issue
Obviously.
What do you think Toowoomba? Aside from a water park (I’m on board), a cable car and a coconut covered cake, what do you want our region to be known for?
Loved every idea! You need to be in parliament.
Haha thanks Corrie! I think I’ll leave the pollies to it… 🙂
Number 4 is a particularly good idea! Such a lost opportunity. Not everyone wants to make a mad dash to Stanthorpe to freeze their bits, they can easily do it in Toowoomba.
Right!? We could call it the Freeze Your Bits Mega Fest 😉
I always see on facebook people asking what to do in Toowoomba on their weekend,I have nothing to tell them,we clearly lack places to gather like Southbank Brisbane,theme parks gold Coast, animal parks,places to swim at all..awsome markets,outdoor cinemas.when we moved here The Springs…was a go to place for every gathering,not expensive and so much to do for everyone..we are desperate for something,anything really.
I hear your cry! I think the reason Walton Stores has been so successful is it gives us all a place to be. Nice green space mixed with urban street feel + family friendly. If you haven’t found The Original Mix markets yet I recommend them to you, they curate a lovely, quality mix of stalls.
All great ideas.
Bell St – lots of vegetation and make it meander (Kwong Sang is too straight). Make sure there’s an area that can double as informal performance space (with plenty of power for equipment and lights).
Picnic Point – hasn’t changed in 40 years. An opportunity gone begging.
“Make it meander” – I love it. Nooks and crannies to explore, just like our existing laneways.
I would like to see our range trails really highlighted. Not just the trails but along the way we could have an environment centre giving plenty of information about the indigenous plants/ animals and of course the original people of the area. The old quarry at prince Henry hieghts could be a young persons paradice including rock climbing, BMX track, adventure course, outdoor music bowl etc.
Such great ideas!
I recently moved here and fell in love with this place. It is amazing. But I was surprised about one thing – the lack of appreciation for the environment. I absolutely agree about the Range trails. My son and his girlfriend visited and wanted to go on a local bushwalk. They were sadly underwhelmed by the trail they discovered – weed infested, no signage, hard to find any info. This place is a natural gem but its assets are neither celebrated nor cared for. Other places would kill for what we have here.
Agreed! Thank you for contributing!
Just back home from my first visit to Toowoomba. I’d like to suggest a large information board at the bus interchange (or several) with street map overlay with each route. I really think capitalise on what’s different about your area. My highlights were outdoor dining at an evening food truck event, wandering the Mort Estate, the views around Picnic Point, discovering murals up back alleys, and eating in some great cafes. The vertical garden is a great idea. I thought I saw some disused quarries in my travels. Maybe highlight the different microclimates to the east and west of the city. I’d like to have had more time to find out about volcanic versus black soil. Even the drive out to Wellcamp airport was refreshingly different to the other major airports due to the absence of traffic and the open vistas. Perhaps create an arboretum along the route highlighting local trees and sculptures by local artists? Biggest disappointment was seeing parts of Toowoomba are clones of so many other cities with generic shopping centres and housing subdivisions. I walked through Grand Central. Very underwhelmed compared with what was advertised for the railway station and mill precinct.