At least, it used to be, and many people would like it to stay that way.
On the other hand, there’s a substantial slice of local opinion that says the town can’t drift along the way it has for nearly a hundred and fifty years.
Whatever happens, things are going to change dramatically over the next few years, To date there hasn’t been too much discussion of some of the issues involved, so I’ve put this site together to raise some of those issues and to make a few predictions about directions for the future.
I was particularly concerned that judging by past performances there’s every chance we’d end up with a hodgepodge of uncoordinated projects that could completely mess up a pretty special place.
Fortunately, once I started contacting people involved with planning issues I discovered that there is significant long term planning going on, and that many of the issues that concerned me are, in fact, being looked at.
The contents of the site are predicated on the assumption that there will be significant development at Abbot Point.
That development may or may not include the Chalco alumina refinery.
Personally speaking, I won’t be totally devastated if the refinery ends up somewhere else. But if it does, it’s virtually guaranteed that some other industrial enterprise will end up at Abbot Point, and there will certainly be additional development on the cargo-handling of the port facility.
There’s every possibility that by 2030 the town’s population will be approaching thirty thousand.
Where will all these extra people live?
Where will they work?
Where will they shop?
What areas of open public space will they be able to access?
How will they travel between those places?
All those questions will need to be addressed in the very near future if there's going to be significant long term strategic planning to cope with a significant growth in the town's population.
The recent launch of the Review of Socio-Economic Development Strategy Bowen Collinsville Region indicates that Bowen Collinsville Enterprise are fully aware of the issues involved and discussions I’ve had with people on the Council have also been extremely encouraging.
There are, however, problems for most of us when it comes to finding out what’s going on, which is why I’ve decided to keep going with the project.
We’re not exactly over-endowed with media outlets in these parts and there are always going to be space constraints in the local paper, so these pages give me the chance to expound at some length and raise issues that I believe are going to be important in the future.