Did you know?
Toowoomba is located 127km or a 90 minute drive west of Brisbane on the crest of the Great Dividing Range and is about 700 metres above sea level. The Darling Downs is located just to the west of Toowoomba making it an important rural and agricultural hub. Toowoomba is considered the capital of the ‘Darling Downs’ region and is the gateway to the resource-rich Surat Basin Energy Precinct. This area is considered South West Queensland.
With a population of about 164,000 people, Toowoomba’s temperate climate has given it the well earned reputation as “The Garden City”. The city has over 250 parks and gardens including the magnificent Queens Park, Laurel Bank Park, State Rose Garden and the largest Japanese Garden in Australia. Each year the city hosts numerous events including Streets & Lanes Festival and Shakespeare in the Park, and it culminates in the Carnival of Flowers in September.
Latest in Industry, Business, Tourism and Projects
Toowoomba is recognised as Australia’s second-largest agricultural production area and is the service centre for Coal Seam Gas projects located in the nearby Surat Basin. Toowoomba’s Regional Council March 2017 economic profile showed that Health Care and Social Assistance was the largest employer in the region.
Some major projects include:
- Toowoomba Second Range Crossing road – $1.6 billion – the Bypass, will provide an alternative route for trucks travelling between Brisbane, Toowoomba and further west, to reduce traffic congestion but also benefit businesses
- Grand Central Shopping Centre – $500 million redevelopment
- Lifestyle resort for over 50s planned in Harristown – $70 million
- University of Southern Queensland Agricultural Engineering and Technology Precinct – $10 million
- Interlink SQ – $235 million – an intermodal terminal and industrial precinct to transform transportation and logistics in Southern Queensland. It will maximise freight and supply chain cost efficiencies offering opportunities of business in the region. The construction will start this year and it is estimated to be completed in 2020
- St Vincent’s Hospital expansion – $30 million – involves the construction of six new operating theatres and six new pre-operative holding areas in a move that will increase the hospital’s capacity for day operations
- St Andrew’s Hospital expansion – $10.5 million – opening new operating theatres and a new mental health facility and it is expected to be completed late 2017.
Key Industries
- health care
- social assistance
- retail trade
- education and training
- manufacturing
- construction
- agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Settlement Information
Transportation
Bus Queensland operates commuter services across TransLinks Southern, Eastern and Western regions, including Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Park Ridge and Toowoomba. A new network in Toowoomba was also launched on 19 June 2017. However, it is advisable to buy a car to get around.
Education
The Queensland state government has an online search available for the public and private schools in Toowoomba. TAFE Queensland and the University of Southern Queensland has a Toowoomba campus. The Study Queensland website has further information about further education and available courses.
Major Events and Festivals
There are many cultural and food events happening in and around Toowoomba, including:
- March – Felton Food Festival
- March – USQ Shakespeare Festival
- March/April – Toowoomba Royal Show
- April – Streets & Lanes Festival
- May – First Coat Festival
- August – Toowoomba Languages and Cultures (TLC) Festival
- September – Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers
New Arrival Support
The Toowoomba Regional Council has a section on their website on multicultural services, along with information about their Linking Leaders program. There is also a mycommunity directory where you can search the region for community clubs & interest groups, health services, and other community organisations.
Centacare also provides Toowoomba Refugee & Migration Support (TRAMS) for new arrivals including English classes and employment education. Other community organisations of interest include the Toowoomba International Multicultural Society and Multicultural Development Australia (MDA)
Other Useful links
- BSMQ – Cities and Regions
- Queensland Government – for business, industry and services
- Multicultural Resource Directory search
- Tourism and Events Queensland
- Trade and Investment Queensland
- Study Queensland
- Traveller
- Queensland Community Legal Centres
Links to previous posts in the series:
- Introducing Queensland’s beautiful and varied regions
- Brisbane and Surrounds
- Cairns and Far North Queensland
- Townsville and North Queensland
The post Regions of Queensland: What’s New in Toowoomba and South West Queensland appeared first on BSMQ.
Originally Published here: Regions of Queensland: What’s New in Toowoomba and South West Queensland
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