In a bid to attract more young professionals to the Toowoomba Region, Council has teamed up with a local architecture firm to provide university students with planning and development learning opportunities.
For the past two years Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) and Aspect Architects and Project Managers have been working with 65 Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Master of Architecture Students on a project relating to the Toowoomba Railway Parklands Priority Development Area (PDA).
TRC Planning and Development Chair Councillor Chris Tait said attracting and retaining skilled workers to the Region could often be difficult for specialist fields such as engineering and planning.
"As a way to promote Toowoomba as a professional destination, this project was developed, with students providing insight into the opportunities and constraints for designing projects within the Toowoomba PDA.
"Regional areas aren't often the focus of university Master of Architecture design projects, as they typically don't offer a project with enough scope, diversity and depth for a master design proposal, however through the growth of the Toowoomba Region, we're now able to offer projects of a scale that is attractive to university students.
"As a result, this has not only been a beneficial exercise for the students but has also allowed Council to test the PDA planning scheme and precinct intents while also helping Council to understand how the future railway parklands would relate to surrounding PDA precincts."
Councillor Tait thanked the QUT students and work of QUT's Master of Architecture Course Coordinator, Dr Lindy Osborne Burton for running the project with Council.
"An exciting outcome of this two year collaboration, is an Australian Government grant application which we are currently preparing, to partially develop one of the student's design proposals," Dr Lindy Osborne Burton said.
"If we are successful in obtaining this funding, the proposed design will provide a terrific support to youth and older women's mental health in Toowoomba."
In December an exhibition will be held that showcases the final design studio work from the QUT Master of Architecture Students and includes their masterplans and complex building design proposals.
The exhibition will be on public display in the Marks Courtyard, City Hall, Toowoomba, from Monday 2 December until Friday 6 December.
