Council's 2025/26 Budget and Operational Plan reinforces the organisation's commitment to making Townsville a more vibrant, connected, and enjoyable place to live, work, visit and invest.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said the budget had a strong focus on services, spaces and experiences that directly supported the city's liveability.
"Beyond delivering the core services people expect of a council, this budget invests $153.7 million in the experiences that bring people together, supporting safety, community connection and culture," Cr Greaney said.
"From our beaches, parks and open spaces to libraries, galleries and events, we understand the vital role community connection plays in shaping a vibrant, inclusive city."
"Our libraries, galleries and theatres continue to provide immense value to our community, serving as vital hubs for social connection with more than 380,000 library visits, 193 theatre performances, and over 42,000 gallery visits in the past year alone.
"We will also continue supporting our extensive community lease program, which enables more than 200 local groups, many of which operate on low-cost or peppercorn arrangements, to benefit from $4.91 million in subsidised rent ensuring grassroots sport and community groups can thrive in our growing city."
Cr Greaney said while the 2025/26 budget was about investing in the basics for a well-managed city, it wasn't about doing away with what makes Townsville a great place to live, work, visit and invest.
"People are proud to live in Townsville, investing sensibly in projects that enhance that liveability as our city grows is essential," Cr Greaney said.
"While we're investing heavily in the core services our community expects, we're also planning for the future through placemaking opportunities like the preliminary concept design for the Rockpool redevelopment."
"We've engaged with our community to understand their vision for the northern end of The Strand, helping us shape a community-informed concept that will guide future designs and support efforts to secure external funding."
Public safety remains front of mind in the 2025/26 Budget, with more than $5.3 million invested in security and surveillance and $2.4 million dedicated to year-round lifeguard services at beaches, lagoons, and water parks.
"We know how much community safety means for our city, which is why Council continues to invest in doing what we can from a local government perspective, to help foster a safer, more secure environment for everyone," Cr Greaney said.
"Backed by our Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan, the budget continues to respond to liveability survey feedback with a $5.6 million investment in lighting, cleanliness and amenity improvements across key areas identified by residents, including the Currajong Park project, where bollards will be replaced with protective boulders.
"We've introduced 24/7 community safety patrols in known trouble areas and are investing in AI safety systems for public pools to improve incident response times."
Cr Greaney said the organisation was continuing its investment in the city's active transport network along with parks and open spaces.
"Outdoor living plays such an important role in our lifestyle here in North Queensland, there's not too many places that have such an extensive active transport network or the number of parks and open spaces that Townsville has to offer for a population of our size," she said.
"This outdoor-driven lifestyle is one of the reasons people love our city and this budget reinforces our going investment in community spaces like footpath and playground renewals as well as a lighting and shading program that will include 2,000 new trees planted this year to support shade, cooling and visual amenity."
Cr Greaney said Council would continue to prioritise the revitalisation of Townsville's city centre while actively incentivising housing across the city.
"Building on the success of recent years, we're continuing our City Activation and Housing Incentives Policy, which includes initiatives like waiving infrastructure charges for mum-and-dad investors to encourage infill housing, offering up to $600,000 in waived charges for large-scale, employment-generating developments such as hotels and office blocks, and extending our popular Modernising Buildings grants," Cr Greaney said.
"We understand the pressures our community is facing around housing availability, which is why we're taking proactive steps to unlock new infill housing opportunities and accelerate the approvals process doing everything we can to support sustainable growth."
