The Long Arc of Regional Projects: How Local Investments Rewrite the Future of Towns
Sep 4
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Regional towns don’t run on spreadsheets. They run on belief.
A single project can shift everything, think the mood of Strickland St (Denmark) or York Street (Albany), the choices families make, the way a community talks about itself.
Yet too often these projects get reduced to numbers: jobs created, dollars spent, tonnes moved.
That’s the mistake. Out here, a project isn’t just infrastructure. It’s a declaration. It says: we’re not waiting for the future to arrive, we’re building it ourselves.
Projects Out Here Aren’t Just Projects
Think about it...if you drop a new project into a city and it barely registers. A new road, an office building, even a hospital wing, swallowed by the noise, maybe a small article in the local newspaper (for those that still read it)...
Drop that same project into a town like Denmark, Albany or Geraldton… and it rewires everything.
Not just jobs. Not just a number that makes it into a press release.
It’s the café that stays open year-round instead of shutting its doors in winter.
It’s the tradie who doesn’t need to drive three hours for steady work.
It’s the teenager who realises they don’t have to leave the Great Southern at 18 because “there’s nothing here.”
That’s the ripple. And out here, the ripple is bigger.
Why the Ripple is Bigger Out Here
Economists will tell you about the ROI (that's return on investment). They will measure direct jobs created. They’ll calculate cost per kilometre of bitumen.
But here’s what they miss:
In a town of 7000 (like Denmark), fifty new jobs can shift the entire balance.
Wages stick. Money doesn’t vanish into the ether...it circulates through the butcher, the café, the gym, the netball or footy club.
A bold project is a signal. It says: this town has a future worth taking a risk on.
Cities run on momentum. Regional towns run on confidence. And confidence multiplies faster than any spreadsheet can articulate.
That’s why when Nationals leaders like Bevan Eatts and Scott Leary push for infrastructure in the Great Southern, they’re not just fighting for budget allocations.
They’re fighting for belief.
Bendigo: Sequence Matters
Take Bendigo.
People see the NBL team now and think: “What a great story.” But that didn’t come out of thin air.
First came the grind:
La Trobe expanded its Bendigo campus.
Hundreds of millions went into a hospital redevelopment.
Road and rail links pulled Bendigo closer to Melbourne.
That built the base.
Only then did culture scale. The Bendigo Braves stopped being just a semi-pro team and became a symbol of the town’s pride. Sponsorships came easier. Media attention followed. The step into the NBL was suddenly possible.
Sequence matters. Build the base, then the brand. Try to skip steps and you stall.
Ballarat: Anchors Before Ambitions
Ballarat made the same play.
It pivoted from being the city of “gold rush nostalgia” to a city anchored in education and health. Federation Uni. Ballarat Health Services. Those weren’t just facilities — they were magnets.
Once those anchors were in place, culture could grow on top. Ballarat became a creative hub. Festivals, arts precincts, tourism beyond the Sovereign Hill clichés.
It worked because the foundations were set.
Busselton: From “Vanity” to Vision
Remember when Busselton expanded its airport? The critics had a field day.
“Who’s going to fly direct to Busselton?”“Waste of money.”“Just a vanity project.”
And then the planes started landing. Direct from Melbourne.
Suddenly Busselton wasn’t just a seaside town with a jetty. It was a gateway. A tourism hub. A conference destination.
That runway was more than asphalt. It was a statement: we’re open to the world.
And the ripple? Hotels booked out. Restaurants full. Whole supply chains realigned.
Tamworth: Culture Needs a Backbone
Tamworth is the Country Music Capital. The festival is world-famous.
But the reason it works isn’t just the music. It’s the backbone. Accommodation. Logistics. Local businesses ready to handle an influx of tens of thousands.
Culture without economics is fragile. Culture with economics is untouchable.
Toowoomba: Infrastructure as Destiny
Toowoomba’s Second Range Crossing cost $1.6 billion. Years of debate, years of planning.
On paper? A bypass.In practice? A rebrand.
Freight moves faster. Farmers ship more. Toowoomba isn’t “just another ag town” anymore. It’s an inland port.
Infrastructure doesn’t just move trucks. It shifts destiny.
Geraldton: Diversifying Out of Extraction
Geraldton used to be fishing and mining, boom-and-bust. The classic WA cycle.
Now? Renewables. Wind farms. Solar projects.
It’s not just new megawatts. It’s a new identity. Geraldton can tell a story beyond extraction: we’re building the future of energy.
That narrative change is priceless.
The Headwinds: Councils, Planning, and Red Tape
Here’s the other side of the story.
No project just drops out of the sky. Every one of them has to pass through local councils, planning commissions, environmental reviews, and state approvals.
And out here? That process can feel like running into a headwind.
The delays. The uncertainty. The hoops. It kills momentum. Investors walk. Workers drift. The opportunity window closes.
But the solution isn’t to scrap these systems. Towns need those integrity checks (when they are sensible and backed by rational thought).
The issue is when those systems lose perspective. When every project is treated as a threat instead of a chance. When approvals drag on for years, and by the time the green light comes, the risk is the economy has moved on....
What Alignment Looks Like
Ballarat deliberately rewrote planning frameworks to prioritise health and education. That clarity told investors: we’re serious, we’re ready. They came.
Busselton spent years in debate, but once council and community aligned on the airport, it got done. Now it’s the region’s biggest catalyst.
Toowoomba could have drowned in approvals. Instead, leaders kept the focus: infrastructure is destiny. The bypass got built.
When councils, commissions, and governments align, projects move. When they don’t, opportunities die.
From Gatekeeper to Guide
Councils and commissions have a choice.
They can be gatekeepers: slowing, blocking, defaulting to “no.” Or they can be guides: setting clear rules, then helping the right projects move at speed.
It’s not about rubber-stamping. It’s about momentum. Because out here, momentum is the real currency.
Every time a project stalls, the signal goes out: “we are not ready.” Every time one moves, the opposite signal goes out: “this town is going somewhere.”
The Role of Policy Advocates
This is where leaders like Bevan Eatts and Scott Leary matter. They bridge the gap between local councils and state approvals. They keep the pressure on for clarity, alignment, and speed.
Because policy alignment across council, commission, state, and federal is how you turn headwinds into tailwinds.
The Social Fabric of Projects
Every project weaves itself into the fabric of a town.
Busselton became “the town with direct flights.”
Ballarat became “the creative city.”
Toowoomba became “the inland port.”
Tamworth became “the music capital.”
These are not marketing slogans. They’re identities. And once a town has an identity, everything else flows easier. Think migration, pride, investment.
People don’t just follow jobs. They follow stories. And projects create those stories.
Why the Long Game Wins
Short-term projects are shiny. Ribbon cuttings, photo ops, election wins. But they fade.
The projects that last are the century-horizon plays.
Hospitals that anchor generations.
Roads that rewire entire economies.
Airports that open doors for decades.
They’re expensive. They take patience. They attract criticism. But they change everything.
And they outlast the people who champion them.
Five Lessons for Regional Leaders
Build the base before the brand. Infrastructure, health, education first. Culture and identity follow.
Think in decades, not terms. Judge projects by what they mean for your grandchildren.
Balance numbers with narrative. The ROI must stack up, but so must the story locals tell themselves.
Link local to policy momentum. Don’t fight alone, align with bigger visions.
Expect resistance. Stay the course. Every transformative project sounds crazy until it’s finished.
To End: Projects as Declarations
The reality is...regional towns don’t need saving. They need belief.
The kind of belief that comes from backing a project that feels too big, too bold, too ambitious. The one that makes people laugh, shake their heads, mutter “no chance.”
And then the planes land. The bypass opens. The industry grows. And suddenly the whole place feels different.
Projects aren’t just shovels in the ground. They’re declarations.
And the towns that are bold enough to make those declarations? They’re the ones still thriving fifty years from now.
TK
