As Ipswich continues to develop, Ipswich City Council has taken measures to ensure that the development of the region is continued in an effective manner. Less than one year on from his induction, Division 5 Councillor Wayne Wendt has been actively involved in several community endeavours that have attributed to the region’s changing landscape.
Q: Having served in numerous roles – Member of Ipswich West, CEO of the Ipswich Jets and your career in accounting – how do you believe these experiences have enabled you to most effectively represent the community?
A: Having worked in a number of different roles over the year’s I believe that I have been able to bring a different perspective to my role as Councillor. From my accounting and business background I have tried to bring a more commercially focused role to the council, from my experience with the Ipswich Jets I have brought an understanding of the Not For Profit sector and the importance of engaging with the community, while my role in State Politics has allowed me to be able to use my contacts and networks to spread the word about the great things that are happening in our city.
Q: What has appealed to you most about the role as a local representative?
A: Without doubt that best thing about the role is the ability to be able to make a real difference to people’s lives within a very short time frame. In most cases issues that are raised are able to be dealt with and resolved quickly and efficiently. The professionalism and responsiveness of the Council team has amazed me, they all share a passion for the city and go to great lengths to ensure that residents always come first.
Q: The Economic Development, Tourism and Digital City Committee is a fairly recent addition to the City Council’s Standing Committees. In its short lifespan, what have been the most exciting initiatives the committee has worked towards?
A: It’s probably no secret that the number one attraction for Ipswich has been our Mayor, Paul Pisasale. His enthusiasm and belief in our city has helped identify and drive our economy for a long time. However with the introduction of the new committee it has been possible to now start strategically identifying how we can best take advantage of our assets. This has begun by mapping out what we are good and trying to hone in on specific projects without a scatter gun approach. I expect big things across these areas in 2017.
Q: In your role as CEO of the Ipswich Jets you oversaw a successful 2015 campaign – one that was rewarded with both the Intrust Super Cup and the NRL State Championship. After visiting the Bathurst 1000 last year, you said that Ipswich could be the “new Bathurst,” owing to the city’s own dedicated Motorsport precinct. What role can the local sporting landscape play in the economic and tourism development of Ipswich?
A: Ipswich already has a proud sporting history with some of the best facilities around. There is no doubt that the Willowbank precinct has the potential to become the motor sport capital for Australia based on the fact that any fan can find their rush at the venue. With first rate facilities for V8 Supercars, drag cars, go-karts, speedway and motocross there will be something for everyone. Once you add in the benefits of a motel, camping, service centre and future commercial opportunities the sky really is the limit.
Q: As a huge rugby league fan, the Western Corridor, south-east Queensland bid – headquartered at Ipswich – is an initiative I have been extremely interested by. How does the bid for a new NRL team factor into your plans for economic, tourism and digital development and how beneficial do you believe this will be for the community in terms of tourism and economic growth?
My view is that Ipswich has placed itself very well after the 2015 season in regard to our credentials to support a new team in the NRL in the western corridor. I firmly believe that a team based in the area could work from a business perspective based on a bare bones approach. By this I mean that I believe that we could host a competitive team at minimal cost. The Ipswich Jets have proven that you don’t need to spend more than is necessary to achieve success, but rather it is more important to have good people involved who want to succeed for a common purpose. A team based in Ipswich would provide significant commercial opportunities for the area due to tourism and economic growth.
Q: Moving away from the sporting scene, what future initiatives do you believe will assist the region in enhancing its economic development?
A: Ipswich is blessed with being in the right location at the right time, being strategically positioned between the two major highways of the Cunningham and Warrego, linked to Brisbane by electric train, situated between three international airports (Brisbane, Gold Coast and Wellcamp Toowoomba) on the alignment for the planned inland rail from Sydney and Melbourne and next door to the biggest air base in the southern hemisphere. We have a huge percentage of the available industrial land in SEQ and as such represent a great opportunity for businesses to locate to and grow in the future. Our digital capabilities and investment are already the talk of Queensland and our entrepreneurs and start-up assistance will allow us to identify and partner with new technologies moving forward. Our recent highlighting of our tourism market has also shown that we have a huge untapped resource which we are only now recognising. All in all Ipswich has a very bright future indeed.
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