Councillor Column - Overlander’s Way and Year of the Outback - Cr Sonia Bennetto

In the coming weeks, Council will release the draft Charters Towers Regional Planning Scheme for community consultation.

In December last year, Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk declared 2019 as The Year of Outback Tourism.

It is fair to say that the Year of the Outback has commenced with great disruption, given the recent and unprecedented lashings of monsoonal rains and floods that were experienced far and wide in the north of our state. Although prayers were answered with much needed rain for north western regions, the sheer volume of rainfall experienced by such parched landscapes has also led to some considerable recovery works.

The recent rain event led to several closures along the Flinders Highway, which is the critical transport and logistics route that runs from Townsville to Mount Isa.  From a tourism perspective, this route is recognised as The Overlander’s Way; a designated State Strategic Touring Route (SSTR).  For the Charters Towers region, it is a critical touring route that generates a significant portion of our region’s annual tourism income. 

The Overlander’s Way is promoted by a committee of councils that form the North West Outback Queensland Tourism Authority (NWOQTA).  Membership consists of all councils situated along the touring route - Townsville, Charters Towers, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, and Mount Isa.

On the 17th of January, the Charters Towers Regional Council hosted the first NWOQTA Committee meeting of the year. This provided a valuable platform for sharing regional updates and finalising the strategic plan for the year ahead. 

With recent weather events, promotion of the Overlander’s Way as a key attraction during the 2019 Year of the Outback will be as important as ever to the continued development of our region’s tourism market.

To find out more about The Overlander’s Way, visit www.overlandersway.com or search #overlandersway on social media.

​OGG 26 February 2019