Townsville City

Festival Postponed Due to COVID-19

Today, Townsville City Council announced that NAFA (North Australia Festival of Arts) and Fringe Festival will be postponed until further notice due to COVID-19. This decision comes after The Federal Governments advice on non-essential gatherings during this time. Mayor Jenny Hill said, the real issue is we don’t know what things will look like tomorrow, let alone in four weeks, so to say when we can continue these events is still up in the air. Rather than cancelling the event altogether, Council has decided to postpone it, in hopes that as soon as numbers of infections reduce, and restrictions are taken away they can proceed with booking these events and artists and put them back on the city event calendar. “NAFA is a big part of our events calendar, which brought in 4.1 million last year as far as economic impact and we saw an increase of 8.6 percent increase in accommodation in hotels and other places. So, we are trying to bring back normality as much and as soon as possible, which is why we are postponing instead of cancelling it,” Cr. Jenny Hill explained.

If you are looking for things to do because of all the event postponements, Hill said we still have beautiful parks, beaches and walks you can go on as well as Magnetic Island which is still open. In the meantime, the mayor seemed hopeful that despite everything, and despite the restrictions, Townsville’s confirmed cases are still really low, and she urges us to stay calm as we are still operating pretty normally compared to other cities and states, and to enjoy things we still can do.

Council Prepared for Coronavirus

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill talked today on Council’s pandemic plan and business continuity plan in response to COVID-19. Mayor Hill seemed positive that Townsville is still low risk compared to other surrounding cities, with only 2 confirmed cases out of a population of 200,000. She encouraged Townsville that the council has put in a pandemic plan, but not to panic, to be cautious. Right now the only things being talked about are how the virus will affect events coming up, such as ANZAC Day and Groovin the Moo, as well as how businesses and staff in the city will be affected. Mayor Hill said “Our role is to help protect our workforce and community and maintain essential services to the city.” Their IT team has already looked into who all could possibly work from home if needed. They are looking into how to better handle blue collared workers or orange shirt workers who still need to continue working, yet how to minimize the spread of the virus if one of these workers were to contract the virus. She said they will have more clarity on public events and whether or not they will be cancelled or postponed tomorrow, Tuesday, 17th of March. As of right now public events have a more likely chance of being cancelled starting in April and going until further notice, however private events should still be able to go on, since the people going are being filtered and monitored. With talk about cancelling events, it means hotels will have last minute gaps to fill until further notice, and with Townsville having some of the nicest winter weather, Mayor Hill talked about the idea of hosting all NRL leagues and games right here in Townsville saying that she believes we would have the capacity to host them, if that is something the league wants to look into as things further progress. Mayor Hill states, “I have every faith in our local health services, and we will continue to work in full cooperation with them,” and will keep the community updated on the impacted events as soon as possible to make sure we stay informed. 

Yule be sorry if you miss Townsville’s 25 Days of Discounts

Enjoying the Townsville CBD this Christmas time has just gotten a whole lot cheaper with the roll out of 25 Days of Discounts.

The Townsville City Council initiative involves a range of unique CBD traders who have a variety of discounts available at their stores in the lead up to Christmas Day.

Local Councillor Ann-Maree Greaney said 25 Days of Discounts was extremely popular when it was launched last year.

“Council has worked with local businesses and franchises set up in the city centre and over on Magnetic Island to create a coupon flyer with more than 20 discounts and deals,” Cr Greaney said.

“This is a fun way to help locals celebrate Christmas together and make sure our CBD’s economy is stimulated throughout the festive season.”

Cr Greaney said businesses were expecting a high amount of uptake.

“We have some really great discounts on offer with the 25 Days of Discounts promotion, and we’re hoping locals and visitors take advantage of this and grab themselves some bargains,” she said.

“We all know wallets are stretched at this time of year, so it’s a great idea to save yourself a bit of money when you’re buying Christmas presents or going out for a bite to eat.”

Cr Greaney said the savings didn’t stop there, with Council also rolling out its free two-hour parking offer.

“Free parking will be available for more than 500 two-hour parking spots across the city for the whole month of December,” she said.

“It’s a great time to get your Christmas shopping done, enjoy some local food and entertainment with your family, and save some money while you’re at it.”

25 Days of Discounts runs from 1 to 24 December at participating traders.

To download the coupon flyer, head to https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/about-townsville/christmas-together-2019/25-days-of-discounts .

Townsville signs on as first North Queensland Welcoming City

Townsville is now the 40th Welcoming City in the country.

 

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill has signed on to the Welcoming Cities program, which helps councils and communities become more inclusive of all newcomers to the city.

 

Townsville’s strong liveability attributes make the city an attractive destination for migrants, 25,574 people who were living in the Townsville City Council in 2016 were born overseas, and 20% had arrived in Australia within the 5 years prior to 2016.

 

Cr Hill said Council was proud to sign on to the program, as it helped establish the city as having a positive reputation.

 

“Townsville is more multicultural now than ever before, and this is something we should celebrate,” Cr Hill said.

 

“The diversity of the local community is one of the things that makes Townsville such a vibrant place to live and work.

 

“We want to do everything we can to welcome and support migrants who choose to make Townsville their new home.”

 

Cr Hill said making the commitment allowed Council to become better informed about how to support migrants into the Townsville community.

 

“Becoming a Welcoming City gives Council new tools to help integrate migrants into the community,” she said.

 

“Council is constantly looking at how it can improve the experiences of newcomers to the city, which as we know can have positive effects on our economy and society.

 

“Being a Welcoming City will help Council see how it’s tracking with cultural diversity and inclusivity.”

 

Townsville joins Brisbane, Livingstone, Balonne, Central Highlands and Toowoomba in becoming a Queensland-based Welcoming City.

 

Ring That Bell! We’re Well on Our Way to Making Townsville STRONGER!

The Good News Bell is ringing away at LiveFM today as our “STRONGER” Radiothon Appeal has kicked off and our community are calling in to donate! 

Each time a person donates, the bell rings and the whole office hears about it! Every dollar counts! At today we have heard some very powerful and priceless testimonies from our listeners.

One of our listeners phoned in and shared her story with us of how she had been in jail for 14 years and just recently moved to Townsville and the family she lives with introduced her to LiveFM. She told LiveFM that her “church and LiveFM has become her lifeline” and says “It’s like having a family on tap”. She loves the music, the family friendly aspect and the interviews. She adds that she encourages “everyone to give to the station who gives to us.”

LiveFM Announcer and host of ‘Saturday Night in With Kim’ Kim Cooper has been tangibly experiencing the incredible impact of today’s appeal response.

“It’s been overwhelming seeing the generosity of Townsville getting behind the station. We don’t have big business behind us so seeing people open up their heart to keep the station on air to be able to continue broadcasting the message of hope has been really amazing! I continue to be humbled and overjoyed as to why people give and what the station has done for them.”

LiveFM President Meg Watts shares with us her experience of being on our precious calls team!

“Being one of the phone operators is exciting! I love hearing their stories. I feel very encouraged that LiveFM is reaching out and touching people’s lives in a meaningful way.”

Our financial goal but not limited to is $25, 000 and our online money gauge shows us that we as a community have reached a whopping $4,040! Thank you to everyone out there in our community supporting us in many different ways and being the backbone to the station.

If you haven’t yet heard about it, blast on the radio and tune in! Help us build stronger families and a stronger city!

To give you can call 4725 3699 or give online by clicking here!

“It’s Good to Be Alive!”