Gympie Town Centre Marketing Strategy

Gympie Regional Council has endorsed a branding and marketing Strategy for the Gympie town centre, following an extensive community engagement process. The strategy includes a 3 year action plan of implementation activities to support the town centre as a vibrant place to spend time, shop and do business. The strategy is aimed at refreshing the town centre's identity and delivering a unique product and patron experience, centered on the picturesque and historically significant Mary Street.

Governance and Economic Development Portfolio Cr. Tony Perrett says, ‘Council and local businesses have an important role to play in supporting the town centre as a key driver in the region's economic prosperity and reinforcing it as our primary retail, entertainment, services and social/ community hub.'

Cr. Perrett went on to acknowledge the valuable input from the community reference group saying, the strategy was completed following the "What's Great About Gympie?" community engagement campaign, information gathered in two community breakfast workshops and several surveys.

Hundreds of ideas for improvements to revitalise the town centre were received through the community engagement process and have been filtered down to those that will deliver the most value in the first 3 years.

A unique logo, as an instantly recognisable graphic representation of the spirit of the Gympie town centre has also been designed. The logo reflects the traditional main street appeal and will be consistently applied in marketing and signage.

Council has allocated $75,000 in the 2014/15 financial year to commence work on implementation of activities including town centre directional signage and billboards, Mary Street banners incorporating the new place logo, a visual merchandising program to improve shop front appeal, advertising campaign and initiating a Town Centre Market focussed on locally grown and made products.

In an effort to build the night time economy and add to the appeal of Mary Street, investigations will also commence for a proposal to ‘light up' Mary Street. Council will consider the cost and practicalities of establishing an appropriate lighting system, focussed initially on the Gold City Centre Stage and intersection of Mary and Smithfield Streets. As part of the first stage, lighting could be extended from this community focal point for a short distance along Mary Street in either direction.

In addition, a number of other public realm improvement projects are underway to develop concepts for improvements to Smithfield Street, Mary Street between Monkland and Channon Streets and a Master Plan for Nelson Reserve/ Memorial Park. Council are also in the process of finalising a whole-of-centre parking study and unifying the Urban Design Palette to guide streetscape improvements.

For more information on the strategy visit greatgympie.com.au or phone Council on 1300 307 800.

For more information visit Gympie Regional Council