Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Smart State Shopping State
Brisbane taxi rides are mostly charge by distance, not duration. This thought kept me calm as we shuffled through a gruelling queue of shuffling SUVs on Airport Drive. We were trying to reach the domestic terminal for our holiday getaway.

Our progress was blocked by marauding shoppers, still sat behind the wheel, but so desperate to save $10 on a pair of designer jeans they were willing to sit in their cars for an hour to do so.

No 1. Airport Drive is home to ‘Direct Factory Outlet’ (DFS) is a 24,000m2 discount retail store, recently opened adjacent to the sole arterial route to Brisbane Airport. Its brisk trade (“beyond all our expectations”) has been transported in solely by car – there is no other way to get there. It has generated more congestion on what is already one of Queensland’s most over-stretched sections of its road network.

The congestion has meant passengers have missed flights, air quality has deteriorated and car accidents have increased. All this, for a cheap pair of jeans.

But that’s just the beginning. This new out of town retail centre promises to suck nearby suburban centres dry, drive us further down a path of car dependency and fuel our meaningless over-consumption in pointless goods. Still, all for a cheap pair of jeans.

The site’s owners, the Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) , successfully applied to the Federal Minister for approval to develop major retail at the airport. Using reserve Ministerial powers allowed for deciding on ‘essential’ matters, the federal government agreed to the proposal in a ‘tick and flick’ exercise.

The previous (Labor) administration of Brisbane City Council (BCC) has fought long and hard to oppose big box retail development at the airport. The Council’s BAC board member opposed the development at corporate level, but inevitably the case went to court. BCC incurred tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees arguing its case. Council’s counsel maintained that:

• the ‘essential’ powers exercised by the Minister should not have extended to adjudicating on shopping developments and hence the regulatory process has been unreasonable;
• transport, water and sewage infrastructure to the site were wholly inadequate and require greater developer contribution;
• the 1998 precinct masterplan did not include retail proposals;
• any retail outlet at No.1 Airport Drive would serve Brisbane residents in general and not – as BAC argued – merely airport shoppers. As such, the out of town location was inappropriate for such a development and did not fulfil any sequential tests, usually applied to such applications.

For 3 ½ years the development was held up. However, when the Brisbane residents voted for Campbell Newman in 2004, they decided that driving through traffic jams to buy cheap jeans was more important. Newman declared he would drop BCC opposition to the development, suggesting what’s good for business is what’s good for Brisbane. But is a DFO at Airport Drive good for either business or Brisbane? I doubt it.

Brisbane Airport is a big part of the ‘Australia TradeCoast’ (ATC) vision, a partnership shared between the Queensland government , Brisbane Airport Corporation , Port of Brisbane Corporation and VELOCITY BRISBANE , a wholly owned investment attraction subsidiary of Brisbane City Council.

ATC’s vision is to “transform Brisbane’s ports precinct into a major global trade and industry hub on the East Coast of Australia”. This vision is founded on the area’s competitive advantage, in being at the heart of the central/east coast Australian transport network and adjacent to a numerous and well-educated workforce.

The ATC dovetails nicely with the Queensland government’s own Smart State strategy. Smart State seeks to transform the Queensland’s economy from the sun-belt service provider it has been into a robust, knowledge-based economy, less reliant on population growth and construction for economic growth, instead, driven by brainpower, creativity and innovation.

So how does “stack-em-high, sell ‘em cheap” retail fit into this inventive, groovy, modern economy?

Does DFO support business or technological innovation? No, allowing major retailers (Coles-Myer) to draw business vitality out of nearby suburbs, stifles local entrepreneurs and small business creation.

Does DFO support regional economic sustainability? No, it merely demands a low pay, low skill work force to work the tills. The profits are not retained in the local economy, but benefit Coles-Myer shareholders in Sydney and Melbourne.

Does DFO support sustainable development? Err, well of course not. The retail development generates greater pollution and greater congestion through greater demand for transport.

Is DFO a 'Smart' development? Unequivocally not; retail development at No.1 Airport Drive – well outside the urban framework - goes against the grain of all contemporary thinking in urban management; the relocation of services in suburban centres and in ‘places’. The 18,000 extra vehicular trips generated daily squeezes through one of the busiest sections of Queensland’s highway networks. Not only is this stretch at capacity, it is also of considerable strategic importance for regional traffic flow, connecting the airport to the city and the only major north-south Brisbane bypass. Major highway upgrades are still many years away, but even then, building more road space is no way to fight congestion.

But perhaps most tragically, the local traffic management appears to have been ‘designed’ by a gibbering imbecile – forcing two of the three main streams of inwards traffic to cut across the third, within a 500m section of road.

And lastly, a major retail development does not support the strategic goals of either the Smart State or the Australia TradeCoast. It reflects merely lowest common denominator thinking in strategic planning.

So why did our Lord Mayor drop BCC opposition to the proposal?

Because he is smart – at least in a political sense. If you build the people shops and roads, they will love you for it. No.1 Airport Drive follows Newman’s theme for Brisbane: Ghostly suburban centres, congested roads and poisonous air. Forget being bold, visionary or imaginative – if in doubt – go shopping!

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