A TALE OF TWO STORIES
The Scenic Rim future identity question sits at the heart of everything happening in this region right now. Every region tells a story about itself, and the Scenic Rim’s story is hard to miss.
It’s on the cover of the official Scenic Rim Visitor Guide. Mountains and valleys stretching to the horizon. The tagline is simple: “Closer Than You Think.”
It’s on the cover of the official Scenic Rim Visitor Guide. Mountains and valleys stretching to the horizon. The tagline is simple: “Is Closer Than You Think.”
The message inside is just as clear.
This is a region of spectacular natural beauty, diverse landscapes, abundant wildlife and incredible produce.
Those aren’t marketing slogans created by KC VICE. They are the words used to describe the region in official tourism material.
And they are backed up page after page.
- Six national parks.
- World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforests.
- Farm-gate experiences.
- Wineries, breweries and distilleries.
- Food trails.
- Outdoor adventure.
- Local producers.
- Wildlife.
- Agritourism.
- Rural enterprise.
The Scenic Rim’s identity as a food, farming and nature destination isn’t aspirational. It is the result of decades of investment by local families, producers, tourism operators and businesses.
Farmers built businesses around it.
Accommodation providers built businesses around it.
Winemakers built businesses around it.
Entire communities have benefited from the reputation the region has spent decades creating.
The Scenic Rim story is well known because people can see it.
But travel south toward Bromelton and another story begins to emerge.
Bromelton and the Other Blueprint
Within the boundaries of the Scenic Rim sits the Bromelton State Development Area.
The precinct was established to accommodate major industry, freight infrastructure and large-scale commercial development.
Planning frameworks identify opportunities for:
- Industrial development
- Freight and logistics operations
- Manufacturing
- Resource recovery facilities
- Transport infrastructure
- Regional employment growth
The proposed Bromelton Energy and Resource Centre, known as BERC, is currently the most visible project associated with that industrial vision.
The Cleanaway-backed proposal has generated significant community debate around potential impacts on health, environment, agriculture, tourism and regional identity.
Supporters point to employment opportunities, infrastructure investment and future waste management needs.
Opponents point to environmental concerns, community impacts and questions about compatibility with the region’s existing identity.
Both positions are now well known.
What is less understood is that Bromelton’s industrial future did not begin with BERC.
Before BERC
For many years Bromelton was promoted as a strategic freight and logistics opportunity.
The precinct occupies a unique position on Queensland’s transport network, including access to interstate rail infrastructure.
Long before waste-to-energy became part of the public conversation, Bromelton was being discussed as a future freight hub capable of supporting major logistics operations and industrial growth.
The vision was economic.
The vision was strategic.
The vision was industrial.
BERC did not create that vision.
It emerged within it.
Which raises an important question.
At what point did the conversation about Bromelton expand from freight and logistics into large-scale waste infrastructure?
More importantly, how does that vision connect with the identity being promoted elsewhere throughout the Scenic Rim?
Are These Two Stories The Same Story?
This may be the most important question in the entire debate.
Not whether BERC should be approved.
Not whether it should be rejected.
But whether the two official stories being told about the Scenic Rim are actually part of the same long-term vision.
On one hand, official tourism material promotes:
- Food
- Farming
- Nature
- Wildlife
- Rural experiences
- Agritourism
- Outdoor adventure
On the other hand, planning frameworks identify opportunities for:
- Industry
- Freight
- Logistics
- Manufacturing
- Resource recovery
- Strategic infrastructure
Both stories are real.
Both are supported by official documents.
Both represent legitimate policy objectives.
The question is whether they have been clearly reconciled.
The Missing Third Story
Perhaps the issue isn’t that there are two stories.
Perhaps the issue is that the third story hasn’t been clearly explained.
Tourism.
Agriculture.
Industry.
Most people would accept that all three can contribute to a successful regional economy.
Many regions around the world combine them successfully.
But successful combinations rarely happen by accident.
They happen because somebody has done the work of explaining how the pieces fit together.
How industrial growth interacts with agricultural production.
How tourism branding is protected.
How environmental values are maintained.
How freight infrastructure supports economic development without undermining the characteristics that attract people to the region in the first place.
The Scenic Rim Visitor Guide tells one story. The Bromelton planning framework tells another. What appears to be missing from the public discussion is a clear explanation of how those stories combine into a single long-term vision.
If such a document exists, it has not featured prominently in the BERC debate.
Leadership and Long-Term Planning
Councils, governments and planning authorities are often required to balance competing priorities.
Economic growth. Employment. Agriculture. Tourism. Environmental protection. Population growth. Infrastructure.
Each of these objectives can be legitimate.
The challenge is ensuring the community understands how those priorities fit together.
Residents regularly see tourism campaigns.
Developers see planning frameworks.
Businesses see economic opportunity strategies.
But many residents appear to be asking a broader question.
What does the finished picture look like?
Not next year.
Not after the next election.
What does the Scenic Rim look like in 2055?
What industries will define it?
What landscapes will define it?
What reputation will define it?
And who is responsible for shaping that future?
Beyond BERC
The future of BERC will ultimately be determined through planning assessments, regulatory processes and government decision-making.
That process will continue regardless of public opinion.
But the larger question belongs to the community.
Because even if BERC disappeared from the planning register tomorrow, the underlying issue would remain.
The Bromelton State Development Area would still exist.
Future industrial proposals would still arrive.
Tourism would still be promoted.
Agriculture would still remain central to the region’s economy.
The Scenic Rim would still need to decide how those futures fit together.
Long after submissions close and decisions are made, the region will still face the same challenge.
Is the Scenic Rim primarily a tourism destination?
An agricultural powerhouse?
A strategic industrial hub?
Or something capable of successfully combining all three?
Before residents decide what they think about BERC, they may first need an answer to a more fundamental question.
What is the Scenic Rim trying to become over the next 30 years?
And who gets to decide?
A Question Worth Answering
The Scenic Rim’s most valuable asset is not a logo, a slogan or a planning document.
It is its reputation.
A reputation built on food, farming, landscapes, wildlife, communities and the people who have invested generations building something unique.
At the same time, governments have identified Bromelton as a location for major industrial development and future economic growth.
Both realities now exist.
The community deserves more than two separate stories presented to two separate audiences.
It deserves the third story.
The one that explains how it all fits together.
Until then, the question remains.
What is the Scenic Rim trying to become?
And who gets to decide?