It’s already the end of May and as we approach the halfway point of a topsy turvy year for a lot of businesses, Urban Economics is still feeling optimistic about the back end of 2009. If anything, these times provide an opportunity to learn a lot about your business, yourself as a professional and to think about what you are going to do with your stimulus package, if you haven’t already spent it. With that in mind, Dave  loads up the Kombi and takes us on a surfing trip to Torquay.

Funded by K-Rudd a recent trip to Melbourne presented an opportunity to travel down to Torquay for a surf – which to the annoyance of my girlfriend (who wanted to shop some more), I took with both hands. It gave me a chance to see a different side of Victoria that I had never seen before and experience a slow moving, relaxed tourism destination which has evolved from a quiet traditional seaside town primarily due to the evolution of surfing within Australia. 

It was a cracker of a day - the drive from Melbourne to Torquay felt like it went forever, but the 100km trip to the official start of the Great Ocean Road was bang on an hour. Home to some of the most recognizable surf breaks and brands in the world, the coastal community was living up to its name as “Australia’s surfing capital” with a surf shop on every corner. Signs pointed us to Bells Beach where the oldest running surfing competition was being held, the Rip Curl Pro (formerly known as the Bells Beach Surf Classic) – I’m not going to lie, I was excited.

After surfing for a good hour and a half at a nice little spot in Anglesea (west of Torquay and away from the masses of people around Jan Juc and Bells Beach) by which time my toes and fingers had turned numb, we stopped at the local bakery and grabbed a hot pie and a Powerade (doing our part to stimulate the local economy). “Is it usually this busy around here?” I asked the old local who served us. “Didn’t use to be until the city guys found out about it - I reckon it gets at least three times larger in the holiday period too”. He was right; in terms of population growth, Torquay is the most rapidly expanding town within the most rapidly expanding shire in non-metropolitan Victoria. None-the-less while we were there in the holiday period it wasn’t that busy compared to the Gold Coast on a normal day (but then again nothing is busy compared to the Gold Coast).

It is estimated that the population of Torquay significantly swells in the school holiday period, specifically December through to February. By 2021, it is expected that some 20,000 people will live in Torquay and the surrounding hinterland making for some interesting times ahead for planning, environment and economic development issues. Although the town experiences seasonal increases in population, it does not suffer in the off-season like other coastal Victorian towns located along the Great Ocean Road. For instance the sleepy town on Lorne, situated approximately 50km west of Torquay is dead quiet for 10 months of the year. The football and cricket teams in this town have been non-existent for the past two years and those who own holiday homes are facing the possibility of sharp increases in rates under a contentious plan to improve housing affordability and attract workers. A declining population, which has fallen to under 1000 persons, (the benchmark figure used by the Victorian Government to determine town infrastructure requirements) poses further problems for Lorne.      

Unlike Lorne, Torquay experiences ongoing strong population growth and coupled with seasonal increases in population, facilitates the need for additional retail facilities appropriate for the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the area. Approximately 25km from Torquay, Geelong acts as the major centre for retailing, commercial and business activities and serves as a strong employment base, whilst the Torquay Town Centre provides two supermarkets (Safeway and FoodWorks) and basic commercial and specialty stores for residents within Torquay. A number of convenience centres are scattered along the coastal towns further west of Torquay. As the majority of the Torquay population surfs and with a number of word renowned surf brands originating in Torquay it makes sense that there is a huge variety of surf shops. There is a designated “surf related apparel” precinct (called surf city) in Torquay which comprises an incredible 6,000m2 of major surfing brands and factory outlets. Amazingly, this precinct is more than half the floorspace of the Town Centre and includes factory outlets providing heavily discounted wetsuits and other surf apparel. 

Naturally people are attracted to scenic and beautiful areas, and Torquay is becoming increasingly popular with Victorians as a place to spend a relaxing holiday. I am happy to report that there is no threat (or at least I hope there isn’t) of this quiet coastal community transforming into another high rise Gold Coast type holiday destination. Particular economic development strategies for Torquay focus on streetscape and building design that reinforce an image built upon the ‘beach and surfing character’ of the town, limiting the height of developments and promoting pedestrian friendly streetscapes. 

Torquay is a historic, relaxed seaside community and a beautiful part of Australia. If you’re struggling to keep focus in this time of economic uncertainty and chaos maybe it’s time to take a trip down south and experience the cold water, the warm sun on your face and a hot pie. 

~ David Cramb