Redland development: new city turns grey

• Image: The local jobs board that features in The Redland Times.


• More info: The 'economic snapshot' report is available at the Redland City Council site.
  

VISITOR traffic to Redland City Council’s website must be heavy this week as word spreads of the availability of a key report on the district’s economy.
The Redland City Economic Snapshot 2008 contains a wealth of facts and figures, mainly from the 2006 Census but with some key updates and "no nonsense" analysis by the report’s authors.
The Queensland Treasury’s Office of Economic and Statistical Research (OESR) has compiled the snapshot, which will be a tool for business and social planning.
Such a report gives a form to changes we may see every day and accept with a shrug. The Redland’s transition over decades from a rural-based to a service-based economy may not be hard-hitting news but now we can see the change in an understandable form.
The snapshot says only 464 Redlanders worked in agriculture, forestry and fishing at the last Census; 10 years earlier, in 1996, the figure was 851.

LOCAL employment was one of the snapshot’s focuses. The OESR notes 2006 labour demand figures for Redland indicate the retail industry was the largest employer -- with 5540 people, or 17.3pc of total labour demand.
Such trends reflect in every edition of the Classifieds, with an ever-growing Positions Vacant section giving its own snapshot of the labour market.
It is no accident that the Classifieds’ innovative Positions Wanted board has a slogan with the key words "live", "work" and "local", summing up what many would consider the ideal – a job near home.
But getting back to statistics: the OESR indicates a terrier pup is growing into a Great Dane and will soon snap at the heels of the local employment giant, retail.

HEALTH care and social assistance, which employed 3821 people, or 11.9pc of labour demand in 2006, is No.2 on the list for local job creation.
This would not surprise anyone who scans the Positions Vacant column, which always seems to have ads seeking aged care specialists including nurses and assistants, diversional therapists, cooks and cleaners.
Redland will see a lot more of such local employment opportunities, if the analysts are correct.
The snapshot says the Redland's greatest population rise is expected in the 65 years and over group. The forecast rise is from 12.7pc (16,608) in 2006 to 29.4pc (55,568) in 2031.

OPPORTUNITIES will not be limited to employment in the caring fields. Many retirees will live independently, so business and employment niches will keep flowing on.
The official analyses make great reading but they come out only from time to time. Anyone can get a good idea of what’s happening by checking the Classifieds anytime.

• Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.