Pilbara towns to grow from mining roots

When the Pilbara towns of Tom Price and Paraburdoo get a mention in public discourse, it is almost always preceded by a two-word descriptor: mining town.

Nestled deep in the same picturesque ranges that have made Karijini National Park one of the most Instagrammable destinations in the world, the twin towns aren’t known for much besides digging up dirt.

Their histories are joined at the hip to Rio Tinto.

From their establishment by Hamersley Iron in the 1960s to today, Tom Price and Paraburdoo would not exist without the iron giant, which made its fortune in the surrounding mesas.

While those who live there acknowledge Rio’s involvement in the area, there’s a desire to shed the high vis and forge their own identities.

The towns are home to a combined population of 4,400 people, with about half of those residents employed in mining (62 per cent in Paraburdoo).

More than 70 per cent of housing stock is owned by Rio Tinto, according to Shire of Ashburton figures.

Of 372 jobs on offer in the towns at time of writing, only four were in fields outside of mining and government.

In the face of stagnating population and a big fly-in, fly-out workforce – 75 per cent of workers fly in from out of town – Tom Price and Paraburdoo need new ideas to grow.

Pilbara Inland Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairwoman Carlen Woods said dark skies (and the stargazing that comes with it), Indigenous culture and green streets were competitive advantages the towns could work with.

“There’s a lot of untapped tourism. Dark-sky tourism, Indigenous cultural tours, for example,” she said.

“One of the things I love about Tom Price already is that it’s a very green town.

“There’s an opportunity for Aboriginal tourism to happen.

“If you have botanical gardens, it doesn’t take much for an operator to go out and explain the medicinal qualities of each product or each plant.”

Work is already under way on the tourism front, with Shire of Ashburton president Audra Smith pointing to campaigns in recent years to position the region as an adventure destination.

“The shire recently [attended] a tourism four-wheel-drive show and we have also got in touch previously with the 4WD Adventure Show on television,” Ms Smith said.

“In my last six years being here, a lot of people come for the beauty we have in our town.”

There are plenty of ideas floating around in the inland Pilbara, but major hurdles often sit in the way.

The Shire of Ashburton has developed a community lifestyle and infrastructure plan (CLIP) to guide the future development of both towns.

The major stumbling block to address is housing.

The region’s $1,500-a-week-plus rents are well documented. Several sites in both towns have been earmarked for residential development, tourism accommodation has been mooted and a 12-unit affordable Tom Price housing project will progress to a feasibility study.

A pressing need to unlock commercial land, develop training institutions, invest in small business growth, and overhaul community facilities have also been identified.

Resident, former councillor and serving Mining and Pastoral MLC Peter Foster said access to utilities, navigating land tenure, and attracting private investment were among the largest hurdles to clear.

“There is probably a lot of scope there for private investors to get involved, partner with the shire and look at developing land,” he said.

“It would be great to see Development WA working with the shire and looking at options for housing in Tom Price (and) Paraburdoo.

“There are very few rentals available in Tom Price or Paraburdoo, so if someone wanted to come to town and start a business that is a really tough proposition because there really isn’t a lot of availability to do so.”

Tom Price sits in the shadow of the striking Jarndunmunha (Mt Nameless) and just down the road from one of Australia’s most renowned national parks, Karijini.

But tourist accommodation in town is scarce as rooms are often hoovered up for mining services.

Mr Foster said separating tourism and workforce accommodation would go some way to solving this.

“The CLIP talks about short-stay accommodation, which I think would potentially address the issue of having no rooms to book when the tourists come to town,” he said.

“Tourists do often come to Tom Price and Paraburdoo, but they don’t stay very long.

“Most people come and do a mine tour, but we would love to see them stay a little bit.”

Mr Foster said museums, art galleries, shops and Indigenous experiences would help lure people to the towns and keep them there longer.

Sealing of the Manuwarra Red Dog Highway between Karratha and Tom Price will drive tourist and transport industries, too, according to Mr Foster.

Child care, fragmented supply chains, business costs, lack of rain, and poor electrical and internet infrastructure all add to business fatigue, according to Ms Woods.

As for broader life in the community, Ms Woods said the CLIP was a promising document.

“They have some really good suggestions and some not so good,” she said.

“Some of the residents in Tom Price, for example, were really upset about the possibility of losing the drive-in theatre because that’s prime residential land.”

Sport and recreation play a big part of the towns’ lifestyle offering, something the CLIP earmarked as a growth area.

So, too, is a desire to expand the small business scene, in which Ms Pina said there had been green shoots in the past year.

“If you look in Tom Price and even Paraburdoo, in the last year shop fronts are all filled,” she said.

“A lot of them have been home businesses that have taken space there.”

Tom Price and Paraburdoo only need to cast an eye toward the coast for inspiration.

Two of Rio’s other towns – Karratha and Dampier – are well down the path of conscious uncoupling from the company that built them.

Karratha’s manicured streets and modern CBD is a pleasant surprise to most first-time visitors to the town, and Dampier is undergoing a multi-million-dollar revitalisation to give its foreshore the kind of amenity seen in other beachside idylls.

While still considered by many to be mining towns and beset by myriad issues from land tenure to a lack of small businesses, both have undergone radical change from what they were 15 years ago. And it is not a total break, either.

Rio Tinto remains a major employer in town and sinks millions of dollars every year into infrastructure, clubs, and community programs.

Ms Woods said mining would long play a critical role in the towns the industry forged.

“Mining supplies the smaller businesses with the customer base they need to be able to survive in this little town of ours and towns of ours,” she said.