Members of the Mt Isa City Council get a handle on TerraCottem: L to R, Callan Saliba, Carleigh Kerr, Stacey Marshman, Akintunde Tolu Ogunlola, Nathan Straume (from TerraCottem) and Marion Radecker

Given Mount Isa’s reputation for being one of Australia’s hottest places (45.9° C, recorded in 1990), it’s not a surprise to hear that Mt Isa City Council is about to make good use of TerraCottem. The city’s climate is a tricky dance to follow at the best of times – periods of hot with low humidity and then hot with high. And the team managing the city’s plantings have been dealing with drought on top of this. Clearly TerraCottem’s buffering will be a huge help to them.

In late October, TerraCottem’s Nathan Straume ran the first training workshop, “to make sure everyone knows how to use it so it’s effective, but also so none of it is wasted.” The workshops build on people’s existing knowledge, but then add more to the mix. Something special often emerges as a bonus. “I see people shift from thinking of their job as just that, a job. Instead they get enthusiastic. Maybe it’s knowing that the TerraCottem’s going to help big time. Whatever’s going on, I often have staff approach me afterwards describing how those few hours have breathed some life back into things. You can see they’re more positive about being able to make great landscapes.” What’s also interesting is that these sessions aren’t just filled with operations staff: this one at Mt Isa included representatives from town planning and engineering which makes sense if you want to be strategic.