REGIONAL NSW is still getting shunted down the government’s priority list and councils are calling for more investment to help push decentralisation.
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Councils across the state pledged their support to the Evocities program for four more years and the first meeting of the Tamworth-driven Regional Cities NSW will be held next month.
With a state and federal election a matter of months away, the two groups will have plenty to vie for, with a change of government possible in both votes.
As Regional Cities NSW prepares to hold its first official meeting, Evocities chairman Kevin Mack said the groups would be complementary and wouldn’t hinder each other.
Cr Mack wants the state government to invest $500,000 annually for the next four years into Evocities to help “increase market exposure”.
Each of the seven member councils, including Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga, agreed to pour $332,000 each into the cause during the next four years.
Cr Mack said there had been “uplift” in website traffic after recent radio and television advertising campaigns in Sydney.
He said the next challenge was having the regional NSW portfolio established as a standalone ministry.
“John Barilaro has been really good trying to make it work,” Cr Mack said.
“But it’s a minor portfolio; he holds three or four on his own. It needs its own minister if we’re going to get serious incentives for businesses to go regional and decentralise.”
Cr Mack said the time was ripe to push decentralisation, after Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared NSW needed a “breather” from rapid population growth.
“Several people spoke about how Sydney reached its point of no return,” he said.
“The next steps should be marketing the regions and offering direct incentives to encourage people to move into the regions.”
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