Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Strategy Planning Initiative

The strategic plan will help our communities and government manage the expected continued population decline in smaller areas and plan for growth in larger regional centres. It will also help these communities adapt to drought and climate change, an ageing population, skills and housing shortages and the increased risk of natural disaster.

A series of workshops was held across the region in May to gather information and views on the main challenges and opportunities we face. The workshops were attended by community and industry leaders nominated by the region’s six municipalities.

After a Roundtable discussion with Victorian Treasurer and member of the Ministerial Taskforce for Regional Planning, Minister Lenders, on July 24, a more detailed action plan will be developed with your help.

This plan will step out exactly what we hope to achieve and how. Your ongoing input into this process is valued, and we look forward to your thoughts and ideas along the way.

This process has challenged us to nominate a small number of priorities for this region. These are as follows...

WATER ALLOCATION AND SUSTAINABLE USE

Objective:

This priority aims to ensure that the regional community has an effective voice in future determinations on water allocation and use in the region.

Strategies:

1. Develop a clear and transparent process for establishing equitable water share or entitlement of the available water supply.
   
2. Researching the risks and localised impact of climate change on the water supply of the WSM and the interaction between groundwater and surface water.
   
3. A full and open community consultation process to develop regional water management plans.

INNOVATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Objective:

To build on the region’s competitive strength in agricultural production by helping the industry adjust to the impacts of the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and to adapt to drier conditions and other risks of climate change.

Strategies:

1. Strengthen the agricultural knowledge and skills cluster in the Wimmera Southern Mallee region to develop and promote agricultural technologies, crop varieties and practices to reduce emissions and to adapt to climate change.
   
2. Strengthen the region’s training and education services to support skills development in agricultural emissions reduction, climate change adaptation and innovation in agricultural production.

DIVERSE AND COMPETITIVE INDUSTRIES

Objectives:

To ensure the WSM region is competitively positioned to take advantage of the growth potential in agribusiness and related food processing and manufacturing, tourism and mining.

Support the diversification of the regional economy by developing an innovative renewable energy industry that capitalises on the region’s solar, wind and bioenergy competitive advantages.

Strategies:

(i) Enabling Infrastructure -

1. Provision of high-speed broadband Internet and mobile phone services across the entire Wimmera Southern Mallee region.
   
2. Extend the natural gas supply to St Arnaud, Nhill and Warracknabeal and identify further areas for natural gas.
   
3. Upgrade the road and rail network to address freight movement, people movement, connectivity and safety issues as identified in the Wimmera Regional Transport Plan.

(ii) Industry Development and Diversification -

1. Conduct a review of industry needs to facilitate the growth of agricultural value-adding industries.
   
2. Support the development of environmentally and socially responsible mineral sand mining in the region.
   
3. Develop and promote the nature-based tourism products of the Wimmera Southern Mallee region.
   
4. Support the development of renewable energy generation including wind, solar and bioenergy.
   
5. Provide support to attract and settle skilled people, including migrants, in the region.

LIVEABILITY OF REGIONAL COMMUNITIES

Objective:

To design and enable new models of service planning and delivery for regional communities.

This involves localised decision-making that draws on local knowledge. This priority addresses the critical challenge of maintaining services and facilities to smaller and
dispersed populations where the per capita cost of service provision increases as population declines. The approach based on the principles of flexibility and government cooperation.

Strategies:

A region-wide, three-year program of place-based community planning and development to identify innovative ways of achieving local community outcomes tailored to suit the circumstances of the small towns and communities of the Wimmera Southern Mallee region.

Develop a volunteer coordination and support strategy to encourage new people to take up opportunities for volunteering, reduce the administrative requirements on volunteers and provide dedicated training, support and mentoring of volunteers.

Provision of high-speed broadband Internet and mobile phone services across the entire Wimmera Southern Mallee region.

REGIONAL ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Objective:

To improve access to a broader range of education, training and curriculum choices at both the secondary and post-secondary level.

Strategies:

1. Develop a regional strategy for education and training that draws on a comprehensive regional perspective.
   
2. Develop and support alternative education programs that meet local needs.
   
3. Develop innovative delivery models to increase the provision of VET at a local level.
   
4. Expand the TAFE and higher education courses on offer through the University of Ballarat Horsham campus, increasing access via outreach services to a number of smaller communities.
   
5. Promote and coordinate distance education provision, especially into businesses and small towns.