Tumut Shire is a region where business and work opportunities are set amid a picturesque, pristine rural backdrop of mountains and highlands. A short drive off the Hume Highway, Tumut is well located as a regional service centre and as the gateway to both the Riverina and the Snowy Mountains.
It is almost halfway between Sydney (420 km) and Melbourne (500 km). Canberra is only 195 km away. A population of more than 600,000 lives within a two and a half hour drive from Tumut.
A diversity of economic activity is a significant strength of the Tumut region. Industries include timber and forestry, horticulture, aquaculture, grazing, tourism, engineering, power generation, transport, retail and supporting services. Three international organisations operate in a cluster of timber and paper processing with latest technologies requiring skilled workers and training infrastructure.
Recent investment by Visy Industries in a $400 million state of the environment pulp mill reflects business confidence in the region. An estimated 600 to 750 new jobs will flow on across all sectors, generating growth in the regional economy.
The 2001 census population count of around 11,250 reported a 2.5 per cent growth on the previous census, further evidence of positive economic activity in this inland regional centre.
In 1998, an economic development strategy, Vision 2020, provided a vision for adopting and managing change. The community consultation undertaken in developing this strategy paved the way for community acceptance of opportunities offered by new investment in manufacturing. This vision is under review. Extensive community input is again vital. This time the results focus on education, learning and R&D, youth in the region, developing a 21st century industrial/economic base and attracting visitors.
Tumut Shire is a blend of natural beauty and technical expertise. Increasing population and economic development had Tumut Shire recognised by the NSW Government as a Country Growth Centre. Success with the A R Bluett NSW Award for Local Government and DoTARS National Award for Local Government reflects the management of this period of growth and provides positive signs for the future of the Shire.
Youth issues in Tumut
Youth issues are a high priority on Tumut Shire Council’s agenda with Council having provided support to the Tumut Shire Youth Council for the past four years. Council is extremely proud of the achievements of its Youth Council, which is respected within the region as setting a standard for other Youth Councils to follow.
The aim of the Youth Council Committee is to provide a forum for consultation between Council and the youth of Tumut Shire to achieve the following.
- l Promotion of a positive profile of young people. l Active involvement in increasing the level and variety of entertainment and recreation for youth. l Provision of a forum where youth can express their views, and where those views will be heard and respected. l Improved two way communication lines between young people and the rest of the community.
To this end, the Youth Council has organised various entertainment events. Last year the Youth Ball also incorporated the promotion of a positive profile of young people by presentation of awards to recognise the achievements of young people in Tumut Shire. This prestigious event was hosted by Tony Barber, and awards were presented by Katrina Hodgkinson, Member for Burrinjuck.
The recommendations made to Council by the Youth Council are respected and followed. A prime example of this is the construction of the Youth Recreation Area in Tumut. The Youth Council, which also recommended seeking support from community members to donate their skills or materials for the project, raised the initial funds for the project. The $100,000 project was constructed with a contribution of $30,000 from Council.
Further information on the Tumut Shire Youth Council can be found on the web site, www.tumut.nsw.gov.au/tsyc/index.html.
Council has also played an integral part in the Tumut Youth Commitment (TYC). TYC is an innovative project involving a coalition of schools, community agencies, employment and training providers, tertiary institutions, employers and others in the local area who are working together to provide a comprehensive safety net for young people leaving school.
To ensure that exiting students ‘have a place to go’ Tumut Shire has a Transition Broker. The Transition Broker works with young people who are potentially ‘at risk’ of leaving school early, or who have already exited the school system, assisting them to access employment, further education or training.
Adelong Alive
Community and tourist facilities are to be enhanced in the township of Adelong following the recent endorsement of concept plans for the Adelong Alive Community Cultural Project and Sculpture Trail. In early 2002, Adelong Progress Association successfully obtained a $32,700 grant from the Australia Council for the Arts, to develop the overall design.
Wagga Wagga artist, Zane Separovich, and Architect and Environmental Design Engineer, Chris McInerney, were engaged to design a range of ways for the community and visitors to connect with both cultural facilities and the natural environment. They also developed a framework to enable a range of artworks to be incorporated into the environment, particularly a sculpture walk along the Adelong Creek to Adelong Falls.
Some elements of the design are of an educative nature, incorporating signage, interpretive panels and information about various sites, community history and the environment. Other design elements are to provide more integral cultural infrastructure, and include an outdoor studio area connected to the Adelong Museum, an outdoor performance area, and enhanced facilities for the public in a town park.
In the design, all of these individual elements are linked in a stylistic way, with the intention of creating a clear cultural precinct around the area. These provide strong links between the cultural facilities, the Adelong Creek, the sculpture trail, the swinging bridge that provides pedestrian access across the creek, and the main street of Adelong.An artistic brief was also developed as part of the project, for the future commissioning of artworks within the new cultural precinct and sculpture trail.
Council will assist Adelong Progress Association with the staged implementation of the project, estimated to cost approximately $220,000 in total. The project has recently received a boost, with a $30,000 community grant from the Roads and Traffic Authority.
The Gathering Place project
The idea for a special Indigenous space in Tumut had been an objective of the Tumut Shire Aboriginal Community for a long time. The vision was to create a meeting place to be used by the entire community and visitors to the River Park in Tumut, which is presently undeveloped land.
The landscape design will include pathways that encompass art works to tell the traditional Indigenous story of the annual meeting of the Aboriginal tribes of Walgalu, Ngunawal and Wiradjuri on their journey to the Bogong mountains to feast on the Bogong moths.
Late in 2001, Tumut Shire Council combined with local indigenous artists and the Eastern Riverina Arts Program. This Team was successful in gaining grants matched ‘in kind’ by Tumut Shire Council to carry the project through the first phase of concept and design.
A Management Team, with representation from Council and the community, and an Artistic Team, established in March 2002.
The Artistic Team comprises four Indigenous and two non Indigenous artists, as a testament to the reconciliation process. Productive workshops were held at schools, TAFE and in the community, gaining valuable input from a wide variety of people. The Artistic Team then developed a final design brief and display.
The Teams are currently seeking further funding in order to proceed to Stage 2, which will enable materials and workshop space to be provided for the production of the art features, fire rocks, information rocks and totem poles, and the installation of the artworks into the landscape.
To see various images of the project go to www.tumut.nsw.gov.au/culturalmap (click Aboriginal and then Gathering Place).
