The Good Oil by Rod Brown *
David MacLaren, a native of New York, arrived in Australia in the late 60s to study philosophy and literature at the Australia Natioanl University. He was young and freewheeling, and developed a strong interest in woodworking at a time when arts and crafts were beginning to enjoy a strong growth phase. In 1983, he opened a Wood Works Gallery in the quiet, rural village of Bungendore, 30 minutes drive from Canberra, towards Bateman’s Bay.
It was then a humdrum town with a few old buildings, a pub and a handful of shops where travellers might stop for a coffee or an ice cream. But David MacLaren saw its potential, and he wanted a rural lifestyle with somewhere to display his furniture. He had a strong interest in connecting with his peers, so a second aim was to provide a quality outlet for furniture made by others in the region and beyond. The growth of his business led to a move in 1994 to a bigger building on the opposite corner. It now sells furniture crafted by 200 artisans as far afield as Western Australia and Tasmania, and it is a ‘must see’ for tourists and homemakers. My South Aussie in-laws were genuinely impressed when they visited it recently.
What was the secret of success?
David explains that his overriding philosophy is to develop a business that injects city sophistication into country style living. As David says, “Living rural does not give us an excuse to be slack, or sloppy or second rate. That is true of our galleries, food places and accommodation.”
In this vein, he has worked tirelessly to support art and design activities across the region. An early stimulus was the winning of the National Tourism Award for tourism retailing in 1991 and 1992. Follow up feature articles in the Canberra Times assisted in raising local awareness. The business has grown further since then, and has leveraged off other businesses, and vice versa.
While it is generally acknowledged that it and the classy Carrington Hotel have ‘made’ the town, they have had to sell their vision to others in the village because tourists need a number of good reasons to visit. The population of Bungendore has grown steadily to around 2,000. The upgrading of the historic Carrington Hotel and the small businesses selling food, arts and craft, saddlery goods and so forth has triggered a clustering effect, and Bungendore has reinvented itself.
A tourism brochure, extolling its virtues of over 30 tourism businesses in the Village and ten wineries nearby, is reprinted every 12 to 14 months, with 30,000 copies being placed in tourism and accommodation facilities, mainly in Canberra. This is an initiative of the local chamber of commerce. The Country Muster Country and Western festival held the week after the Tamworth Festival, and the Annual Rodeo reinforce the image and brand.
The next phase of Bungendore’s growth is possibly to form part of a regional network of lifestyle hubs based on natural tourism alliances. A precedent exists in the Ballarat region where outlying lifestyle towns, especially Daylesford, have been incorporated in the regional tourism product.
David says that a distinctive and under sold feature of Canberra and the wider region is in fact its ‘good life’ features.
Don Dunstan, South Australian Premier in the 70s when launching the Adelaide Arts Festival said that the aim of government is, and should be, the attainment of the ‘good life’ for its citizens – a truly civil society.
“I think Canberra embodies that ideal, and it should brand itself that way,” David MacLaren said. “The good life encompasses all the strong points of Canberra.”
But while the current tourism marketing emphasis of Canberra is on the national galleries, monuments and wineries, David MacLaren believes that much more tourism product can be tapped in the small towns ringing the national capital such as Bungendore, Braidwood, Gundaroo and Murrumbateman. However, a cross border cooperation tourism product would be essential to deliver on David’s vision.
Other regional champions like Ken Helm, who has put the local wine industry on the map, might link up to ensure that it happens.
Finally, David asked the seemingly pertinent question “why do cities get planned, but never small towns?”
Interesting point. Could one of you Local Government planners shed more light? Given the tight financial position of most local councils, there is a golden opportunity for State Governments to play a strategic role in small town planning.
Regional development highly problematical
On a related matter, an economic development manager from a local council in New South Wales recently contacted our clustering network, Clusters Asia Pacific Inc. with an almighty gripe. He is an experienced and well-regarded operator, and his views are very timely and perceptive given the promises being made by politicians at present. Unfortunately for him, he’s not in a marginal electorate.
“The situation with Australian regional economic development is highly problematical because Federal Government policy seems more aligned with the pork barrel than with the realities of doing business in regional Australia,” he said. “When it comes to regional economic development we are presented with all the right words about economic development, but with little substance.
“The official line is ‘no solutions from Canberra…we encourage local initiatives etc’. Many economic developers employed by Local Government and other organisations are yet to see it. Initiative is fine so long as it matches rigorous grant conditions. The alternative is to attempt to lobby by trudging to Canberra, cap in hand, trying to convince ministerial advisers.
“Grants abound, but real policy to drive regional businesses forward is absent apart from the mantra ‘getting the economic fundamentals right’ which only serves to concentrate business in metropolitan areas. Until business in the regions is the target of Federal policy, we will see an aging population, loss of industry and an increase in the already staggering $7 billion in Centrelink payments to regional New South Wales.”
* Rod Brown’s Canberra based consultancy group, Australian Project Developments Pty Ltd, specialises in industry/regional development and government liaison. For further information telephone (02) 6231 7261 or email apd@orac.net.au
