The Central Australian Regional Development Board is chaired by Alice Springs Mayor and LGANT President, Fran Kilgariff. The Board is working on a collaborative research project with Desert Knowledge, a statutory authority set up to advance the skills and expertise established over the years by people who live in this desert environment.
With five Indigenous and five non Indigenous members, the Board has a huge start in regional development projects thanks to the Alice in 10 strategy which was developed in the late 1990s. This strategy identified 16 projects the move Alice Springs forward over a 10 year timeframe. With projects driven by the private sector, local groups and individuals, Alice in 10 owes its success to the fact that a major component of all projects has been wide community involvement.
“Some projects are now completed, such as the Convention Centre, but others not yet started can be taken up and run with by the Board,” said John Baskerville, Executive Director Regions.
“Much has been achieved simply by bringing people together. The Alice in 10 Mining Services Project, brought the mining industry and local suppliers together for the first time. This has provided a $150 million per annum boost to the local economy as it put an end to the fly in fly out servicing of this sector.”
The Built Environment Project has resulted in a CBD master plan and style manual promoting buildings sympathetic to desert conditions that is now used in arid regions Australia wide. Other projects include the Todd and Charles Rivers channel rehabilitation works providing walkways and recreation areas as well as addressing anti social behaviour, and tourism visioning building on ecotourism and Indigenous tourism, including desert foods and medicines.
A desert knowledge precinct, to be completed by 2006, will welcome visitors travelling to Alice Springs from the south, with an interpretive centre, cultural centre, education and innovation centre.
