The Good Oil by Rod Brown*
I spent a couple of days on the New South Wales Central Coast in late November – surely one of the most pleasant places on this continent because of its forest, inlets, beaches and proximity to Sydney.
But around Tuggerah Lake, the natural beauty and the built environment don’t exactly gel. The Entrance is typical, with a significant number of boarded up shops, tired motels, unloved homes and fast food outlets.
A local real estate agent cheerily advised that the building boom around the corner will transform the place. And
I believe she is right.
Further south, around Gosford, there is a different mosaic of settlements that are skipping along, hemmed in by the bush and estuaries – places like Avoca Beach, Bensville, Kincumber, Kilcare and Woy Woy.
I’d been hunting unsuccessfully for a local map to avoid getting lost, and to understand the region’s layout and facilities. So I followed the signs to the information kiosk at the Avoca Beach Picture Theatre. Around the hills and beaches I drove, and ten minutes later, I was immersed in one well kept, funky, old style theatre. It is still owned by the Hunter family who built it in 1951.
Beth Hunter explained that it’s about quality events for discerning audiences – film festivals, movie appreciation groups, live theatre shows, live music nights, Director’s screenings, Mums and Bubs sessions, fundraiser events, weddings and so forth. Beth certainly has a vision of how she wants to grow this privately owned and independent business, 100 metres from the beach.
Five minutes into our discussion it’s clear that it’s an important piece of social infrastructure with potential to form part of a bigger regional MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) agenda.
Imagine this – the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Terrigal (formerly Peppers) runs a conference at which participants convene to Avoca Beach for dinner and a film screening relevant to the conference theme. Similarly, the University of Newcastle (Gosford campus) convenes an environmental science forum that has a session at the picture theatre to get a particular message across.
The ability of TV and radio stations to educate and entertain citizens on public issues is well established. Why not use picture theatres? Why not involve the Feds and NSW Government in running public interest programs at Avoca Beach? Why not ask Margaret Pomeranz (the national film buff, and a local) to help map out some innovative and profitable agendas?
Regional development is much more than roads and water infrastructure. It’s about harnessing your local assets, and establishing your point of difference. This theatre certainly is different – go to www.avocabeachpicturetheatre.com.au
PR overkill on climate change impact
You have to sympathise with Penny Wong, having to massage the ETS through the Parliament and the nation. But her Department and advisers haven’t done her any favours with its handling of the release of the report on Climate Change Risks to Australia’s Coasts.
The Sydney tabloids were allowed to run amok with maps about which coastal suburbs would be inundated. The core message was that between 157,000 and 247,600 residential buildings are at
risk because of the forecast
1.1 metre rise in sea levels. One hardheaded observer here in Canberra summed it up as ‘this is what happens when you get too many true believers in one place – judgment goes out the window.’
The wider concern is that the scaremongering, intentional or accidental, is reducing the credibility of scientific research generally. Can ALGA President Geoff Lake, one of the seven members appointed to the Coasts and Climate Change Council, be a voice of reason?
Brainstorming sessions
The end of the infrastructure grants and Jobs Fund is nigh, but other major grants programs such as Climate Change grants are still in the pipeline. But we know some councils have lost interest. They have concluded that developing quality submissions takes time and expertise, and that it’s simply beyond them.
The Cockatoo Network would like to offer councils a better way in future. We will convene a brainstorming session in your office or ours. We discuss your ideas and then try to match it with government programs or private sector partners. The outcome will be a document that summarises your project (what-why-how-when-where-how much) – we then use this document as the basis for a funding submission, for lobbying, or for an approach to banks and investors. Contact us for details.
In brief
- Innovative Regions Program –
Feds to release the ten chosen
regions in dribs and drabs –
to date there is Geelong and
Northern Adelaide. - Indigenous housing – the benchmark cost of building
a house in a remote
Indigenous community is
$450,000 – a highly regarded
builder of transportable
homes is developing new
designs and ideas. If you
want to push this envelope,
contact us. - New policy proposals not
wanted – Federal agencies
told not to bring forward any
new policy proposals for
the next Budget – if Ministers
have bright ideas for new
programs, funding must come
from savings within forward
budgets previously agreed
with Department of Finance. - Truth in labelling – we predict this will gather pace
in coming months,
despite pressure from food
multinationals. - Consultancy firms
threatened – new Federal
programs (Enterprise
Connect, Commercialisation
Australia, Innovative
Regions) are using inhouse
facilitators and business
consultants – Big 4
consultancy firms said to be
suffering severe discomfort. - Recycled rubber – new
arrangements mooted
for dealing with used tyres,
including increased usage
in road construction and
containment walls. If your
council wants to be a first
mover, contact us.
*Rod Brown is a Canberra-based consultant specialising in industry/regional development, investment attraction, clusters and accessing Federal grants. He also runs the Cockatoo Network. He can be contacted at apd@orac.net.au or phone (02) 6231 7261. Go to our blog at www.investmentinnovation.wordpress.com for 550+ articles on issues relevant to Local Government.
