The New South Wales Government is in the process of rolling out Special Activation Precincts (SAPs), and they’re a VERY interesting concept.
This new SAP initiative is a vehicle for bringing together planning and investment to focus on growing jobs and economic activity in an area. Significantly the SAP concept is understood to have emerged from the planning area of the NSW Government. These SAPs are designed to support industries in line with the competitive advantages and economic strengths of each area. It is claimed that they are ‘unique to regional NSW’. I figure they’re indeed unique to Australia.
The reason they’re VERY interesting is that NSW has traditionally been regarded as a regional development backwater – no serious investment attraction policies, no coordinated action, no high-level effort for the inland regions. Indeed the standing joke has been that NSW stood for Newcastle-Sydney-Wollongong.
But these SAPs suggest an awakening to the need to catch-up with Victoria via better coordinating the planning and economic development functions, shortening timelines and generally addressing stakeholder inertia.
The development of the SAPs is made possible by the $4.2 billion Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund (Snowy Hydro’s sale to the feds). Parkes and Wagga were the first cabs off the rank, followed by Tamworth and now the Snowy Mountains.
There are five elements underpinning a SAP:
- fast track planning
- infrastructure investment e.g. roads, water, electricity, stormwater, waste management, digital connectivity
- government-led studies (site master planning, infrastructure audits, market analysis)
- government-led development (perhaps land activation) and
- business concierge (advice, liaison).
- Company relocation incentives of up to $10,000 per worker are available, together with unspecified grants and loans. The reference to ‘government-led things’ is instructive given the usual mantra of small government.
Snowy Mountains SAP
This is under investigation. It focuses on Jindabyne’s town centre and Kosciuszko National Park. The objective is to increase year round tourism and make the region ‘an unmissable place to visit any season, any time.’ The investigation will also cover the activation of destination tourism at Eden, which is now a gateway to the Snowy Mountains because of the expansion of the cruise terminal at Eden.
The NSW Government is talking about growing Jindabyne into Australia’s Alpine Capital by promoting the development of year round attractions and establishing the national training base for Australian winter Olympic and Paralympic athletes. This looks eerily like the initiatives of the Victorian Government over the last decade. Some competitive rivalry surely coming up!
Model for other states
The strength of the SAP model is that it should be capable of being applied at the city, town or small community level. And this brings state governments into the driving seat because they have control of the planning function as well as a fair portion of the infrastructure delivery functions. In contrast, the slightly similar City Deals program (run by the federal government) can be quite arms-length, convoluted and drawn out.
However, my hunch is that the SAP concept – if properly bedded down and pursued – can make a real difference. The logic is that most small cities and towns find it difficult to grow because of their lack of influence. Their regional stakeholders – mayors, councillors, business leaders, activists – get excited in their proposals only to come up against the dead hand of the federal and state politicians and their bureaucrats. Things quickly fall apart from that point onwards. However, the SAP model has at least the state politicians and bureaucrats on-side, and collectively they should be able to exert some influence on their federal colleagues unless the proposals are too wacky.
Examples
Let’s take a couple of real world examples.
South Australia is often regarded as a city-state. A harsh call, but the state economy hangs off Adelaide and a dozen or so regional cities and towns. One of the latter is Victor Harbor and to my mind it has major growth potential as a health and aged care precinct over the next 20-30 years. The town is an hour from Adelaide, has a great climate and is already an aged care precinct of sorts. But it could be much more.
My wife’s parents and siblings lived, worked and retired there. I visited there 30-35 times over the years, often being quizzed about what the federal government might do to help the town. My answer was invariably ‘nothing’ until the council, the townsfolk and the South Australian Government got proactive and started to map their future and connect the dots. My vision was of high class medical centres for the elderly, research nodes to attract local and international companies, a health related Cooperative Research Centre, an offshoot of Flinders Medical Centre, lifestyle and sports entrepreneurs etc.
My point now is that a SAP could speed up the development process and drive the synergies between the projects. This would in turn generate the critical mass and economic externalities.
Another example is Kununurra in northern Western Australia. It has the Port of Wyndham and a well equipped airport to service massive food exports from the region. Logistics companies from eastern Australia and overseas are taking an interest in the medium to long term prospects of the region. A ‘Kimberley’ brand is being talked about as is intelligent coordination of infrastructure facilities. A SAP model might be the answer.
We will track the SAP model as it unfolds in NSW, and keep you in the loop.
Rod Brown is a Canberra-based consultant and lobbyist specialising in industry/regional development, investment attraction and clusters, and accessing federal grants. He also runs the Cockatoo Network.
Phone: (02) 6231 7261 or 0412 922 559
Email: apdcockatoo[@]iprimus.com.au
