Tweed Shire Council earlier this month played host to nine mayors from across NSW and their respective executive leaders as part of a program aimed at promoting and growing regional cities in the state.
Regional Cities New South Wales (RCNSW) is an alliance of 15 regional cities from across the state. The alliance aims to grow regional cities in NSW through increased investment that will build productive, liveable and connected regions.
Regional cities attending the forum included Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Goulburn, Lismore, Orange, Tamworth and Tweed.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry said it was an honour to host the first ever Regional Cities NSW delegation held outside of Sydney.
“Regional cities have always been the lifeblood of the state, but they really came to the fore during the recent COVID-19 pandemic where we saw people flocking to the regions as remote working arrangements became more achievable,” Cr Cherry said.
“This forum provides a great opportunity for us to explore and learn from each other, allowing us to better advocate for our remote communities moving forward.
“From a Tweed perspective, this is a fabulous opportunity for us to showcase our region to other mayors and general managers. We all deal with a lot of similar issues and this forum provides an opportunity for us to learn from each other.”
The visitors were taken on a tour of the Tweed starting at the Tweed Civic Centre before attending the new inclusive playground, Goorimahbah, at Jack Evans Boat Harbour, Tweed Heads followed by a site visit to inspect the upgrade of the Point Danger Lighthouse on the border between NSW and Queensland.
They headed down to the Tweed Coast with visits planned at the new Tweed Valley Hospital and proposed development at Kings Forest, before ending the tour in Murwillumbah for a visit to the Tweed section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail and the Tweed Regional Gallery.
The delegation headed to Lismore on Thursday for a tour of places of significance in that area.
Cr Mathew Dickerson, Chair of Regional Cities New South Wales, said the role regional cities played as central community hubs was vital for the success of the State.
“Regional cities provide a vital central point for the community to access essential transport, health, business, employment and education and other services,” Cr Dickerson said.
“These services and infrastructure are accessed by local residents as well as those in surrounding towns and rural areas – strong regional cities create strong regions.
“These cities can also provide a liveable and affordable alternative to people and businesses seeking to escape the crushing congestion of Sydney. All RCNSW members have scalable infrastructure and services that can accommodate a growing population – meaning all RCNSW members are ready to take a larger share of the state’s growing population.”
With a population of more than 97,000 people, the Tweed Shire was recently classified as a ‘Regional Strategic Area’, based on its proximity to the major centres of the Gold Coast and Brisbane as well as to Gold Coast Airport. It is among the largest employers and strongest growth areas in the Northern Rivers.
For more information on Regional Cities NSW, visit regionalcitiesnsw.org.au
