Ian Martin, candidate for Pine Lodge Ward
Australia’s leading demographer, Simon Kuestenmacher, recently visited Shepparton to talk about economic growth and tourism opportunities for the area.
He highlighted three key areas that the area should be focusing on:
- Agriculture
- Tourism
- Housing expansion
These focus areas give the GV the best avenues to capitalise on economic growth and its sustainability. They were also key towards the ongoing survival of the small regional towns.
A solid economic region will drive investment (business, state and federal government), entice skilled professionals such as doctors and nurses and boost general employment opportunities.
These points are 100 per cent relevant to the entire Pine Lodge Ward and the vision from council is to ensure that this is capitalised on and cease the ongoing Shepparton CBD-centric navel-gazing. The Pine Lodge Ward is diverse in that it covers small rural towns and communities as well as urban spread housing estates in Shepparton North and towards Shepparton East.
It’s time for councillors to raise their heads and make the entire Pine Lodge Ward part of the medium- to long-term action plan. A 10-plus-year plan cannot have a two-week horizon and be completely governed by a councillor’s four-year term — it’s time to work for the people for the long term.
The decisions made today will affect the region for many years to come. Responsible financial decisions and the ability to plan successfully for the long term is critical. This includes adequate facilities and public transport to cope with the growth, ensuring new developed areas for housing and industrial purposes are flood-proof, roads meet acceptable standards and dangerous intersections or roads are upgraded, while maintaining environmental sustainability.
This is all about getting the basics right to get a solid platform for the region to sustainably grow. Streamlining processes and cutting through the bureaucracy is also paramount.
Enticing major events to the region is also very important, and they provide a marketing opportunity to showcase the area to entice people to move here and/or invest. Therefore, we also need to drive an identity because right now, I firmly believe we have an identity crisis. Ask yourselves this question, “When you are explaining Shepparton to someone, how do you describe it?”
Councillors must also be leaders. Strong leaders listen, communicate and take action. Strong leaders also make the hard decisions and stand by them. Council is a very large business and needs to be operated as one.
I have 30 years’ experience and expertise working in large corporate business while being a successful and respected leader. Therefore, I can guarantee, as a councillor, I will drive hard on what the community needs and the actions required responsibly.
It’s time to put the Pine Lodge Ward and the entire Greater Shepparton City Council area on the map for the benefit of our children, grandchildren and all the generations to come. A vote for me will go a long way to achieving this.