July 13, 2009
Funding of $1.2 Million has been announced by the Federal Government today for the promotion of seven regional cities into the Sydney area to tempt Sydney-siders to relocate.
This announcement has been four years in the making, since seven Councils - Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga formed a cooperative group with the aim of working together in order to inform the metropolitan area there was more than “the bush” over the Great Dividing Ranges.
“The funding announcement today is great news for the EvoCities project and recognition for the efforts of the vision of all the Council’s involved,” said Wagga Wagga City Council General Manager and Chair of the EvoCities Steering Committee, Ms Lyn Russell.
“EvoCities was created in order to combat the general lack of awareness of the existence of “regional cities” – vibrant, thriving locations that offer employment, financial rewards and increased lifestyle opportunities,” she continued.
Funding announced today will enable the production of a detailed project plan for EvoCities, to build on the extensive research already undertaken. It is anticipated that EvoCities could be launched towards the end of 2009.
“This is a project that demonstrates regional leadership and an example of Councils working together towards a shared goal,” said Ms Russell.
“EvoCities makes good sense financially and from a marketing perspective, looking to maximise the return on financial investment from individual Council’s, rather than working against one another and independently pursuing initiatives in an already crowded market.”
Wagga Wagga City Council is the administrator of the project with each Council contributing $40,000 towards the project each year for three years. A number of high profile private partners will also participate financially in the project with Country Energy, the Commonwealth Bank and McN confirmed as early project sponsors.
EvoCities are defined as clean and green, vibrant, dynamic, innovative, professional, accessible and globally linked.
Previous research undertaken as part of the EvoCities project has found:
- Moving to a regional “city”, as opposed to “the country” would provide an easier pathway for people looking to relocate from a metropolitan environment.
- 28% of the survey participants had considered relocating out of Sydney.
- The most appealing areas that would be considered for relocation were coastal NSW (31%) and inland NSW (24%).
- The main conditions required to change in order for participants to consider relocation were employment [29%], financial incentives [11%] and facilities in the area [9%].