Economic strategy
FOR the first time the council has a dedicated Economic Development Officer. A major part of the new role is to engage with local businesses, to support them and grow the links with relevant business organisations, support networks and advice.
An Economic Development Report will be tabled at each Council meeting and we will also be sending out a regular business bulletin – Tasman Business Pulse. If you haven’t received a copy, please contact Council to be placed on the email list.
Our recently appointed consultants, REALM, have commenced work on Tasman’s economic development strategy and structure planning project. Economic statistics have also been supplied to us from a broader Southern Tasmanian land use study.
We will use these ‘big picture’ assessments to inform our directions as we look to identify opportunities. This includes improving employment and career prospects for our younger residents.
Thank you to those businesses who participated in the business survey conducted earlier this year. Your feedback has given Council some valuable data to feed into our strategy to grow employment and job opportunities within our local community.
Youth strategy
THE council was pleased to receive a youth strategy report at our February Council meeting.
The report provides recommendations to ‘support young people to transition to meaningful, healthy, happy and productive adult lives’. The report makes recommendations around improvements to training, health services, local transport options, cycling and walking paths and independent living when studying at college.
A lack of access to a car has been identified as a barrier to learning to drive for some young people and learning to cook is an important issue, for students living away from home.
While some of these solutions are within the functional role of council, there are also state and federal government issues which need to be addressed. In these instances, we will advocate on behalf of our community for improved outcomes and increased support to enable our youth to succeed in life.
Council will now work through the report to identify and develop priority projects. Importantly, we can also use the data to support grant applications for Federal and State Government funding.
Community Bank
THE establishment of the Tasman Community Bank Branch back in 2014 was an important milestone for Tasman.
Since the start of that journey, considerable funds have been distributed to local clubs and not-for-profit organisations in our community and this financial year the first dividend was paid to shareholders.
Thank you and congratulations to our fellow citizens who saw the possibilities over a decade ago and volunteered to join the board, to ensure the bank was a success. Congratulations to Chair Steve Bose, who recently stepped down from the role, and all the best to new Chair, Rod Scurrah. We look forward to the bank’s continued success.
Community Grants
CONGRATULATIONS to Tasman Darts Association, The Conversation Group, Turrakana Indigenous Heritage Centre and Highcroft CWA, for being awarded grants to complete a range of community projects.
These groups play an important social and well-being role across our broader community and Council is pleased to be able support their activities. If your group has a project in mind, please contact the Council’s Community Development Officer for more information.