THE King Island Council passed the biggest budget in its history in June, according to its Annual Report revealed this week.
This was largely due to large state and federal government-funded capital works projects.
The council reported work has commenced on the $5m multipurpose Hub, community gym and airport runway lighting upgrade projects.
Mayor Marcus Blackie told Tasmanian media that the capital works spend is justified as King Island’s continued autonomy, and not merging with Circular Head and the West Coast as initially proposed in the Future of Local Government review, will significantly assist the Island’s population growth.
The Group 6 Metals mine has brought in an influx of workers and their families; tourism has rebounded after the pandemic travel restrictions; and the council reports that the island is attracting its biggest-ever tourist numbers.
“The bold aspirations we hold for the future of King Island are being funded,” Mr Blackie said.
“Similarly, the Island’s population is again increasing, which brings a demand-driven justification to much of [the] current work priorities.
“While the budget was significantly bolstered by government grants, it was still investment the island had inspired and contributed to the bottom line,” Mr Blackie said.
The population has been around 1600 for close to a decade and previous councils have identified the ideal population is around 3000.
Mr Blackie believes the “sweet spot” is between 3500 and 4000 residents.
“That’s the sweet spot in terms of economies of scale to fill up the sports clubs and have a bit more of a buzz,” he said. “It’s good for business, but it won’t ruin the natural wonders we have here.
“It may take a long time to get there, but we’re on that trajectory at the moment, which bodes well for us.”
While confident about the island’s growth the Mayor also said that King Island is a “victim of its own success” and pointed to the need for more airline seat availability and improved specialist healthcare and lamenting the lack of available residential housing and tourist and workers’ accommodation.
“So most of our problems at the moment are growing pains,” he said.
“I guess they’re good problems, but problems we’ve got to solve nonetheless,” he said.
Image from: Scott Graham