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Get ready for action

29/5/2020

4 Comments

 
PictureBrett Tessari
By Brett Tessari
 
The shutdown of international tourism has hit Bass Coast hard. With more than one in three jobs in our shire directly or indirectly reliant on tourism, more than 1200 local jobs had disappeared by the end of April.
 
A lot of businesses have shut their doors and some may not open again. Difficult times lie ahead for many people.
 
So it’s really important that we – the council, businesses and individuals – take advantage of any opportunities that come our way. And believe me, they are already happening.
 

The state and federal governments are eager to get economies going again. There are going to be fantastic funding opportunities from the state and federal governments for all kinds of projects and ideas.
 
At the council we’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes to get our projects shovel ready. We’re working on things that probably weren’t quite ready but we want to push ahead if funding does come our way.  
 
It’s full steam ahead on the $19 million Cowes Cultural Centre. The design process starts next month and construction will start in 2021. We might get some funding there retrospectively. We’re also putting a lot of work into our aquatic strategy, making sure we can take advantage of any funding that’s available for the Phillip Island and Wonthaggi centres.
 
I’m really proud of the way our community has pulled together during the lockdown. People have looked out for each other, and we’ll need to pull together during the recovery phase.
 
I say to people, to businesses, clubs and organisations, get yourself into a position where you can take advantage of the opportunities that will be coming.
 
The council’s Business and Community Resilience Grants Program is now open for applications. Businesses and not-for-profit community organisations can apply for grants of between $1000 and $30,000 for projects and initiatives to adapt and recover from the pandemic. The $700,000 program is being overseen by 30 business and community member from diverse sectors.
 
The council’s also introduced a hardship policy to support householders and businesses that will struggle to pay their rates. They will be able to apply for an interest-free deferral of their rates until 30 June 2021.
 
Another opportunity – the COVID restrictions changed the way we do things, and that can work to the advantage of Bass Coast. In just two months, so many people have become accustomed to working remotely.
 
As far as my job goes, I’ve been holding regular meetings with federal and state ministers. This week I’ve had a meeting with Adam Somyurek [State Minister for Local Government], a meeting of One Gippsland Wide [in Bairnsdale], a meeting with the Education Department. Normally each meeting would involve travelling to Melbourne or Canberra. And I did them all in one day from home. It’s so much more efficient. I’ve really enjoyed working this way.
 
Out of difficulty comes new ways of doing things. There are going to be massive opportunities for people to reshape the way they’re working. Many of our people will be able to work virtually and spend more time with family instead of all that time on the road. Melbourne people could work from here, in our beautiful surroundings. Why wouldn’t you? I know where I’d rather be working. 

Brett Tessari is Mayor of Bass Coast. 
4 Comments
Trevor Brown
30/5/2020 12:03:23 pm

It is good to see the positive notes from Mayor Tessari and to see that he is embracing remote meetings and conferencing. It is also encouraging that councilors and the council are actively seeking state and federal funding for all sorts of projects designed to stimulate the local Bass Community economy. However it is disappointing that there does not seem to be any attempt to obtain funding to complete the welter of internal roads that have never been sealed. This despite several strategy plans for the San Remo, Newhaven area that, although approved by council many years ago, are still waiting to be actioned. Funding for these types of projects would provide several jobs, which is in line with the general thrust of the article by Mayor Tessari. Comments from the Premier have indicated that this type of infrastructure would be advantageous and greatly assist in the state's recovery. Also in terms of value this would not require tens of millions of dollars, the residents affected would, I am sure, be prepared to contribute and the tourists and locals alike would have the use of safe access into the relative townships. Which, especially in San Remo, is something lacking at the moment. Mayor Tessari rightly points out that tourism is the major driver of our economy and any action that is able to be taken to enrich and enhance everyone's experience would be helpful. So how about spending some funds on the safety of tourists and residents. This may not be as visual, as print worthy and something that you can say look at what we have done as would a new Skate Park, a new Cultural Center or a new Tourist Information Center but, in my opinion much more important.

Reply
Frank W Schooneveldt
31/5/2020 07:20:00 am

I agree with you Trevor. We have a huge backlog of infrastructure structure works in the Bass Coast that needs to be fixed especially the roads and footpaths. Here in the Bass Coast we have a very strong Balance Sheet that we need to gear to tackle the infrastructure issues.
I am sure that if we were to borrow some money and ask the state and federal government to match our borrowings we could fix the infrastructure issues and create jobs.

Reply
Maddy Harford
30/5/2020 08:51:11 pm

COVID-19 has shown up Bass Coast's heavy reliance on the Tourism and Hospitality industry. Too many eggs in one basket! Brett, your comments about new opportunities and working from home should prompt thinking in Council about strategies to encourage new industries to grow in our region.
Wonthaggi is projected to grow strongly over the next decade. What are the jobs being developed? More B&Bs and cafes? More Construction - to build the houses but then what?
'Knowledge industries' include businesses that can take advantage of the NBN and our relative proximity to Melbourne, enabling workers (and their families) to live and work in our beautiful environment (see Pamela Rothfield's article in this editon).

Now is the the time to be building on the capabilities we've developed during the Lockdown, to diversify the Bass Coast economy.

Reply
Chris Day
31/5/2020 08:06:53 am

Maddy,
I agree with you it's the whole country that needs to re think its approach to what businesses we run, Victoria especially was the manufacturing base for Australia with highly skilled work force, the last few months have shown we can't continue as an economy that just buys things from rest of the world, stores and delivers them. In Wonthaggi years ago there was manufacturing all disappeared to be replaced by shops selling mainly imported goods. Now retail shopping is also struggling to survive, in this fast changing world we need to be smarter and no reason while areas like Wonthaggi can't be part of the revival. Tourism is certainly still a very important part of our economy on Bass Coast and hopefully the Council can be part of the solution to get the economy going, as Trevor Brown and Frank Schooneveldt mention in their comments.

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