Major Developments in Bega Valley Shire
Departing Bega Valley Shire GM on Major Developments - Woolworths - Hospital
Q. It is generally acknowledged that the shire is on the cusp of a development explosion with various major retailing companies seeking out suitable locations, particularly in Bega and Merimbula. Council has a policy to restrict the size of retail space in Merimbula. Do you agree with the 1,000 square metre cap? When do you expect a decision from the Minister?
A. I do not agree with the 1000m cap as it distorts market forces and destroys the investment incentive that is so badly needed in the Shire.
Major developments and the divisions holding back growth. Have your say below.
I do agree that the unique attributes that make Merimbula in particular a desirable tourism destination need to be protected to ensure the lifestyle quality of our residents, and to sustain the attraction of Merimbula as a tourist destination but the 1000m cap, in my view, is not the way to achieve this.
It is my understanding that various approaches have been made over the years from agents for large corporations seeking to redevelop areas within the Merimbula CBD.
Such approaches are to be viewed as confidence boosts for the growth of Merimbula as obviously these entities would not be seeking to invest millions in an area where they have not already ascertained that they would receive adequate return on their investment.
In a context where there is little prospect in economic growth from other sources these approaches should have been courted, examined, massaged and qualified such that outcomes acceptable to all parties were achieved, Merimbula protected, and additional modern services provided for the increasing number of tourists that we wish to have.
It would have taken some time, a lot of negotiation and some concessions on the part of all parties, and it is done every day elsewhere in Australia. The invocation of a 1000m cap was, in my view, a blunt response based on little research or science and, if successful, will see the ratepayers of the Shire continue to bear higher rates to subsidise decisions that prevented sustainable economic growth.
It will be interesting to see what decision Minister Sartor makes in respect of the issue of the 1000m cap.
Council has been in negotiations with Woolworths regarding a major development in Bega which involves the sale of some Council-owned assets to the company. How are these negotiations progressing?
Detailed negotiations with Woolworths have been ongoing now for some months, made complicated in part because there are other parties independent of Council that are also negotiating their respective positions.
Agreement on the price was reached late last year. When do you expect a DA to be submitted?
Prior to any detailed commitment by Council, an independent economic study is to be undertaken at Woolworths’ cost, examining the likely commercial impact of the proposed development on the existing business activity within the CBD.
Until such a study is undertaken, and the results known and accepted, it may be premature to either lodge or consider any DA lodged.
Q. Will council be looking to restrict the number of speciality shops in the development?
A. Yes
Q. The new hospital is another big proposal for Bega. Do you think that will have an impact on the way the town develops?
A. The new hospital will have an impact on the way the whole shire develops, not just the township of Bega.
There is no doubt that the advent of the new hospital will bring a suite of shire-wide medical services but one should not underestimate the expenditure multipliers associated with hospital employees’ wages and salaries that will certainly have effect in all townships in the shire.
If Bega Valley Shire Council employees are anything to go by, while they may work in Bega, they commute on a daily basis from Bermagui, Tathra, Tura Beach, Merimbula, Pambula, Candelo, Wolumla and Eden and spend a portion, if not all of their wages and salaries in those respective areas. The new hospital will introduce a similar phenomenon, with multiplier effects, which will be felt and welcomed shire-wide.
Q. There is a history going back nearly 30 years of divisiveness between communities in the shire – the north-south divide. Do you believe this is healthy parochialism?
A. The history of nearly 30 years of divisiveness between communities in the Shire is not a healthy parochialism and I believe has held back commercial development in the Shire considerably, with the subsequent absence of employment opportunities one has come to expect from a diversified regional economic base.
The in-fighting over the siting of the new hospital was one of the most unfortunate debates I have witnessed in recent times.
Having recently lived in Western Sydney, with over a million and a half inhabitants, the under-resourcing of the health system was well recognised by all, with travelling times for my family and the majority of inhabitants to either Nepean Base Hospital or Westmead, well over an hour through urban metropolitan Sydney.
In this context an argument concerning unencumbered driving times of 20 minutes to a state of the art hospital from most areas of the Shire defies belief, yet the argument dominated our media for weeks.
In my view, we were entirely fortunate that the funding for the hospital was not lost entirely to arguably more ‘topical’ areas such as North Sydney. Clearly in this debate, we did nothing to help ourselves and, unfortunately, the divisions that exist in this debate will, I fear, continue into the future.
