Shire Chosen to Participate in Sea Change Study (26th November, 2007)
Council has committed $6,000 over the next two years to this study and will also provide some support to research staff during their stay in the region.
The major focus of the research, to be undertaken by the University of Sydney, is to identify and clarify current economic directions in coastal communities and to use this information to help coastal local government authorities develop tools so as to stimulate sustainable growth in their local economies.
"Coastal councils around Australia are reaching crisis point, as they struggle to cope with rapid population and tourism growth and the City of Busselton is no exception", said Shire President, Cr. Wes Hartley.
"Council has been aware of the opportunity, but also the challenges for some time now, which is why we have been participating in the Sea Change Taskforce, designed to represent the interests of coastal councils and communities experiencing the effects of rapid growth and by doing all we can to plan ahead."
"We see this as a wonderful opportunity to put our planning processes under the microscope, benchmark them against other Sea Change local government areas and ultimately enhance our practices so as to ensure the best outcomes for our community", said Cr. Hartley.
"This research will assist us to examine existing economic policies and practices and to identify potential new options using a range of models and tools developed during the study. The long term sustainability of our community, environment and economy is highly dependant upon what we do now," Cr. Hartley said.
Information from the Study will also provide input into the review of the City of Busselton's Town Planning Scheme, which commenced earlier this year.
Preliminary research is already underway with the study to commence in full in 2008.
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Media enquiries can be directed to the City of Busselton's Public Relations Officer, Julie Rawlings on 97810446 or julie.rawlings@busselton.wa.gov.au