Woolgoolga - 1st and 2nd of April
The eleventh RDA MNC Board meeting was held at Woolgoolga on 1 April 2011.
Report from the acting Chairperson
The acting Chair, Elizabeth McGregor reported to Members that following talks she and the Executive Officer, Peter Tregilgas had held with senior staff from the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government:
• the MNC regional plan had been accepted with the department noting it was based on sound research and widespread community consultation
• Several of the 55 RDAs had not yet lodged their regional plans
• The department encouraged constant updating of the regional plans and needed to be advised when changes were made
• RDAMNC input to the Regional Development Australia Fund process would be limited to advising on regional plan alignment only
• The presence of all RDAs in one room during the recent forum was very powerful and the Minister had stressed the benefits to be gained from RDAs working together and with local government. The Minister made special mention of the cooperation between the 11 members of the Murray Darling Basin, seven members of the Evocities group and the Eastern Regional Corridor group which included Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Hunter and Central Coast RDAs
The acting Chair said she had been invited by Minister Crean to be part of a panel to discuss models for the proposed Centre for Regional Policy which was part of the Gillard’s Government’s commitment to regional Australia.
Medical teaching
In response to a request from Charles Sturt University, the Board supported the principle of increasing all strands of medical teaching facilities in rural areas but stressed the need for more coordination between universities, rural clinical schools and regional communities to benefit rural students and their communities and point out the genuine needs for medical teaching facilities that exist on the MNC.
North Coast Innovation Festival May 2011
The meeting noted that the 40 page Events Guide program will be available in printed form and online on 5 April and the festival launched in Nambucca on 27 April. The assistance being provided to the Coordinator by business people in local government area task groups was very helpful and a promising sign that innovation networks would develop and continue to operate when the festival finished.
THE Exchange
THE (Technology, Health and Education) Exchange will be held on 20 July at the Coffs Harbour Ex Servicemens Club and wireless network provider, Vertel which has an office in Coffs Harbour, has joined Coffs Harbour City Council, North Coast Institute of TAFE and the MNC Local Health Network as premium sponsors.
National Broadband Network
The Go Broadband committee continues to prepare for the Coffs Harbour rollout of the National Broadband Network later in 2011 but actual construction is waiting on NBN Co. decisions.
Strategic Regional Conference
RDA MNC will host a strategic regional conference on November 4 this year in Port Macquarie in conjunction with the Regional Studies Association and Adelaide University. This follows on the very successful Regional Leadership Conference held last November and attended by more than 300 delegates.
Edmund Barton Centre for Regional Policy, Research and Leadership
The Executive Officer, Peter Tregilgas has held talks with interested parties, including regional universities and research institutions about establishing a research capacity on the Mid North Coast using the name of the then local federal member and father of the Australian Constitution, Edmund Barton.
Transport
The Department of Transport is currently developing a regional transport strategy for the Northern Rivers and RDA MNC will be involved when a similar strategy is being developed for the MNC.
Skills
The meeting expressed concern at a report that noted that 22 apprentices who were employed on the Building the Education Revolution program were now out of work and there were no apprentices working on the Pacific Highway upgrade.
Woolgoolga Community Consultation
About 60 people from the Woolgoolga community attended the community consultation function hosted by RDA MNC at the Woolgoolga Neighbourhood Centre on April 1 (special thanks to Board Member Rashmere Bhatti). The acting Chair, Elizabeth McGregor and Executive Officer, Peter Tregilgas outlined the work being undertaken by the organisation. Networking resulted in useful feedback to the board members and staff about local issues such as immigration needs, harvest labour shortages and the need for an all purpose community hall for use by all the community.
Industry Briefings
Following the meeting Board Members and staff inspected a banana farm owned by Michael Singh, a blueberry farm owned by Paramjeet Bhatti and the Oz Berries fruit packing facility, all located in and around Woolgoolga.
Cultural Experience
Several Board members and staff were able to take advantage of the very generous invitation of Norman and Jaspal Arkan to attend the Sikh wedding and reception of their daughter Karanpreet to Arun Singh of Adelaide.
The ceremony was held in the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Woolgoolga.
