Tablelands Community Plan 2021 Unique Communities Working Together
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Sustainable wellbeing and Inclusion Social resource management Visionary infrastructure Visionary Good Governance Economic vitality Cultural Vibrancy Tablelands Community Plan 2021 Unique Communities Working Together “Valuing our natural and cultural heritage the unique communities of the Tablelands work together to create a vibrant, sustainable, inclusive and prosperous region” This document was developed by the Tablelands Regional Council. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, and the rights explicitly granted below, all rights are reserved. You are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work for non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the authors. Except where otherwise noted, any reference to, reuse or distribution of all or part of this work must include the following attribution: Tablelands Community Plan 2021. Licence: This document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 2.5 Australia licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/au/ Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get our permission. Requests for permission should be addressed in the first instance to the Corporate and Community Planning Section: Glenys Pilat T: 4043 4110 E: [email protected] Joy Wii T: 4043 4115 E: [email protected] Anne Cunningham-Reid T: 4043 4118 E: [email protected] Cover photos from the community Some images used in this document were selected from the TRC Faces and Places competitions (2010 and 2011) to reflect our communities. Acknowledgement of Traditional Owner Groups We acknowledge the Traditional Owner groups of country across the Tablelands Regional Council area. We value the contribution made by Indigenous residents and representatives of community organisations and hope that you hear your voices in the Tablelands Community Plan. “Meeting Place”, Din Din Arts Artist: Briana Enoch Language Name: Jarawee Tribe: Djabugay and Kanjtu “The centre circle represents the meeting place. Smaller circles surrounding the centre circle are representation of the members of the community. The lines that lead to the centre circle are tracks that lead to the meeting place. All walks of life come from all directions to meet on common ground to work together as one.” Briana Enoch Thank You for Getting Involved! The Tablelands Community Plan has been developed with input from approximately 11,000 people across our vast region. We thank each and every one of you for taking the time and making the effort to share your ideas, opinions, frustrations, excitement, dreams, vision and aspirations and we hope you can see these reflected in the long term community plan for the Tablelands Region. We are extremely appreciative of the information, support and assistance provided by residents, representatives of our community, government and research organisations, our contractors, Council Officers, and the Tablelands Regional Councillors. We would like to thank the Tablelands Community Plan Reference Group for their guidance throughout the development of the long term community plan. The community reference group is open to the community, new members are welcome, and the group will continue to provide information, advice and guidance during the implementation and review phases of the Tablelands Community Plan 2021. We also thank the Queensland Government, Blueprint for the Bush Initiative for the contribution of $20,000 to the Tablelands Community Plan project and to Queensland Government Department of Communities, the funding body of the Atherton Tablelands Social and Community Planning Program. Unique communities working together | 1 Message from the Mayor It gives me great pleasure to present the first ever Tablelands Community Plan. The 10-year plan is the culmination of more than 2 years of community engagement which saw approximately 11,000 people have a say as we reached out to the “silent majority” and those living in the far corners of our vast region. We visited 20 towns and districts to hold a wide range of community planning events and activities and worked with local Indigenous residents in 7 of these to develop Indigenous community plans to make sure their voices were heard. We engaged our communities by holding 89 events and activities, 69 held within our towns and districts and 20 activities with a Tablelands wide focus. They offered many different ways for people to get involved and have a say including a regional survey, 10 town surveys, 5 Indigenous town surveys, a youth survey, 27 community voting stalls, 4 community information and survey stalls, 20 town and district community planning workshops, 3 sector planning workshops, 6 youth forums, 7 Indigenous planning workshops, 3 regional think tank workshops and a Facebook page with all of these culminating in a regional summit. The Tablelands Community Plan sets the pathways by which, together, we can achieve the community’s vision, goals and aspirations for the future of our unique towns, districts and Tablelands region. Council alone cannot implement all of the community’s aspirations - it is a matter of community, council, government, business and industry working together and deciding which actions they can implement. I appeal to everyone with an interest in the future of the Tablelands to consider how you can become involved with implementing the plan within your sphere of influence. The Tablelands Community Plan Reference Group, which has provided information and advice to Council regarding the development of the plan, will continue in this role during the implementation and future review and updates of the document. I would like to thank all those who provided input into the Tablelands Community Plan and to the reference group which has worked tirelessly to produce this important regional document. Mayor Tom Gilmore Tablelands Regional Council 2 | Tablelands Community Plan 2021 Message from the CEO Tablelands Community Plan 2021 is the long term community plan that has been developed by the people of the Tablelands to reflect the community’s views and aspirations to guide the future of the region. The community plan sets out the priority aspirations identified by residents in our unique towns and districts and the actions they believe are required to achieve these. They form the foundation of the community plan as we are committed to advancing the voices of people in our small towns and districts across our vast region. At the regional planning events many residents, community, business, industry and government representatives explored how the Tablelands could capitalise on local, national and global opportunities. Everyone worked together to find innovative and creative solutions to significant challenges facing the region. Future decision making, planning and policy development by Council will be informed and guided by these priority aspirations and strategies as well as the regional vision which describes how people ideally would like to see the Tablelands in 10 years time. We are looking forward to the business of implementing the long term community plan. Some of the community aspirations are ambitious and far reaching and others will be more easily achieved. Council will consider those actions within its scope and will no doubt fund and implement many of these, but not all due to technical, financial or other considerations. Where actions are outside the scope of Council’s responsibility, these will be raised with the relevant government, community, regional or industry organisation to encourage them to take action. This important regional document will be publicly available and community, government, corporate and industry organisations are encouraged to endorse the plan and use it to guide strategic planning and decision-making. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the many community members who have contributed their time, ideas and expertise to develop this community plan and I encourage you to remain involved to help put the plan into practice to achieve your community’s aspirations. Ian Church Chief Executive Officer Tablelands Regional Council Unique communities working together | 3 Contents 1) Introduction to The Tablelands Community Plan .............................................. 6 1.1 Local Government Areas Map .............................................................................. 11 1.2 Tablelands Regional Council Area map ............................................................... 12 1.2 Introducing The Tablelands Region .................................................................... 14 1.3 Our Changing Tablelands Population .................................................................. 16 2) A Regional Vision .......................................................................................... 20 3) Community Aspirations ................................................................................. 22 3.1 Atherton and Tolga ........................................................................................ 26 3.2 Atherton and Tolga Indigenous Community ................................................... 28 3.3 Biboohra ........................................................................................................ 30 3.4 Chillagoe ........................................................................................................ 32 3.5 Chillagoe Indigenous Community .................................................................. 34 3.6 Dimbulah ......................................................................................................