- Snowy Valleys

Population Loss & Economic Decline

The Tumut Region is characterised by its wonderful natural resources which has led to it becoming one of the most State’s most productive areas in Forestry and Agriculture without the reliance upon major irrigation - even though a significant amount of water from the Snowy Hydro Scheme passes us (owned by irrigators to the west of our region).

Prior to the Black Summer Bushfires of 2019/20, the NSW Department of Planning had forecast a population loss of 2,500 residents including 1,000 school aged children from our Local Government Area by 2041. The resulting economic loss of $800m per annum from the Dunns Road Fire is only going to see the population loss accelerated as jobs disappear in both direct and indirectly related industries.

When Visy built its paper mill in the region it was forecast to see a large increase in population into the area. This never eventuated with many workers choosing to be Drive In/Drive Out workers as their families did not want to reside in the region. 20% of the Visy workforce have either chosen to move to large regional centres such as or their families have remained in the capital cities.

For many decades Tumut Valley residents have looked to the eastern side of the Snowy Mountains which has seen much greater levels of investment in tourism-related projects that have led to a thriving economy in Jindabyne, even though many of the same natural resources exist on our side of the Mountains. Jindabyne is currently having further investment into its area via the Snowy Mountains Special Activation Precinct which is funded by the Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund. No money from this fund is being used in the Snowy Valleys area despite 95% of the Snowy Hydro electricity generation assets being located in the Snowy Valleys Council area.

Action Plan

The Tumut Regional Chamber of Commerce has identified 4 Key areas of Government involvement that will help underpin the amenity of our region to ensure we remain a prosperous community:

1. Brindabella Road Upgrade 2. Amenity of our region 3. Tourism Projects 4. Major Hydro Infrastructure

Improving the Amenity of the Region

1. Education

The Tumut High School is the only educational facility providing education to Year 12 level. This facility was built in the 1960s but unfortunately has not had any considerable improvement since this time.

However, opportunities exist to improve education standards via integrated learning campuses with TAFE or a Country Universities Centre. This style of integrated campus allows greater use of facilities by a wider range of students regardless of their level of learning. 2. Health Services

Tumut has been fortunate enough to have had construction begin on a new hospital. But the level of health care must be questioned when there are no permanent doctors at the facility. This systemic issue of attracting health professionals to our region is not just a Snowy Valleys issue but right across the region and in many rural areas.

When we are attracting overseas doctors, there is clearly a need to encourage these doctors to set up practice in the rural areas. Their Medicare provider numbers should exclude the opportunity to practice in capital cities. We see many doctors simply being Drive in/Drive Out or FIFO workers in rural areas. Gone are the days where the GP is part of the wider community. This DIDO/FIFO situation means that their families are not moving to these areas which puts further pressure on housing & education in capital cities and the predicted population decline in rural areas becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 3. Encouraging investment into the region - Land Development

As the general population has come to the realisation that there is less need to reside in the Capital cities, along with booming city housing prices, greater demand for Rural properties has been experienced.

There is a need for investment into housing development for both lifestyle acreage blocks and medium density housing. Demand for this type of housing that is only 40% of the value of the median Sydney House price or 60% of the median Canberra house price remains very high with waitlists of buyers. Tourism Projects

1. Adventure Tourism

● Talbingo MTB project has the possibility of being a unique tourist attraction with the highest elevation drop (1000m) & longest downhill run of any MTB park in ● Tumut River Waterpark - the proximity of the river to the township, the flow of the river & distance from the ocean all lend itself to the development of a River Wave Waterpark. Overseas experiences show over to 30,000 visitor days per annum can be achieved by such a facility which has very low maintenance costs, does not disturb the movement of wildlife within the river & does not require any power to operate. ● Blowering Cliffs Walk - The views that can be attained from the 600m ascent of the Blowering Cliffs to stand next to Chimney Rock are simply spectacular. This walk is currently actively discouraged because of both the difficulty and current safety issues ● Establishment of further Rail Trails - The - Rosewood Rail Trail has seen a 100% increase in visitation to those towns with 9 new businesses developed and many jobs created at existing businesses. The development of the Batlow - Tumut - Adelong Rail Trail would help revive the struggling town of Batlow as well as provide an economic boost to the other 2 larger towns. (Source: SVC Tumbarumba Visitors Centre) 2. Incentives for establishment of a Resort Style Conference facility: our area lacks a large conference style facility that can attract the corporate market. By exposing our region to the corporate market we would be actively marketing the region to further investment or potential relocations of businesses.

Major Hydro Infrastructure Projects

The Chamber supports the development of further Hydro Electric infrastructure projects that create jobs both directly & indirectly in our region by utilising the existing Snowy Hydro water storage facilities. Thes Hydro projects could extend work in the area until 2035 which would help reduce the impact of loss of jobs due to bushfires. Comparison: Yass Valley Shire & Snowy Valleys Shire

The Snowy Valleys is not significantly further from Canberra than Yass in a straight line, however the fortunes of Yass differ greatly from Tumut due to the investment in better road access. . (Source: ID Demographic Resources)

From the above data we can see the effects of a region which has better road access to a Capital City. The effects can be summarised as below:

1. Becoming a dormitory suburb of the City 2. Increased average income of households 3. Greater investment as shown by the level of Development Applications approved 4. Increased Housing prices and subsequently an increase in Housing Developments as the financial viability of these developments is lifted Business Council of Australia (BCA) Report - December 2020