Rural City of Murray Bridge 1 Background: The Rural City of Murray Bridge is responsible for an area covering 1,832km2 (including a portion of the River Murray and Lake Alexandrina) and includes 975km of trafficable roads (not including those roads maintained by the South Australian Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure). The total population of the council area is estimated to be approximately 21,486 people. Our rural city is the centre of a major agricultural, transport, industrial and tourism district and is the gateway to the Murraylands Region, containing many attractions for people of all ages. Despite being only 75km from Adelaide, Murray Bridge experiences challenges associated with attracting investment and population to a regional location. Statistical Overview The Rural City of Murray Bridge has commissioned statistical analysis, which indicates that this region differs significantly from the average in a number of measures when compared with Greater Adelaide, South Australia and Australia as a whole when measured on 2016 data. The overview reveals, when compared to the national population: that the median age of Murray Bridge is older, at 41, compared to 40 for South Australia and 39 for Greater Adelaide; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is higher at 4.6 % compared to 2.0% for South Australia and 1.4% for Greater Adelaide; Couples with children is 23%, lower than the State figure of 27% and 29% for Greater Adelaide; Median weekly household income is $974, significantly lower than the income for the rest of the State at $1,203 and $1,261 for Greater Adelaide; Households renting stands at 32%, meaning Murray Bridge has a higher proportion of households who rent than when compared to the State and Greater Adelaide averages of 28%; Households with a mortgage is lower at 29% than the State average of 34% and 35% for Greater Adelaide; Only 15%, but rising, of the population are overseas born compared to 23% for South Australia and the Greater Adelaide average of 26%; Only 10% of the population speaks a language other than English at home compared to 20% for Greater Adelaide, but this figure is rising; Only 7% of the population has a university qualification against 21% for Greater Adelaide and 19% for the rest of the State; 23% have a trade qualification against the SA average of 20% and 19% for Greater Adelaide; The level of unemployment, while improving, continues to be higher at around 7.01%, where the SA average is 5.9%; and The labour force participation rate at 54% is lower than the South Australian average of 58% and 59% for Greater Adelaide. In 2016, 69.8% homes in the Rural City of Murray Bridge had an internet connection compared to 79.3% for Greater Adelaide. SEIFA index of disadvantage The Rural City of Murray Bridge SEIFA Index of Disadvantage measures the relative level of socio-economic disadvantage based on a range of Census characteristics. It is a general view of the relative level of disadvantage in one area compared to others. The index is Rural City of Murray Bridge 2 derived from attributes that reflect disadvantage such as low income, low educational attainment, high unemployment, and jobs in relatively unskilled occupations. The Rural City of Murray Bridge is rated as highly disadvantaged with a score of 894, with only 6 other areas in South Australia having a lower score out of the 70 areas recorded. Pockets within the Rural City of Murray Bridge have an index score within the range of 600 to 800. OVERVIEW OF REGIONAL ISSUES A principal cause of regional inequality arises through the economies of scale. Smaller populations in regional areas do not provide the level of economic viability to provide the same level of service that might be available in metropolitan areas. Economies, whether metropolitan or regional, rely on infrastructure and business investment to build confidence and grow. The nature of the businesses and strengths of a region will differ, but the underlying economic theory remains the same. It is not uncommon for there to be inequalities in opportunities between regional and metropolitan areas. Most often this seems to manifest itself in opportunities for employment and education, as well as a lack of access to health care and public transport. Council acknowledges that in areas with smaller populations it sometimes is not economically viable to provide the same level for service, such as health care, for an area so resources (be they human or mechanical) are more centrally located in denser population centres, making access by regional persons more difficult. Regional areas are often the focus of tourism, with the Murray Bridge region being a significant river based tourism centre. The tax / rate base remains low in line with the permanent population, but that population can swell with tourists at holiday times that have an expectation about the level of infrastructure and tourism experiences. Some business become dependent on tourism for survival and reputational risks can have a significant impact. The reputation of an area for tourism value can be impacted by many factors including: • The level of infrastructure (physical, technological etc.) available; • The safety of an area; • The visual amenity; and • Environmental factors (e.g. levels in the River Murray, safety) Regional areas can also be heavily dependent on one particular industry or employer. A sudden change to that industry or employer can have a substantial impact on investor, business and community confidence. This has flow on effects with reputational damage that can last for an extensive period of time. The way in which are states are geographically laid out, the nature of economic growth and government policy, including immigration policy, means infrastructure and business investment has been concentrated in areas of more dense population. As investment focuses in these areas, the level of investment in regional areas is less and the divide between the two continues to grow. Rural City of Murray Bridge 3 To bridge the divide, a re-focusing of infrastructure and business investment in regional areas, it is essential that various policy settings are pro-actively implemented. While policy settings can be stated at a local level, often they are enabled through Commonwealth or State Government policy and legislation, such as investment assistance and land use and zoning, and require co-operation at all levels to implement. Land use and zoning controls must facilitate and enable business growth, but also ensure new development does not unreasonably encroach on existing. It is not a matter of “freeing up zoning and reducing red tape”. It is a matter of identifying new areas for economic growth and devising effective and efficient ways of providing the infrastructure needed to attract businesses. Zoning must enable growth, but not at expense of good planning. The current hiatus on planning zone changes in South Australia is hampering growth and preventing good planning outcomes, particularly in regional areas. Distance is a significant issue, both positive and negative for regions. A greater distance between the regional and metropolitan area can be an advantage, if the area is a pleasant place to live and work. Where distance is such that travel becomes more difficult, it creates a necessity for the region to be more self-sufficient, driving investment and growth. However, where services are not available, for example, specialist medical services, distance and time required away from home and employment is a significant impost on the community and individuals. The attraction and retention of large scale businesses drive the growth of regional economies. Incentives for businesses and skilled migrants to locate in regional areas benefit regional economies, while reducing stress on major urban areas. Examples of incentives for regional development could include business tax relief and infrastructure provision. Provision of funding for infrastructure investment which drives growth and opportunities is a valuable policy and fiscal initiative for Local Government. In response to the questions posed in the Discussion Paper: 1. What are the essential services in your community? Health & Medical: Health & Medical services remain a major issue within regions, Australians living in rural and remote areas tend to have lower life expectancy, higher rates of disease and injury, and poorer access to and use of health services than people living in cities. There are demonstrated higher levels of demand for services surrounding mental and physical health and rehabilitation services. There has been significant investment in our local health services, with a $7 million upgrade to the Murray Bridge Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital emergency department to begin shortly, complementing other upgrades and services over recent years, such as the ability to deliver chemotherapy, thus avoiding the need for patients to travel to Adelaide for treatment. Education: The community experiences difficulty in accessing a wide base of secondary subjects, vocational education and tertiary education facilities. The creation of the Murray Bridge Learning Campus and the River Murray Study Hub through the Regional Study Hubs Program, offers greater opportunity for our regional community. This Rural City of Murray Bridge 4 program aims to increase the number of rural and regional students attending tertiary institutions and has been a positive example of improved co-ordination between levels of government. Community