From the Chair - October 2023

Image: Cr Chris Cherry Mayor of Tweed Shire Council with RCNSW Chair Cr Mathew Dickerson at the Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre as part of the RCNSW member visit to norther New South Wales.

The Regional Cities New South Wales (RCNSW) team has had a productive few months advocating to the NSW Government for ongoing investment to help regional cities prosper and grow.

In the lead-up to the State Budget, we put forward a blueprint to the State Government, as a comprehensive investment plan to deliver a more equitable New South Wales (NSW).

The RCNSW board also met with the Treasurer of NSW the Hon Daniel Mookey MLC to discuss the big issues in our communities: housing, skill shortages, connectivity and the need for ongoing investment in community infrastructure.

On the back of our advocacy, I was pleased to see additional funding for regional NSW allocated in the interim State Budget, particularly for health and education; we have also welcomed the establishment of a new Regional Development Trust.  RCNSW is seeking additional information on the role of this trust and will be advocating for a position on the board to ensure the needs of regional cities are appropriately represented.

A highlight for our membership in July was the inaugural member city site visit to the beautiful northern NSW region, where our board had the opportunity to learn and collaborate on issues such as managing growth and natural disaster management. Based on this success, we are already planning for our visits a new batch of member cities in 2024.

RCNSW was also invited to take a leading role in the Infrastructure New South Wales - Strategic Infrastructure Review, recommending that the State considers spreading the infrastructure pipeline more broadly to ease capacity pressures.

In the coming months, RCNSW will be pushing ahead with our advocacy program in the lead up to the 2024 State Budget with a delegation to State Parliament at the end of November.