As Mayor of the Central Highlands, I want to ensure that residents, business and visitors are provided the liveability, opportunity and experience that were afforded to my family.

The Central Highlands has been one of the strongest growing economies in the nation and consistent population increase has followed this prosperity.

Our communities are diverse in skills and cultures and we are surrounded by an extraordinarily beautiful natural environment.

The differences in our population and economic activities continues to be our great strength. And we need to build on this diversity of agriculture, mineral resources, service industry and tourism to ensure that we sustain our future wellbeing.

Connectivity – access to, from and within the region

• As an inland region we need to build strong economic profiles for our productive localities to better source funding.
• Identify key routes to future markets in live export, depots and transport nodes to minimise freight costs and make our products competitive.
• Complete our airport with services to provide better amenity and appeal to our visitors.
• Lobby for road train configurations and highway upgrades to allow better freight movement.

Economic Development

• Ensure planning instruments are suited to our communities to provide for new business and protect important amenities.
• Continue community planning around retention of critical town centre business and addressing shifts in retail and other services away from smaller towns.
• Offer incentives to encourage strengthening of commercial precincts in the form of rate reductions, incentives to renovate and renew and continue revitalisation around ‘street building’.
• Ensure that our development corporation is resourced to provide, a range of services and critical data, to business and co-ordinate applications to secure funding for the region.

Tourism – selling our natural environment and local attractions to the world

• Continue to build our regional marketing strategy around the Sandstone Experience concept within the area and neighbouring shires.
• Consolidate the tourist trails and ways around the region to build the stay potential of our visitors and link our attractions.
• Secure the ownership and management of Fairbairn Dam township and picnic area which is a vital destination for residents and visitors.
• Continue to support and complete the Gemfields interpretive trail as a major attraction for the region.
• Build up the ‘101 things to do in the Central Highlands’ project to encourage operators and business to participate.

Water – the lifeblood of townships, agriculture and industry

• Actively seek to upgrade our water storages and access in the Nogoa-Mackenzie system particularly Fairbairn Dam to provide additional water security and flood mitigation.
• To provide a water usage strategy to encourage residents to restore civic pride in our neighbourhoods and streetscapes.
• Expand ‘raw’ water reticulation to service open spaces, parks, educational facilities and sporting grounds.