Tourism and more specifically the opening of a Visitor Information Centre in Harden Shire topped the list of priority concerns when 55 people gathered at the Harden Country Club on Tuesday night for the Harden Shire Business Survey information session with business consultants Jenny de Greenlaw and Jenny Rand.
The information session commenced with an introduction by Mayor Chris Manchester and new Harden Shire General Manager, Max Kershaw before business consultant Jenny de Greenlaw addressed the audience and outlined her experience compiling similar surveys for over 150 towns in NSW and Queensland.
Mrs de Greenlaw highlighted the importance of the business survey being convened by the community for the community and also important that the business survey was shire wide and included the villages of Galong, Jugiong and Wombat, which tend to get forgotten when considering the big picture. Mrs de Greenlaw pointed out that farming is a very important part of the business makeup of the Harden Shire and it is essential that farmers be consulted as part of the process.
Both consultants, Jenny de Greenlaw and Jenny Rand, spent time with members of Harden Shire Community Action (HSCA) on a tour of the villages of Jugiong, Wombat and Galong where they met with residents and business owners as well as representatives of their progress associations to gather information for the survey.
Everyone who attended the business survey information session was asked to share their ideas and concerns on what they would like to see happen in the Harden Shire by listing at least five items they deemed to be the most important.
These were then collated into separate groups under the categories of business development, tourism and marketing, physical and environment development and events and social development.
The responses where then grouped into further sub-categories that covered the major areas identified such as: signage, beautification, sporting facilities, public amenities, transport and communication, events, health, improving sporting facilities, communication and working together, accommodation, marketing, tourism and the visitor information centre.
The top priorities were identified as being the visitor information centre, tourism, business development and beautification.
Consultant Jenny Rand spoke on the tourist assets that the shire has and how they best could be marketed to certain target groups. She said it was important to consider all types of visitors, not just people on holiday, and how events could be a major attractor of visitors.
Mrs Rand spoke on the work she has done with a number of towns including a business survey conducted in Jugiong for their progress association in 2004 and the way that small towns can be really turned around by identifying what each town has to offer and capitalising on their strengths.
Jenny de Greenlaw commented at the start of the business survey information session that she was aware that similar surveys have been conducted in the past and a “nothing will ever happen from it” attitude is a common problem they face when it comes to receiving the responses back from businesses. Mrs de Greenlaw said she was committed to getting all of the surveys back even if she had to hound those who have not returned the surveys by the August 22 due date.
President of the Harden Shire Community Action group, Mr John Wade spoke at the end of the meeting and said how pleasing it was to see six of the seven councillors attending the meeting. The only councillor that did not attend was Councillor Neil Reid who was unfortunately...
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