Regional Network of Places
The experience of Regional Places holds the key to what we need to do next.
Experience defines place and the experience of place is a journey, a web of nodes and links that extend outside the physical place-based community.
Therefore the question is…
How do you create the external linkages to build a sustainable network of regional places?
The Regional Vision is a critical Government vision. It is the leverage for Local Government to prioritise its service and infrastructure investments and secure funding partnerships from State and Federal Government.
What is the place-based region? What are the profitable economic catchments? Where will future growth for local business come from? The answers to these obvious questions will have place-based outcomes which could easily add to the further decline of the Regional Council’s small towns and communities if a regional network approach is not embraced.
Good Governance is Under Rated
At the Regional Council scale there needs to be a strong local government leadership position that seeks to provide the catalyst elements missing from the edge towns and communities within its regional boundaries.
A common problem for all Regional Councils is that not all places are benefiting in sustainable ways from the growth of their existing regional centre. In fact the rates from these regional centres are subsidising the servicing of the outlying towns and communities.
The edge towns and adjacent local communities are where loss of identity and lifestyle is most chronic. The solution requires government frameworks and skills that are completely different from the traditional planning and community development processes used to enhance growing places or manage the symptoms of dysfunctional communities.
Do we know how to deal with this non-growth challenge?…Especially when most of our nation’s population lives in growing capital cities and booming regional centres.
Three Practical Local Government Questions
- What are the vital few things that should be done by Regional Councils to help their small towns and communities grow?
- What are the new place-based organisational processes and frameworks to help small towns and communities become more sustainable?
- What can be delivered within a four year term of Regional Council? (ie. Agreed in the 1st year, funded in the 2nd year, delivered in the 3rd year and celebrated in the 4th year – at election time.)
Snapshot Response…Providing Some Answers
Review of the current documents and practice has generated the following insights:
- Local Leadership networks are great as a framework for local action. Their role and responsibilities need to be well thought through to maintain their enthusiasm and effectiveness. But, this does not necessarily mean we need to formalise a fourth level of governance.
- To deliver sustainable place-based actions the community planning process needs to be part of an integrated approach to infrastructure and economic strategies.
- There needs to be a strong conceptual and management framework that appropriately addresses the micro AND macro issues. We can’t continue these initiatives in isolation.
- There needs to be a Council led program of catalyst projects to strengthen local employment and lifestyle in the Regional Council’s small towns and communities.
- The biggest threat to the success of these initiatives in the context of delivering local outcomes on the ground is that community planning has a weak base in local government. There must be a strategic realignment within Regional Council’s organisation if it is to deliver practical actions for the future sustainability of small towns and local communities.
Where to Start
A great place to start would be the development of place-based websites to “Showcase Regional Communities”. This grassroots activity is very doable, provides good short term outcomes as well as an excellent foundation to encourage communities into the use of internet technology as part of their capacity building and engagement in new enterprise.
The digital showcasing of regional communities starts to give a real voice to local places and combined with Web 2.0 tools, a more representative conversation of issues and ideas can emerge.
