Hume region will share in more jobs and better opportunities under the Victorian Government’s $631 million Ready for Tomorrow: A Blueprint for Regional and Rural Victoria which will deliver a new vision, backed by record funding, to secure the future prosperity of regional and rural communities.
Regional and Rural Development Minister Jacinta Allan said that after a decade of growth in Hume, the Blueprint would help to drive a new era of opportunity and prosperity in regional and rural Victoria.
Highlights under Ready for Tomorrow for the Hume region include:
- $75 million, dedicated through the Regional Infrastructure Development Fund to help improve and build new TAFE and university infrastructure such as student accommodation designed to provide a local tertiary education choice for regional students;
- $2.5 million towards the establishment a $5.8 million International Centre of Excellence in Water Management and Farming Efficiency, University of Melbourne Dookie campus;
- $3.6 million to continue to improve Victorian alpine resorts, including Lake Mountain;
- $17.2 million for the Regional Growth for the Future strategy to ensure future growth in regional centres is strategic, creates more jobs and preserves the lifestyles enjoyed by regional families including planning for growth in Kilmore and Wallan;
- $3.9 million Revitalising Regional Towns initiative will help four towns, including Benalla, to tackle economic and social disadvantage;
- Commitment to progress the potential development of a VicTrack site in Wodonga;
- $6 million for a new ‘Villages of Victoria’ campaign showcasing the unique characteristics of Victoria’s villages including Olinda, Beechworth, Bright, Healesville, Rutherglen, Yackandandah, Warburton, Alpine Villages and Marysville;
- $2 million for Regional Tourism Boards which will include two new boards – one for Yarra Valley and Dandenong ranges and another for the High Country; and
- $1.5 million through the Sustainable Small Towns package to improve liveability for older people, with local initiatives in Strathbogie and Moira.
Other Ready for Tomorrow initiatives the Hume region will benefit from include:
- $50 million Sustainable Small Towns package: helping small towns in the Hume region will be able to apply for projects that improve public amenity such as streetscapes and community halls, as well as projects that improve sustainability and energy efficiency;
- $3.3 million Developing Regional Leaders: Training, mentoring and networking future industry leaders in the Hume region; and
- $3.5 million Networked Rural Councils: Rural councils in the Hume region will benefit from tapping into the wider Rural Councils Victoria network. The State’s 38 rural Councils will be able to better work together to address emerging issues.
“Our Government is determined to support families living and working in the Hume region,” Ms Allan said.
“This new $631 million Blueprint demonstrating the depth of our 18 month consultation with regional communities, councils and peak bodies to form actions that will make our regions more prosperous and create new opportunities for its residents.”
Ms Allan said the Hume region would share in the $110.1 million Investing in Skills and Young People strategy to deliver more opportunities and better access to tertiary education.
This includes new targets to increase the number of enrolments and graduates in regional Victoria with new infrastructure support to encourage investment in new student accommodation, TAFE and university facilities, leadership and cadetship programs and a new youth strategy.
The region will also benefit from $99.4 million towards a new action plan to boost regional industries to help small businesses, create thousands of new jobs through investment attraction and support tourism operators, including with new infrastructure.
A further $203.9 million will provide regional areas with world-class infrastructure in water, cleaner energy and industry development, improvements to broadband services, local roads, timber roads, bridges, bus services and more affordable housing.
There will be $158.4 million to support the regional way of life with funding for sports clubs, cultural activities, and community organisations and $58.9 million will guide the sustainable, prosperous economic and social growth of Victoria’s regions.
Ms Allan said the Brumby Government was continuing to invest in the services that matter to families in regional and rural Victoria.
“Ready for Tomorrow is about backing our regional communities to be leaders in new job creation, new industry development and new ideas,” she said.
REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT FUND - $260 MILLION BOOST
Ms Allan said the hugely successful $611 million Regional Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) would be fully committed by 30 June then boosted by $260 million from 1 July under the Ready for Tomorrow.
Ms Allan today announced four new Hume region projects worth $7.1 million to receive RIDF support, having been identified by communities to generate new jobs and new opportunities.
“This hugely successful fund – the first of its kind in Australia – is helping to create jobs, lock in prosperity, secure lifestyles and create new opportunities for regional and rural Victorians,” she said.
The Hume region projects will be funded under the existing RIDF are:
- $1 million for a $1.35 million Strathbogie Equine Industry in Euroa to widen an access road to Lindsay Park to improve traffic safety;
- $250,000 for a $500,000 bulk bio-diesel terminal in Wallan for the installation of a bulk bio-diesel terminal blending facility;
- $878,000 for a $1.95 million Benalla Gasification project for a gasifier to burn sander dust and the heat generated will be used to dry timber used in the manufacture of fibreboard;
- $250,000 for the $950,000 revamp of the Cobram CBD Streetscape including a town square, paving, public art, landscaping, turf areas, plantings, kiosk and street furniture and improvements to traffic flow;
- $300,000 for the $1.2 million upgrade of Yackandandah Hall redevelopment including a multi-purpose meeting room at the front of the hall and upgrading the kitchen and toilets, installing heating and cooling and improving the lighting and audio facilities; and
- $300,000 for the $1.2 million upgrade of Yackandandah Sports Park Stadium for a new internal fit-out as a multi-purpose community hall and stadium; construction of a double-sided stage; construction of toilets and change rooms, stores, gymnasium and foyer to the ground floor level below the function room.