Issue 5 June 2004
Bi-Monthly Newsletter Cradle Coast Authority Delivers on Regional Hospital Debate
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our years after its establishment as a regional voice, the Cradle Coast Authority faced its biggest test in April during the potentially divisive issue of the future of the Coast’s health services.
Tenderer Chosen A $15 million regional homemaker centre comprising an expanded Harvey Norman store, Spotlight and three other businesses has been chosen as the preferred development for the old Burnie Hospital site. The developer, Harvey Norman, is now in a period of exclusivity with the Joint Venture Partners – the Cradle Coast Authority, the Burnie City Council and the State Government. The Harvey Norman proposal was chosen because it delivered 100 new jobs, five new businesses, a $15 million investment and improvements that will allow multiple use of the site in the future – all at no cost to the region. The parties are currently exchanging draft agreement documents covering the period of exclusivity and Harvey Norman will then commit money to developing their proposal and draft plans. Cradle Coast Executive Chairman Roger Jaensch said the site would not be sold until the end of the period of exclusivity. “The project is on track and we will soon be seeing some activity on the site.” Roger said on-site development was expected to begin by this Christmas.
The release of the State Government’s Hospital Review Issues Paper and the closure of services at the Mersey Community Hospital gave the Authority its first chance to speak as the voice of a united region and prove it had teeth as a representative body. ‘‘Dealing with issues such as hospital services was the reason the Authority was created,’’ Cradle Coast Authority Executive Chairman, Roger Jaensch, said. On behalf of its member councils, the Authority released a five-point position statement accepting the principle of a single base hospital for the region, calling for all future health service planning to be guided by the Golden Hour principle and supporting the immediate reinstatement of full hospital services at the Mersey. The position paper also recommended seeking a $100,000 allocation from the Sustainable Regions Program, to be matched by State funds, for targeted programs to attract health professionals to the region and committed $50,000, again to be matched by the State Government, for a detailed analysis of all scenarios for a single base hospital.
Mayors Peter Hollister (Devonport), Mike Gaffney (Latrobe), Ian Braid (Kentish), Mike Downie (Central Coast) and Cradle Coast Authority Executive Chairman Roger Jaensch at a press conference to support full restoration of services to the Mersey Community Hospital. Picture: Courtesy of Sean Fennessy and The Advocate.
“If we want to be part of the planning process and take ownership of health services we need to be prepared to contribute to the costs,’’ Roger Jaensch said.
Roger Jaensch said the Authority was now eagerly awaiting the outcome of the Richardson report and looking forward to working further with the State Government to improve the region’s health services.
“Attracting health professionals to the region is also one of the goals identified by the Population Taskforce which has found that if we want to attract and retain people we need to be able to provide top class facilities.’’
‘’This is only the beginning, there is still a lot of work to be done,’’ Mr Jaensch said. “But at least now we have a unified response to a long-standing and much debated political issue which has created great concern in this region.’’
Sisters Hills Highway Upgrade Funding Negotiations Continue
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he Cradle Coast Authority is in urgent negotiations with the State and Federal Governments to secure funding commitments to upgrade the section of the Bass Highway between Boat Harbour and Rocky Cape. A working group formed in May 2003 has identified 13 projects, with an estimated cost of $30 million, needed to improve the safety and design speed of the notorious Sisters Hills section.
There was no allocation for works on this road in the 2004-05 State Budget, or forward estimates, and State politicians have claimed it should be the Federal
Government’s responsibility to fund any further upgrades. The Federal Government’s AusLink white paper, released in June, did not include the Bass Highway west of Burnie in the new national transport network for Federal funding purposes. The Federal Opposition has pledged $15 million for the top five priority projects if it wins government at the next election, with the State Government accepting responsibility for the remaining projects. The Cradle Coast Authority is now working with State and Federal Government representatives to broker a similar costsharing proposal for consideration under the new AusLink strategic roads program in 2004-05.
Cradle Coast Authority Newsletter
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Funding Sought to Develop Themed Tourism
Stanley Tourism Development Plan
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he Cradle Coast Authority has applied for $200,000 from the Australian Tourism Development Prog ram t o d ev el o p t h em ed experiences for the region. The Authority made a submission to the competitive merit-based grants program in early June and is expecting to know the outcome in September. An $80,000 tourism development plan for Stanley has been funded by the Sustainable Regions Program, Tourism Tasmania and the Circular Head Council. The plan, which aims to increase visitor numbers, will be completed in the next five months. A joint initiative between the Cradle Coast Authority, Tourism Tasmania and the Circular Head Council, the plan will have a strong market focus and will establish a tourism vision for the area, priorities for development and a process for implementation. The plan will cover the entire Circular Head Municipal area including Stanley, Smithton, Marrawah and the Arthur River. It will compiled by consultant John Hepper of Inspiring Places who previously worked on the Cradle Coast Touring Route Strategy. Cradle Coast Regional Tourism Development Manager, Ian Waller, said the plan aimed to raise Stanley’s profile as a destination rather than a town. “John will start on the ground in July and we expect it take three-months for him to talk to all the stakeholders.
Regional Tourism Development Manager, Ian Waller, said if funding was gained it would be used to develop and implement a Cradle Coast Experience Strategy linking the visitor experiences of the region to the Agfest Spreads Touring Route Message Cradle Coast Touring Route Strategy. ‘‘This project would allow us to extend
the touring route strategy to focus on themed experiences,’’ Ian Waller said. “The themed experiences that have been identified to date include art and culture, food and produce, waterfalls and wildlife, mining heritage and walking trails. “Promoting themed experiences will encourage increased visitor numbers, provide reasons for visitors to spend longer in the region, enhance the diversity and quality of tourism experiences throughout the region, create new reasons for people to visit the region and provide exciting opportunities for visitors to spend money while in the region.
Ian Waller said the submission had been made on behalf of the nine local government areas in the Cradle Coast Region. “If granting of the funding was dependent only on the amount of support from Local Government and the tourism industry the program would have no option but to grant us the funds. “Because it’s merit based we’ll have to wait and see,’’ Ian Waller said.
Agfest Spreads the Touring Route Message
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ast month’s Agfest has confirmed the need to educate Tasmanians about the new touring route strategies. Regional Tourism Development Manager, Ian Waller, who represented the Cradle Coast Region, said a lot of people had no idea what the touring routes were about. “People seemed to think they were roads rather than visitor experiences.’’ Ian Waller said Agfest had been a great opportunity to promote the touring routes to the local community.
demonstration of what can be achieved by everyone working together. “We had a highly successful three days and it was excellent to see everyone working together rather than fighting for the tourism dollar.’’ Ian Waller said the State’s new Tourism Minister, Ken Bacon, had attended the stall and been impressed with the team approach. “He was most heartened to see the three regions working together in this way.’’
Mr Waller said the Agfest touring route stand had been a joint initiative by Region North, Tasmania South and Cradle Coast.
Ian Waller said the stand had included visual displays of signage and touring route attractions as well as competitions. “We received 5000 entry forms for the competition which gives some indication of the level of interest we received. “We are very grateful for the support of the tourism industry which contributed some fantastic prizes for the competition.
“The stand was supported by representatives from most of the touring routes in the state and its success was a clear
“Without that tourism industry support our Agfest efforts wouldn’t have been as successful as they were.’’
“It was our first attempt at interpreting the touring routes for the Tasmanian market and it has confirmed that we need to continue to educate our own communities.’’
Coast on Show
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he Cradle Coast Region will be on show in August when it hosts a mega famil for tourist agents.
Regional Tourism Development Manager, Ian Waller, said up to 120 wholesale and retail travel agents, representing all major travel outlets, would visit the region on 28 & 29 August. “In the past these famils have focused mainly on Hobart and Launceston, but this time we have gained the rights to host the mega famil.’’ Ian Waller said that during the two days the agents would be escorted throughout the region to see, feel, taste and touch everything it had to offer. “By the time they leave they will know where everything is and will have experienced it first hand— including King Island.’’ Ian Waller said the famil would include a Saturday night dinner for all travel agents at Tall Timbers.
“However, any strategies identified during this time will be implemented immediately rather than waiting for the conclusion of the plan.”
“This is a very significant opportunity for the region as we have total control of the agents’ itineries and these are agents who represent Qantas, Virgin Blue, REX, TT-Line and major coach companies.
Ian Waller said the Stanley Tourism Development Plan was a chance to make a real difference to the area.
“If we get this right we will significantly increase our visitor numbers.’’
“In a way this is Stanley’s last chance to commit to a vision,’’ he said. “The area has been studied to death so it is imperative we get it right this time as it is unlikely anyone would provide additional funding in the foreseeable future for further studies.’’
“The experiences would focus on the intrinsic experiences and strengths of each community and enable us to market a diversity and quality of experience.’’
Ian Waller said the itineries would be designed to give priority to the region’s lesser known experiences and communities.
Cradle Coast Regional Tourism Development Manager, Ian Waller, promoting the Cradle Coast Touring Route at the Agfest stand. Picture: Cradle Coast Authority.
“We need to show agents some of the lesser known experiences you can have in, for example, Burnie, Penguin or Sheffield rather than focusing solely on high profile product.’’
Cradle Coast Authority Newsletter
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Stronger Learning Pathways Initiative on Track to Success
The Cradle Coast NRM draft strategy is now expected to be released in mid-August.
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ust 18 months after launching the Stronger Learning Pathways initiative significant funds have been allocated to major strategic projects addressing the Coast’s low rates of retention and participation in education.
A six-week public comment and consultation period will then be held before the release of the final strategy in November.
The Stronger Learning Pathways Program is an initiative under the Sustainable Regions Program, with project partners including the University of Tasmania, TAFE, the Department of Education and the Cradle Coast Authority.
The process has taken longer than expected because of the amount and content of the feedback received from the community.
Stronger Learning Pathways Project Officer, Nick Flittner, said he was delighted with the progress to date. “It’s a great success story as a year ago we didn’t have any projects on the drawing board and I never envisaged we could have achieved so much so quickly. “We didn’t have any pre-conceived ideas, we basically went to the communities and said you tell us what we need to do to solve the problems and they told us,’’ Nick Flittner said.
Dismal Swamp
Prime Minister John Howard with Botanical Resources’ Brian Chung at the recent announcement of the Skilling the Cradle Coast Community for the 21st Century project. Picture courtesy of Stuart Wilson and The Advocate.
The first two projects funded by Stronger Learning Pathways were a Student Pathways Project to expand career and educational pathway planning in Arthur District schools and an innovative project to build a lifelong learning community in Circular Head. A third major project, Skilling the Cradle Coast for the 21st Century, was launched in February 2004 by Prime Minister John Howard.
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he Cradle Coast Region’s newest tourist attraction, the Dismal Swamp Maze and Visitor Centre, is expected to open in mid-Winter. The Dismal Swamp development has been supported by $467,500 funding from the Sustainable Regions Program being managed by the Cradle Coast Authority. Work on the multi-million dollar attraction is now three-quarters complete and staff training is underway. Dismal Swamp has the potential to do for Circular Head and the region, what the Tahune Airwalk did for the Huon and all the communities along the Cradle Coast Touring Route will benefit from the expected visitor influx. Features of the development include a 1.2 km maze, a 110 metre slide which descends into a rainforest and a state-of-the-art visitor centre. Dismal Swamp is intended to set the benchmark for interpretation in Tasmania.
NRM Update
The project, to be managed by the University of Tasmania, aims to boost student numbers in science and technology courses to help alleviate current and predicted skill shortages in the region. A fourth major project, which focuses on increasing participation in the Barrington District, is currently being considered for funding. This project also incorporates the Central Coast School-Business Alliance Project. The proposed Barrington District Personal Futures Project is similar to the Arthur District project as it is designed to provide schools in the Latrobe, Kentish, Devonport and Central Coast areas with resources to enhance careers advice and pathway planning to students, while also improving parent expectations for student participation in life-long learning. The associated Central Coast SchoolBusiness Alliance Project was developed from a community education forum and is designed to co-ordinate and develop existing and new initiatives involving young people, local schools and businesses in the area.
Nick Flittner said the projects all had a number of key aspects in common. “They are big projects strategically targeted to build capacity in local communities and institutions. “They involve putting resources directly into schools, the projects all enhance or complement each other and they are linked to other initiatives being implemented by other education providers and departments.’’ Nick Flittner said the projects were covering all areas of the Cradle Coast Region and were aimed at directly increasing retention and participation in education on a sustainable basis. “With these projects we have geographically covered the whole region and have established partnerships with all the main players including the University, TAFE, Education Departments, business, local government and community organisations.’’ Nick Flittner said there were two main reasons the initiative had been so successful in such a short period of time. “The first is the emerging role of Local Government as a leader in education,’’ he said. “Local Government is beginning to take a leadership and co-ordination role in communities, particularly in Circular Head, King Island and Central Coast, and that is making things happen. “The second key is the development of partnerships. “Partnerships made the year’s achievements possible and are always going to be the key to success in sustainably increasing retention and participation.’’
The feedback from the discussion papers and consultations with the community, industry and local government has been collated and the issues raised grouped into ‘threats” and services valued. The NRM Committee then determined the major threats and causes of threats to our natural resources. Consultancy firm Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) is now helping the Cradle Coast NRM Committee to develop groups of actions addressing the identified major threats. Currently the NRM Committee and SKM is developing a summary of the major issues, causes and threats and considering community capacity needs. In the coming month Management Action Packages will be developed to address the defined issues and causes. The Management Action Packages will form the basis of the draft regional strategy. In August the term of office of seven of the 15 members of the NRM Committee expires. A public meeting was held on 10 June to set up an independent selection panel to select the new committee members. The meeting was also given a presentation on the work and pr ogr ess of t he N R M Committee to date. The selection panel will meet in late July to select the new committee members. More information, including a regular newsletter, is available on the NRM website at : www.nrmtas.com.au.
Cradle Coast Authority Newsletter
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STAFF PROFILE . . . HEIDI HILLBECK Finance and Administration Manager
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Cradle Coast Authority Finance and Administration Manager, Heidi Hillbeck.
Contact us … 30 Marine Terrace, Burnie PO Box 338 Burnie 7320 Phone: 03 6431 6285 Fax: 03 6431 7014 Email: admin@cradlecoast.com Website: www.cradlecoast.com
Cradle Coast Authority Roger Jaensch—Executive Chairman rjaensch@cradlecoast.com Sarah Poortenaar—Executive Officer spoortenaar@cradlecoast.com Heidi Hillbeck—Finance & Administration Manager hhillbeck@cradlecoast.com
Tourism Ian Waller—Regional Tourism Development Manager iwaller@cradlecoast.com
Natural Resource Management David McCormack—Natural Resource Management Co-ordinator dmccormack@cradlecoast.com
Stronger Learning Pathways Nick Flittner—Project Officer nflittner@cradlecoast.com
eidi Hillbeck is a perfect example of what the Cradle Coast Population Taskforce is working to achieve. Heidi was raised on the NorthWest Coast but left as a teenager to pursue educational opportunities and work on the mainland. Now Heidi has come back home to take on the challenging role of Finance and Administration Manager with the Authority – an expanded position created following the resignation of Suzanne Smith. Heidi had a fairly nomadic childhood, growing up in a mining community on the West Coast and later in Burnie, but especially loved the time she spent at the family’s Somerset home. “I think it’s a beautiful place, I just love it,’’ Heidi said. After leaving secondary school Heidi moved to Hobart where she studied for a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Tasmania specialising in accounting. After she graduated from university in 1991 she joined the Commonwealth Bank in Hobart on a graduate program.
“It was great experience as the program enabled me to complete three-month stints in different departments. “I was able to get experience in the loans area as well as in personal lending.’’ In 1995 Heidi transferred to Western Australia with the bank. “In WA I gained a lot of experience with business banking.’’ In 2000 Heidi moved again – this time to Sydney where she worked in product management. However, earlier this year she discovered the opening with the Cradle Coast Authority and decided it was time to come home. “My parents had retired to the North-West Coast and on visits home to see them I realised how great it would be to come back. “I was also starting to find living in the rat-race in Sydney a bit of a trial, so when the job came up it seemed too good an opportunity to miss – the chance to come home and be able to get the sort of work I’d been aiming to do.’’ As Finance and Administration Manager Heidi is responsible for
the Authority’s administration, payroll, human resources, IT and accounting. “The work I was doing with the Commonwealth Bank was very analytical and I had been wanting to move into a role where I could actually do the hand-ons work and manage finances myself. “Within a large organisation like the Commonwealth Bank you tend to get a bit lost and you don’t feel that you can make a difference. “The work I am doing with the Authority lets me feel that what I’m doing matters and that I can make a difference.’’ In addition to enjoying her work Heidi is thoroughly enjoying being back in her favorite place. “I love the Coastline, Boat Harbour is simply the best beach ever.’’ Getting out of the Sydney rat-race means Heidi now also has time for favorite hobbies including walking, a book club and singing. “I used to sing with the Inner West Chamber Choir in Sydney, I haven’t joined a group here yet but it’s only a matter of time. “You can’t ever say never, but if job wise it’s possible for me to stay here I will.’’
Cradle Coast Authority Rules Review After four successful years the Cradle Coast Authority is undertaking a review of its rules.
before putting them to the participating councils for adoption.
As part of the review, submissions are invited from individual councillors and aldermen, General Managers, representatives and board directors.
Submissions must be in writing and should clearly reference the specific rules, sub-rules or clauses they seek to address.
Councils are also able to provide a submission on behalf of the whole Council in addition to having the opportunity to consider and debate all recommended amendments at the end of the process.
Copies of the rules can be downloaded from www.cradlecoast.com under publications and reports and are available from the Authority and council General Managers.
The Authority has been operating well and achieving its objectives for the past four years so the current review is not intended to assess the Authority’s performance.
Brian Stace has already provided a report to the Representatives identifying amendments based on clauses that are now out of date and issues of clarification or interpretation of existing rules, alignment between the rules and current policies or practices and suggestions for improvements to the rules.
Rather, the review is seeking to determine if and how the existing rules could be improved to enhance the Authority’s governance and operations into the future. The Authority’s representatives have determined the process for the review and have established a working party consisting of Mayor Peter Hollister (Chair, Representative), Grant Atkins (General Manager), Alf Mott (Board Director), Brian Stace (Legal Advisor) and Roger Jaensch (Executive Chairman). The working party’s role is to consider all issues raised and to develop recommendations and amendments to the rules for consideration by the Representatives
Submissions should be addressed to The Chairman, Cradle Coast Authority Rules Review Working Party, C/- Cradle Coast Authority and received by mail (PO Box 338, Burnie 7320), fax (6431 7014) or email (spoortenaar@cradlecoast.com) by close of business on Friday 16 July 2004. All submissions will be treated in the strictest confidence and will be reported to the Representatives in summary form, along with the working party’s final recommendations.