Country Towns Futures Conference

To develop a meaningful communiqué from the Conference, and to ensure real ownership by both the participants and the wider group of stakeholders, you are invited to contribute in any way which you deem appropriate. We also ask that the attendees of the conference encourage others, who were not present, to also participate.

The evolving communiqué will be posted to this website for a period of 2 months. By the end of August we hope to have produced a sound document ready for wider distribution.

We believe the communiqué should:

• provide an overview of the conference deliberations,
• draw out key issues, and
• provide suggested recommendations for action by both government and communities.

Suggested topics to be addressed include:

• building the resilience and strength of our communities
• finding new models for service provision
• job creation and the role of business clustering and region-wide value adding
• sustainability issues including infrastructure and the maintenance and development of community assets
• opportunities – urban myth/rural life, culturalisation, indigenisation
• the implications of a government policy that accepts the notion that ‘some towns are not sustainable’;
• implications of a plan to relocate/resettle people from unsustainable communities;
• how to define what constitutes an unsustainable community.

Drawing on the keynote presentations it seems clear that the future of our country towns is dependent on:

• a clear vision of a future
• based on good information
• a commitment to success
• a framework to assist government to assist communities
• a statement of confidence about the future

Growing Sustainable Towns is a Journey

An agenda for action must aim to develop a sustainable future for country towns, recognizing the importance of the following elements.

• Fertile Ground - People can only learn what they can understand
• Local Enterprise - Self Awareness
• Build Capacity - Ability to Work as a Team
• Empower Communities - Strive for Shared Outcomes

Local Enterprise

We must develop a preferred future that includes

Build Capacity

Communities must celebrate difference and exploit potential

Empower Communities

If we empower the communities in our towns then we build lasting legacies that:

Contact: