Welcome to our July 2013 newsletter for valued members of the Sunshine Coast Business Council.
Council 2013-14 Budget Release
Last month, the Sunshine Coast Council adopted its 2013-14 budget. Mayor Mark Jamieson said it was always going to be a tough budget due to unprecedented challenges.
“This is a budget for the future; we’ve balanced the books despite the financial fallout from de-amalgamation, rising costs and falling revenue,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“In the next financial year, we’ll build on some of the major changes made in the first 12 months of this council including reducing fees, cutting red tape and selling the natural advantages of doing business here.
“This budget will keep that momentum going”, he said.
The budget allocated $11.8m for economic development, however the specifics of how this money will be spent is still unclear.
Sunshine Coast Business Council Chairperson Sandy Zubrinich said, “we are delighted that the council has placed the spotlight on economic development by developing an overarching strategy and has allocated funds for its implementation”.
“We were also pleased to see that cost savings resulting from the organisational review have been reflected in the budget savings”, she said.
Highlights for 2013/14 include:
- electronic lodgement of development applications, making it easier, more efficient and less costly for all parties—applicants, the development industry and council—to do business
- no increases to planning fees and charges
- roll out of the region’s major and regional events strategy to better position the region as one of Australia’s premier regional event destinations
- delivery of the Sunshine Coast Economic Development Strategy, which will direct economic decisions and actions on the Coast for the next 20 years.
More information about the Council budget can be found on the Sunshine Coast Council’s web site – www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.
Council’s Economic Development Strategy
The Sunshine Coast Business Council has made a submission to Council’s draft economic development strategy focusing on implementation and investment attraction as the key priorities.
The Business Council sees the release of the draft strategy as a major step towards providing a high level vision for the region and a path to improve the
economic performance of the region over the next 5 years.
The Business Council submission supported many of the principles in the draft strategy, specifically:
- the move from an economy based on population growth to a demand driven economy focused on export income
- the identification of high-value industries
- the recognition of the importance of the ‘game changer’ projects, and
- the recognition of the need to streamline Council regulation, remove red tape and create a regulatory environment conducive to doing business on the Sunshine Coast.
Business Council Chairperson, Sandy Zubrinich said it was now important for the Sunshine Coast Council’s and the business community’s roles in implementation of the strategy to be defined so that nothing falls between the cracks. Monitoring implementation and changes to regional economic performance is critical to understand what is working going forward and what isn’t. The Business Council will provide to Council our views on the appropriate 6 – 8 indicators of regional economic performance and health.
Ms Zubrinich congratulates the Mayor on the initiative to develop a local solar farm at Valdora both as a welcomed clean energy initiative and also for its potential future cost saving in electricity prices, which hopefully the residence and businesses on the Coast will benefit from.
She also welcomed the declaration of the Maroochydore City Centre PDA to fast track development of the area without reducing the necessary rigor of the process. Both initiatives will create jobs for Sunshine Coast residents and with unemployment sitting well above the Queensland average of 6.4% and youth unemployment above 17%, new jobs are very welcomed.
Updates on the draft economic development strategy can be found on the Sunshine Coast Council’s web site site – www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.
“A New Economy 2013-2031” Launch
This month, the Sunshine Coast Business Council launched its updated economic directions for the Sunshine Coast, titled “A New Economy 2013-2031”.
This is the third update of the economic directions research. The research has revealed that between the 2006 and 2011 census the composition of the region had not changed or had deteriorated. The research highlights:
- the fragility of the Sunshine Coast’s economy
- the need to move away from population growth-based economy to demand-led economy
- the need to focus more on national and international markets and export income
- the demands of the emerging middle classes in the Asian markets and the potential to provide products and services to some of those markets
- the need to attract more domestic and international investors to the region and
- the need to significantly change the structure of the region’s existing economy.
We have set out five key actions to step change to a new economy:
Action 1
Support and implement the region’s economic development strategy
Action 2
Cut red tape
Action 3
Build key infrastructure, including the upgrade of the Bruce Highway, the update of the Sunshine Coast Airport and delivery of the information and technology backbone for the Sunshine Coast.
Action 4
Deliver the region’s transformational projects, including the Kawana health precinct, the Maroochydore CBD and the Sippy Downs town centre.
Action 5
Collaboration between business and government is vital.
The above actions outline the focus of the Business Council for the next 12 months. By working together we believe the Sunshine Coast can be one of Queensland’s top 2 regions, and in the top 4 nationally by 2031 in terms of economic performance.
We thank all members for their contribution to the economic directions research and invite you to read more about the research on our web site – www.scbusinesscouncil.com.au.
Hospital & Health Precinct ‘Ripple Effect’ Action Planning Forum
The Sunshine Coast Business Council and Sunshine Coast Council are holding a follow up session on 31 July 2013 to review the status of the action plan that was established between business and local and state government in August 2012 to guide the first 12 months of the development of the Hospital and Health Precinct. Particular interest is to review any evidence of the ‘ripple effect’ from the significant investment in the development of the precinct. We will continue to focus on the benefits of the ‘ripple effect’ over the duration of this major development.
Membership
Membership to join the Sunshine Coast Business Council is now open. To recommend a member of your own network of leading local businesses, please invite them to visit our website at www.scbusinesscouncil.com.au where application forms are available.