Transforming towns as places to visit, invest, work and live
Ms Linda Beilharz, Chair, RDA Loddon Mallee is pleased that the commercial development strategy and business case supported by the Committee has assisted the infrastructure project ‘Activating the Swan Hill Riverfront Precinct’ to receive almost $1.97mil through Round Two of the Commonwealth Government's Building Better Regions Fund and $1mil from the Victorian State Government through the Regional Partnerships Package. ‘It is great to see the potential economic and social benefits to Swan Hill recognised’, Linda said.
The Loddon Mallee RDA Committee committed $25,000 towards the $115,000 Swan Hill Riverfront Commercial Development Strategy and Implementation Business Case, consisting of:
- An Economic Analysis and Technical Assessment of identified sites
- A Commercial Development Strategy, and
- A Business Case for the priority site.
The business case revealed the potential to generate many benefits for the community, and importantly, to deliver an estimated:
- 99 jobs during construction and 81 ongoing jobs
- 7,025 new visitor nights per annum, and
- 37,000 additional day visitors per annum.
‘Opening up Swan Hill's riverfront will help to create healthier, better connected settlements that deliver improved social and economic outcomes’, said Ms Beilharz. ‘The project will stimulate local industry to maintain and create employment; invest in tourism product, assets and related infrastructure; and builds on the strengths of regional centres and towns’, she said.
The ‘Activating the Swan Hill Riverfront Precinct’ project is the result of collective work initiated through Swan Hill Rural City Council's Swan Hill Riverfront Masterplan involving the Murray River Group of Councils and Murray Regional Tourism.