General News
28 July, 2022
Council teams up with businesses, local leaders to launch relocation pilot project
The Central Goldfields Shire Council is teaming up with local businesses and community leaders for an ambitious pilot project aimed at attracting skilled migrants to the region — with their journeys set to be filmed as part of a documentary. The...
The Central Goldfields Shire Council is teaming up with local businesses and community leaders for an ambitious pilot project aimed at attracting skilled migrants to the region — with their journeys set to be filmed as part of a documentary.
The Welcome to Central Goldfields project will focus on relocating new residents from migrant backgrounds to Maryborough and was created in response to staff and skills shortages affecting businesses of all sizes, both locally and across the country.
The experiences of the new residents will also be recorded by a documentary film company who will be working alongside the project over a three-month period.
According to council, the pilot project is an opportunity to advocate to government on workforce and housing needs, and to create a long-term plan for relocation to the shire, which Central Goldfields Shire mayor Chris Meddows-Taylor said was a priority for council.
“Council recently surveyed and met with more than 50 local businesses — all of which cited workforce challenges as a common issue, which had been made harder by the pandemic,” he said.
“We know there are vacant jobs that are not being filled locally — this has serious implications for the growth of our local economy and it also impacts our community who are missing out on essential services.
“This project gives us a chance to relocate people to our community to help us not only solve workforce issues but have a positive impact on all areas of community life.
“We’re calling on our community to watch this space.
“We’ll be communicating more about the project in the coming months, including opportunities to play a part in welcoming new people to our community.”
A number of local residents have formed a community reference group to help guide the project, which will provide opportunities for local businesses to recruit specialist staff into roles they have previously had challenges filling.
Beyond this, community reference group member and Maryborough Education Centre principal David Sutton said it was an opportunity to showcase what Maryborough has to offer.
“I’ve been involved in preliminary discussions so far and see this as a project that will add richness to our community,” he said.
“I think anything of this magnitude and uniqueness has its challenges, but certainly there are challenges around relocating people here in terms of finding accommodation and employment but I think the real challenge is for our community to be at its best.
“This provides a great opportunity and in particular, gives us the opportunity to show our strengths and all that we have to offer here out to a broader audience.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by fellow reference group member, local business owner and Maryborough Rotary Club president Garry Higgins who said it was exciting to see local businesses and community leaders working together on the project.
“We know that since the pandemic there’s been a huge shift in people moving from cities to the country — this is an exciting opportunity for us — this is our chance to showcase our shire as the great place we know it is,” he said.
“This is not an easy task and we understand there will be hurdles. To help deliver this project we will not only need to work together as a community, but also seek advice from organisations to develop sustainable and effective settlement solutions, to ensure we get this right.”
Local businesses with a vacant position they need filled and who are interested participating in the project are encouraged to apply now.
To do so, or for more information on Welcome to Central Goldfields visit www.engage.cgoldshire.vic.gov.au/welcometocentralgoldfields