Principal Activity 3 Highlights 2005/2006

· Gazettal of LEP Amendment 221 which rezones lots in Macleans Point Road and Kerry Street Sanctuary Point to provide for commercial purposes.

· Gazettal of LEP Amendment 222 which reclassified the land from community to operational to enable the owner of the adjoining land to gain legal access to part of their land.

· Gazettal of Amendment 226 which applied to the public car parks at Owen Street, Huskisson and Boree Street and South Street Ulladulla.

· Gazettal of LEP Amendment No 223 – this amendment removes the use of State Environmental Planning Policy No 15 – Rural Land sharing Communities (SEPP 15) to the Shoalhaven. This will enable existing such communities to be subdivided and prohibit the future use of SEPP 15 in Shoalhaven.

· Gazettal of LEP Amendment 227 which reclassifies certain land at Culburra Beach, Sanctuary Point and Huskisson from “community” land to “operational” land.

· Gazettal of LEP Amendment 228 at Burr Avenue, Nowra which rezones land from Special Uses 5(e) for proposed road reservation and widening to partly Business 3(b) and partly Special Uses 5(e).

· Draft Guidelines for Crime Prevention through Environmental Design and Accessibility have been completed.

· Gazettal of LP 375 – Short Term Rentals of Residential Dwellings. The amendment facilitates the short term rental of residential dwellings without the need for Council consent.

· Draft Development Control Plan No 12 – South Ulladulla Commercial Area, was exhibited to enable community comment. The draft DCP provides detailed development guidelines for this important commercial area.

On 24^th April 2006 the Prime Minister came to Nowra and jointly with the NSW Minister for Roads Mr Eric Roozendaal participating in a ceremonial sod turning event for MR92.

Work is now proceeding on preparing tenders for the next section through Morton National Park to Nerriga and it is expected that this contract be let towards the end of 2006.

The construction timeframes are such that the road will be progressively upgraded but should be completed during 2009. The construction standard will be Regional Road to allow heavy vehicles (including B-doubles) to make the escarpment crossing and then link into the existing road network connecting to the Monaro and Hume Highway corridors.

blueprint Shoalhaven is a three level of Government project involving funding by the Department of Transport & Regional Services, under the Regional Partnerships program, the NSW Department of State & Regional Development under its Developing Regional Resources Program and the Shoalhaven City Council through its Economic Development Office.

The blueprint process involved harnessing the volunteer capacity and capability of many of the local business operators to investigate ways in which the future of the Shoalhaven could be enhanced economically and give direction to agencies and organisations to address impediments and needs identified.

Four blueprint Shoalhaven mini-Summits were held between March and May 2006 with over 300 participants in attendance. The four mini Summits included:

Linda Marquis blueprint Shoalhaven Tourism Team Leader opening the Tourism mini Summit with over 120 people in attendance

Bob Ashford, blueprint Shoalhaven Facilitator and Ross Clifton, blueprint Shoalhaven Health Ageing and PS Team Leader during the Health Ageing Public Service mini Summit with over 60 people in attendance

Lynelle Johnson, blueprint Shoalhaven General Industry Team Leader and Federal Member for Gilmore Joanna Gash MP during the General Industry mini Summit with over 60 people in attendance

Murray Mortimer, blueprint Shoalhaven Defence Team Leader facilitating the Defence mini Summit with over 60 people in attendance.

The outcomes of the mini-Summits were reported in the media and helped to achieve one of the major aims of blueprint Shoalhaven which was to positively impact the future of the area and counter some of the negative perceptions generated by several industrial closures in the local area.

The outcomes of blueprint Shoalhaven were also the subject of a major presentation and report at the blueprint Summit held at Nowra Anglican College Monday 26th June. Over 180 people attended this key event with representation from Local, State and Federal politicians, Government Departments, Industry Associations, local business leaders and community members.

Photo on right: In attendance at the blueprint Shoalhaven Summit Chris Benning, Manager National Australia Bank, CLR Gary Kearney, Janet Binns Chair Nowra Chamber of Commerce

Photo on left: At the blueprint Shoalhaven Summit the Federal Member for Gilmore, Joanna Gash MP presented awards to the winners of the “Have your say” School Competition

A copy of the blueprint Shoalhaven Action Plan is available from Council offices.

Support for business networking functions has been continuous throughout the year. At the Consultants Network Breakfast held on the 16th May, Steve Drury and John Fisher presented ‘Compete, Survive and Thrive- a focus on regional business success’. At the Quality Breakfast held on the 31st May, Michelle Miran from the Department of Regional Development, and Greg Pullen, Economic Development Manager Shoalhaven City Council presented ‘Managing a volunteer process in a public environment’.

Employment has returned to positive growth in numbers in December 2005 and has continued this trend in positive growth in March 2006. In the June Edition of the Illawarra Business Survey IRIS Research reported that hiring intentions across the region had improved and returned to positive territory during the June Quarter. A net 2.4% of firms reported having more staff on their books during the last 3 months.

§ Shoalhaven print marketing campaign had an aggregated total exposure of 10 million full pages in colour.

§ The new 2006 Visitors guide was released in February 2006 and very well received by the public and the tourist industry.