Growth makes the Coorong an attractive investment prospect
The Coorong council has released an investment prospectus for future investors in the region.
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Highway traffic and population growth in nearby centres have put plenty of optimism in the air about the future of the Coorong district.
Now the local council is looking to capitalise on it, with the launch of an investment prospectus at the Bend Motorsport Park last Wednesday.
The prospectus covers key information on the Coorong district to help businesses and interested individuals make decisions about where to invest, work and live.
Most towns in the Coorong are located along three main highways: the Dukes Highway, providing access to western Victoria and onward to Melbourne; the Princes Highway, taking travellers to the South East of SA and beyond to Victoria; and the Mallee Highway, a major route to northern Victoria and onwards to New South Wales and Sydney.
Many of the Coorong's small towns were great locations for tourism and small businesses wanting to entice a portion of the highway traffic to stop, eat, rest and explore, the prospectus said.
For example, 7600 vehicles travelled through Tailem Bend daily, with 30 per cent being heavy vehicles.
The Murray River, Lakes and Coorong region had a total of more than 1 million domestic day trips and $274 million spent by tourists per year.
The council said it could see more opportunities opening for food retail in highway towns, which were continuing to grow.
Not surprisingly, agriculture was the biggest area for job opportunities: more than 40 percent of local jobs were in agriculture, adding a total of $245m in value to the region.
Other opportunities existed in tourism, manufacturing, transport and logistics, health and education.
The key industries with emerging opportunities were transport, manufacturing, aged and retirement living, renewables, hospitality and eco tourism.
The council insisted it should be acknowledged in the Greater Adelaide Plan – which will guide population growth in the metropolitan area and surrounding regions over the next 30 years – that Tailem Bend could support population growth objectives associated with a vision of more decentralised development.
The plan currently included the Murray Bridge district but excluded the Coorong.
It was also worth noting that a significant economic benefit was expected to flow from the Gifford Hill development to the Coorong district in terms of food production, construction and industrial development, transport and housing.
Last Wednesday's launch event featured presentations by several local business leaders, including Sam Shahin, owner of the Bend Motorsport Park; Kerry Swan, of Coorong Realty and several other companies; Bowhill Engineering's Jodie Hawkes; and representatives of Thomas Foods International and Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Empowered Communities.
Coalition housing policy can help Coorong's population grow, MP says
Meanwhile, federal MP Tony Pasin also met with the council last week to discuss how the Coalition's housing policies might help with housing supply constraints being experienced at Tailem Bend and Wellington East.
If elected next year, a Liberal and National government would commit $5 billion to get new housing projects moving, delivering up to 500,000 homes across Australia.
“Tailem Bend and Wellington East are seen as excellent locations for housing developments due to the proximity to Adelaide and the recent growth of (the) Mount Barker and Murray Bridge housing markets,” Mr Pasin said.
Mr Pasin building approvals had fallen to their lowest level in more than a decade during the past few years, dropping 8.8 per cent to just 158,690 new starts in 2023-24.
Coorong Mayor Paul Simmons said tackling housing supply required cooperation between all levels of government and industry.
“The towns of Tailem Bend and Wellington East in particular, can double in population if essential infrastructure provisions are met,” he said.
- More information: www.coorong.sa.gov.au.
- Express an interest in opening a food business or investing in the Coorong district: Visit the Coorong Council at 95-101 Railway Terrace, Tailem Bend, call 1300 785 277 or email invest@coorong.sa.gov.au.
