Support for East Gippsland Towns Industrial Strategy

Friday, 5 August 2011

The Government today announced a $50,000 grant to support an industrial strategy for East Gippsland's regional towns.

Speaking at a business lunch hosted by East Gippsland Shire Council, Premier Ted Baillieu said the Government grant would be matched by the Shire to secure the $100,000 East Gippsland Regional Towns Industrial Strategy which is now expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Mr Baillieu said the strategy would identify future demand, land requirements and potential sites necessary to facilitate industrial business growth in Lakes Entrance, Paynesville, Orbost and Mallacoota.

Manufacturing, construction and other industrial activities play an important role in East Gippsland's regional economy, however, in Lakes Entrance, Paynesville, Orbost and Mallacoota, there is limited capacity for expansion of local industrial enterprises or establishment of new industries to provide services to local communities or take advantage of broader market opportunities.

The East Gippsland Regional Towns Industrial Strategy will build on a 2007 industrial land audit that captured existing industrial land and existing capacity. The audit identified vacancies and a range of issues that inhibited the ready identification and release of additional industrial land/ expansion of existing areas.

The East Gippsland Regional Towns Industrial Strategy will identify new industrial land, opportunities for rezoning, and options for reconfiguring existing land to generate more capacity within existing sites. The strategy will be implemented in two stages, with stage one involving research and assessment of future demand, trends in industrial development and the identification of land and infrastructure requirements to meet projected demand.

Stage two will involve the identification of suitable sites, constraints and the actions required to activate the land for industrial development.

Today's funding announcement is another step towards improving economic planning and longer-term infrastructure outcomes in the region. It will also help provide some certainty and improve investor confidence in East Gippsland, particularly in and around Lakes Entrance, Paynesville, Orbost and Mallacoota.