BATHURST is set to sign on for four more years to a campaign that aims to encourage unhappy Sydney-siders to move to the bush.
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The Evocities seeks to change the perceptions of metropolitan residents and convince them to move to one of seven regional cities: Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Albury, Armidale, Tamworth or Wagga Wagga.
Bathurst Regional Council had been teetering on pulling out of the campaign because there were concerns the promotion had run its course.
However, a report to tomorrow night’s monthly meeting of council recommends otherwise.
Environmental, planning and building services director David Shaw has recommended council sign a memorandum of understanding to stay in the program for another four years until 2019.
Staying with Evocities would cost ratepayers $60,000 in the first year, increasing by $5000 for each of the subsequent years.
The existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the partner councils is due to expire on June 30.
Mr Shaw’s report says the seven Evocities have collectively welcomed 2115 new households (as at the end of December 2014) since the campaign launched in September 2010, generating more than $200 million in additional annual direct spending for the participating regional cities.
Other benefits, he said, have included lifting median incomes, encouraging business growth, and increasing tourism and participation in community groups.
“In the event council did not continue its participation in the Evocities campaign, it is unlikely that any subsequent marketing efforts to attract relocators would achieve the same return on investment,” the report states.
“By leveraging off the combined resources of the Evocities collective, market penetration will invariably be more successful.
“Furthermore, withdrawal of support for Evocities would have a significant negative impact on the Bathurst brand and its position in the Sydney market, and would reduce council’s capacity to attract the interest of potential capital city relocators, with the outcome likely to be a decrease in the number of skilled relocators to the Bathurst region.”
While Mr Shaw recommends continuing in the program, he says council should reconsider its support if any of the Evocities withdraw during the next four-year period.
