August 2018

August 2018 Annual General Meeting Update

The President’s Report – Mr Kyle Chamberlain

This year as President of our chamber has been an honour.

Being the President has afforded me the opportunity to meet with many varied people and businesses over the course of the last year. The recognition I have personally received has been immeasurable.

I have also been interviewed many times by the local papers, Chronicle and Advertiser. Along with a few live chats on the radio. All this puts focus on our shire, our town, our businesses and the opportunity for new business in our town. There is also the side benefit of always being in uniform and mentioning my own business. Century 21.

This year has seen our chamber grow by @30 members and we have seen a consistent number of 20+ at our meetings. The largest crowd of the year was for our Picton CBD developer’s night which was attended by over 50 people.

Our committee has focused on bringing information to our members. We are achieving this mainly through guest speakers at our monthly meetings. We have had politicians, Councillors, Infrastructure manger from council along with Member focus nights and updates from other members about the development coming and flood committee members.

With the appointment of a dedicated media officer, Mark, we have been able to update our website, if you haven’t seen it then I urge you to, along with a more consistent focus on our brand, through email, Facebook and our website.

I must take this opportunity to thank my committee Ren, Geoff, Kerrie, Judy, Susan and Mark. Without the support of this team our chamber would not be in the position it currently is.

The current President and executive were re-elected for another year.

• President — Kyle Chamberlain

• Vice President — Renato Moolhuyzen

• Secretary — Judy Bjorklund

• Treasurer — Susan Hall

• Director — Kerrie Cunich

• Social Media & Promotion — Mark Christian Shaw

• Director — Geoff O’Brien

August 2018 Ordinary Meeting Update

Jo-Anne Bentley

Guest Speaker and Chamber Member

Jo-Anne has liaised with Chamber and a number of local business people to establish the criteria for managing and staging Wollondilly’s very own business awards night. The effort and commitment Jo-Anne is investing into this project and the cooperation of business people backing the awards means there is increasing momentum behind this exciting development. Most of the important criteria such as auditing, voting, categories, venues and dates have been nailed down and a formal announcement will be made shortly once the necessary infrastructure has been put in place.

July 2018 Meeting Update

1st Guest Speaker: Michael Malone

Director of Infrastructure & Environment
Wollondilly Council

After our State Member Jai Rowel’s announcement of a $3 Million investigation into rerouting traffic around Picton, the Chamber of Commerce invited Michael Malone to provide a rundown of any information Council might be able to provide regarding future traffic matters in Picton.

Members were informed that Mr Malone had attended a meeting with the Roads and Maritime Authority to discuss the by-pass and provide the Authority with existing traffic data from Council.

In addition, Mr Malone discussed the various traffic areas around Picton that were likely to be rated unsafe or unusable by 2026. Some of the areas in question were pedestrian traffic on Argyle Street North in the CBD and at the Picton Public School, The Queen Victoria Bridge and everyone’s favourite, the intersection at Menagle and Argyle Streets.

Michael spent some time answering questions from the members.

The Chamber members thank Mr Malone for taking the time on Wednesday night to provide an informative briefing.

2nd Guest Speaker: Blair Briggs

Councillor, Wollondilly Council

Blair Briggs spoke in regard to the Council’s “Wollondilly Destination Management Plan”

Stafford Strategy was commissioned by Wollondilly Shire Council to complete a Destination Management Plan for Wollondilly Shire. The purpose of the DMP is to guide sustainable growth and to help ensure the viability and resilience of the tourism industry in the Shire.

Some game changing projects that were prioritised in the study were discussed.

These are noted as the following:

•  introduction of a major nationally branded destination holiday park;

•  encourage the development of a higher-end eco-lodge(s) with an integrated wellness centre/day spa;

•  investment prospectus to entice investors to invest in the Shire;

• development of a visitor economy awareness campaign to encourage the host community to be advocates for the Shire and to expand community understanding of the broad-ranging benefits generated through the visitor economy; and

• development of an overnight guided Great Walk experience, in collaboration with the Blue Mountains.

These projects are referred to as “game changers” because of their potential to have a major impact on the Shire’s visitor economy through increased visitor yield, growing visitor average length of stay, shifting visitation from day trips to overnight, the generation of new investment into the Shire as well as ensuring the community are advocates for the visitor economy.

The draft plan is available for comment currently and can be obtained at the Council’s website.

The Chamber members thank Mr Briggs for taking the time on Wednesday night to provide an informative briefing.