Griffith Council have thrown their weight behind Wagga in their bid to get the Qantas training facility.
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Mayor John Dal Broi and general manager Brett Stonestreet went to the Riverina Regional City meeting with Albury and Wagga, in the hopes their support will encourage Qantas to see the benefits the city will provide.
Cr Dal Broi said having the training centre there would have positive “spin-off” throughout the region, including Griffith.
Listed as one of nine possible sites for the Qantas training centre, Wagga is competing against Alice Springs, Bendigo, Busselton, Dubbo, Launceston, Mackay, Tamworth, Toowoomba.
While Griffith missed out on being selected in the top, Cr Dal Broi said Wagga is the next best thing.
“We believe that if Wagga is successful in obtaining the training centre, the spin-off will be right throughout the region,” he said.
He also said there was the opportunity for the smaller councils who have a sealed airport to benefit, like Narrandera, as they may get some spin-off as pilots can come in to land.
“If Wagga gets it, it will be great for the Riverina-Murray region as a whole.”
It follows an announcement Qantas would launch a flying school in regional Australia to help combat low pilot numbers, with a $20 million investment already confirmed.
Organisation to see region thrive
Griffith Council is now on board in a new, or reinvigorated, initiative called Joint Organisations (JO).
The NSW government has touted the collaboration as a way to transform the way Government and local councils collaborate, plan, set priorities and deliver important projects on a regional scale.
The inaugural meeting in the end of June saw 11 councils from the Riverina-Murray region come together to consolidate and plan how to move forward – mainly in attracting other councils in the area to take part.
In conjunction, Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced the state government would award $300,00 to each JO for establishment costs.
“We believe that going forward, we may see other councils who will see the benefits in joining a JO, particularity those who are not 100 per cent sure now,” Cr Dal Broi, deputy chairman of the new group, said.
“We will be a very strong force to promote and advocate on behalf of all councils to government, to achieve grant funding for strategies in terms of road networks, transport, waste disposal and everything else - it will be a really strong lobby group advocating for regional NSW.”