The draft Norfolk Island Regional Plan has been developed to focus on the Norfolk Island regional economy and act as a guide for much of the advocacy, facilitation and project development undertaken by the Regional Development Australia Board and staff.
Regional Development Australia Norfolk Island and Mid North Coast’s (RDAMNC’s) annual Business Plans will feed into, and draw from, this Regional Plan to ensure integration of the priorities and successful implementation and coordination of the key action items.
As the custodian of this Regional Plan, we recognise that success will come from a strong partnership model focused on outcomes. Local Government, business and community leaders are our key economic stakeholders in the region and are invited to join us at the consultation event and provide feedback on the plan.
The consultation event was held at 6pm on the 14th February at the Governor’s Lodge. Norfolk Island.
During February, 20 local farmers attended the incredible 2 day course with Graeme Sait from Nutri-Tech Solutions.
Please refer to the course flyer for more information.
RDAMNC is incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to bring Graeme Sait – the CEO and Founder of Nutri-Tech Solutions – to Norfolk Island in February 2024 to work with local farmers. NTS are world leaders in regenerative agriculture. They have developed a groundbreaking system which slashes chemical reliance, rejuvenates soil, boosts plant vitality, and elevates human health. They work with farmers to create more profitable, productive farming enterprises across the globe.
NTS’s mission is “NTS is committed to improving profitability for farmers. Food production is the most important of all professions and farmers must be nurtured, protected and supported in every way. Farming needs to be more profitable, more sustainable and more fun and we are passionately producing education, strategies and inputs to help achieve these goals.”
A little bit about Graeme…..
Graeme is an author and educator who has published over 300 articles as well as the book Nutrition Rules!. Graeme is recognised internationally as a specialist in soil, plant, animal and human health and wellness. Graeme has presented for TEDx and his presentation can be viewed here. Graeme continues to create major impact by influencing farmers, consultants, medicos, governments and key decision-makers worldwide. Of special mention, is that Graeme and the NTS agronomy team have trained all of the growers in South Africa that supply Woolworths (Australia’s largest supermarket chain) with their “Farming for the Future” initiative.
We encourage you to look at the Nutri-Tech Solutions website (https://nutri-tech.com.au/) to learn a bit more about Graeme and NTS’s mission, it’s products and services and tune into their podcast.
Following on from the Federal Governments release of the Regional Investment Framework (RIF) and the information received during CEO, Madeleine Lawler’s recent residential visit to Norfolk Island, Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast (RDAMNC) is now the process of writing a regional plan for Norfolk Island.
The Norfolk Island regional plan will be presented during a February 2024 visit to the Island by Madeleine Lawler (CEO) and Dianne Wall (COO) for community feedback.
2/4/2024 Update
RDA Norfolk Island (RDANI) are excited to announce that following our recent consultation in Norfolk Island on the draft Regional Plan and subsequent feedback received from the Norfolk Island community we are now able to launch the completed Norfolk Island Regional Plan. RDANI are very appreciative of the engagement and feedback we have received in the development of our first regional plan for Norfolk Island and are looking forward to being able to deliver projects with Norfolk Island that align with this plan.
For a full copy of the media release, please click here.
A full copy of the Norfolk Island Regional Plan can be found here.
The RDA MNC team have been developing regional snapshots for our communities across the Mid North Coast, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.
These snapshots are easy to read compilations of the demographics of our People, Places and Industries along with key insights on heath, housing and employment.
Click on the links below access the Snapshots for:
One of the four pillars in the Regional Investment Framework (RIF) is Investing in Places. This is a challenging space for RDAs. At the 2023 National Conference for RDA, it was clearly articulated that the federal government wants to see RDAs active in leading and encouraging net zero transition.
The opportunity to commission a high-level opportunity analysis of the Mid North Coast arose and RDAMNC have engaged ANU to undertake this study, which would identify the areas where wind, offshore wind, pumped hydro and commercial solar installations could be developed.
Once the opportunity analysis has been completed, RDAMNC will do the following:
Meet with each General Manager of the Councils in our region and discuss the opportunities
Offer to facilitate community consultation on the outcome of this report
Produce a supplementary report for the state government and federal government that summarises the community feedback and outcomes
Consider producing a regional plan for renewable energy to provide to the investment community which provides the ‘green light’ for detailed business cases.
Project Update March 2024
RDA Mid North Coast commissioned Australian National University to review the region of the Mid North Coast and provide an overview of the opportunities that exist for renewable energy production in the region. The rationale is that the Mid North Coast needs to be proactive and lead into the energy transition by seeking to partner and collaborate to bring to fruition the opportunities that exists in the region.
The report emphatically states that there is no shortage of opportunities in Australia for renewable energy production. What will make the difference is communities that lead into the transition and proactively seek to benefit from the value that energy decarbonisation represents.
Significant opportunities exist in our region for renewable energy production, with the northern region solar opportunities being an incredible asset
This is an incredibly competitive sector, with the people and regions standing to benefit being those who welcome the opportunity to benefit from the inevitable transition
We have considerable opportunity with off-shore (with appropriate community consultation) which should be considered, with the view to being early adopters
It is essential that we continue to deploy rooftop solar on public assets, and encourage the community uptake of the technology
We have a significant opportunity to connect Queensland and New South Wales and should commission a detailed study into high-voltage transmission network possibilities for the region which will require significant focus on gaining social licence from the community
Our region has the potential to be the “Natural Battery of New South Wales” with the outstanding opportunities available to the region in pumped hydro long duration storage – a fundamental key to the successful transition of NSW
We note the reservation on green hydrogen and recognise the need to focus energy and attention on electrification of the grid before green hydrogen is a truly green solution – however, it is worth keeping fingers on the pulse to ensure no opportunity is unnecessarily missed and we are prepared to take advantage of the technology once electrification of the grid is further advanced.
Next steps: RDA Mid North Coast will be working with key local, regional, state and federal stakeholders to take advantage of the opportunities in the region. A key focus for the RDA will be community engagement and liaising with industry and government to facilitate the best outcomes for the region with the knowledge contained in this Report, as per steps 1,2 and 4 above.
