GUNNEDAH mayor and Namoi Unlimited Joint Organisation (JO) chair Jamie Chaffey is hailing the group’s first month since proclamation a success.
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The JO is made up of representatives from seven council’s from around the region and was officially proclaimed by the NSW Government on May 8.
Following the proclamation, the JO held its first official meeting on Friday to mark the new direction of the group.
Cr Chaffey said the first meeting of the new look JO was a “momentous occasion.”
“For a number of years, the mayors and councils of Gunnedah Shire Council, Gwydir Shire Council, Liverpool Plains Shire Council, Tamworth Regional Council and Walcha Council have been working hard to establish strategies and actions to grow the Namoi region, to collaborate with all levels of government and to advocate on behalf of our communities,” he said.
“We have the opportunity as a group to shape our communities, support businesses to grow so they can create jobs for future generations.”
The JO has already been hard at work, co-ordinating with Trade NSW to facilitate a meeting for local exporters and representatives from major overseas buyers in Tamworth earlier this month.
“It was fantastic and we had about 30 companies represented on the day,” Cr Chaffey said.
“We created an opportunity for all of those businesses to spend 10-minutes with the senior representatives from each country to talk about their products, which was a great way for those companies to get their products out there.”
Cr Chaffey said he was pleased at the level of involvement from businesses within the Gunnedah shire.
“I was really encouraged by the participation from the Gunnedah shire,” he said.
“A big percentage of the businesses that were represented were, processors within our shire, producers within our shire or are businesses who have some involvement with business within our shire.
“It was pleasing to see these representatives take part in the meeting because trade and a strong local economy are certainly goals of Gunnedah Shire Council and in turn are goals of Namoi Unlimited JO as well.”
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Members of the JO will now look to establishing the groups strategic plan and receiving $300,000 of state government seed funding as a part of the JO proclamation in May .
“This is an exciting development for local government,” Cr Chaffey said.
“We have the opportunity to work closely with government, to advocate for the developments and infrastructure that we know we need to grow, now its time for us to get on with the job.”