Parkes Shire Council Economic and Business Development Manager, Anna Wyllie, believes there are many things which contribute to a town’s future.

These are Anna’s views...

What makes a healthy vibrant and sustainable economy?

How do we know that Parkes has a healthy, diverse, vibrant and sustainable economy?

To me there are many ingredients that go into making and assessing the health of an economy.

They include population growth rates, employment rates, affordability and lifestyle, diversity of the economy, and investment.

Most of these ingredients can be measured statistically but there are other elements that are hard to measure including the look, feel and the activity such as strong civic leadership and a sense of community. 

Population is often used as a measure of the prosperity of a community. 

But as with all statistics, it needs to be considered in context:

Why is a population increasing or decreasing? 

Is rapid growth in population a good thing?  

Government of all levels struggle to keep up with demand and the infrastructure needed and the cost of living may end up being artificially inflated when population grows rapidly. 

Parkes’ population grew between the last two census according to the ABS.

In 2006 the population was 14,284 and in 2011, it had increased to 14 592. 

The ABS each year develops population estimates based on numerous data sets such as births, deaths and movements in Medicare address registrations. 

According to the ASB, in 2013 the Parkes Shire’s population was 15,087 which was slightly down on the previous year but could easily be explained by the down turn in the mining industry. 

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment produces population estimates which are used by government to estimate the number of new services that a community might need in the future. 

Unlike many other regional communities the Parkes Shire is expected to continue to grow at a rate of about 0.2% per year or 3.1% over a 20 year period (2011 to 2031). 

This level of growth is sustainable.

However, it doesn’t take into account the effect that major infrastructure projects such as the Melbourne to Brisbane inland rail may have on the population of Parkes.  

Another measure of a healthy and vibrant economy is the diversity within an economy. 

Diversity especially in terms of employment in an economy gives the economy robustness so that when one sector is under performing, employment may be sought in another. 

An example of this is mining and agriculture during the last drought.

A lot of agricultural workers went to work for the mines, but as mining declined and the productivity in agriculture improved, the movement reversed. 

The Parkes Shire has a diverse economy. It generated Gross Regional Product (GRP) of more than $1.0 billion in 2010-11, representing annual GRP growth of 2.3%. 

The mining industry is a key driver of the Parkes Shire’s local economy, accounting for one third and almost 7% of the Shire’s total GRP and employment respectively. 

The announcement by Northparkes Mines of a life of mine extension until 2032 and the continuing employment rates further underpins the stability that mining brings to the economy.

Outside of mining, the local economy is relatively diversified with other key sectors including agriculture and transport, postal and warehousing. 

These two sectors together contribute to more than 13% of the Shire’s GRP and almost a fifth of local employment. 

Other key employers include retail trade (12.3%) and health care (11.8%), reflecting Parkes’ role as a regional commercial and administrative service centre.

The real estate growth and also the affordability of the market is another important ingredient in the mix for a healthy economy. 

Parkes has seen significant real estate growth in recent years according to Australian Property Monitors (APM).

Between 2013 and 2014 there was a 9.9% growth rate in the medium price of houses and over the last five years, approximately 17%. 

Despite the strong growth in the real estate market, Parkes still remains very affordable.

The median house price in Parkes in 2013/14 was $255,000 and APM projects a 4.3% growth to $266,051 over the next 12 months. 

The average monthly mortgage in Parkes is $1,300 compared to the Australian average of $1,800. 

The average rent is $150 per week compared to the Australian average of $285 per week (ABS Census 2011).

Over a number of years, millions of dollars have been invested into Parkes regional economy by all sections of government for our Shire’s critically important asset infrastructure. 

Over the next five years, this investment continues with the construction of new water and sewer treatment facilities, significant upgrade works to Council’s main water supply dam with a combined value of approximately $60 milion, Airport redevelopment of $3 million and a new hospital construction valued at $72.5million.

These investment show confidence in the Parkes economy and they have and will continue to positively impact job security and creation, increase the standard of living for our community, and generate investment opportunities over the coming years for the regional residential, commercial and industrial sector of Parkes. 

The final ingredient is strong civic leadership and an amazing community. 

We can look at the statistical data, we can analysis population growth, investments and real estate markets.

But what makes a healthy, diverse, vibrant and sustainable economy are the people who lead, live, work, play and in Parkes’ case, laugh in a community. 

If you have this ingredient right, all of the rest will follow - and in the Parkes Shire’s case, I think we do!