INCUMBENT councillor Steven Perryman has cited a number of emerging opportunities for economic growth and elevating Mount Gambier’s reputation as a progressive and vibrant regional city as his main motivation for seeking a further term on Mount Gambier City Council.
The former mayor, who has served on council since 2000, said the city growth plan developed by council through wide consultation over the past three years provided a springboard for a range of valuable community building activities.
Mr Perryman was the driving force behind the formation of industry body Tourism Mount Gambier – a groundbreaking partnership between council, TMG and the Mount Gambier Chamber of Commerce – and vowed to continue to strive toward growth in the visitor economy.
“In just two years TMG has grown its membership to more than 65 businesses,” Mr Perryman said.
“Many of the TMG strategic goals have been incorporated into council’s city growth plan and TMG has delivered essential projects such as digital visibility and social media strategy, building the Discover Mount Gambier website and the Guides of Mount Gambier training project.”
Mr Perryman said the tourism industry supported the need to refocus resources towards digital channels and away from bricks and mortar visitor centres.
He said other key areas included developing more tours and experiences, better educating wholesalers and travel agents and connecting businesses to the market.
“The time is ripe to develop new tourism products and promote our region more aggressively than ever in order to grow the visitor economy,” Mr Perryman said.
“The structure is in place and I will support ongoing funding of these initiatives.”
He cited the proposed sports and recreation centre as an emerging opportunity to elevate Mount Gambier as a nationally recognised sport and event destination
“Equally valuable is the ability to build it into a community hub, much like the library is,” he said.
“By hosting a broad range of activities and community programs in addition to traditional sporting activities, it will be a place for people to connect, participate, recreate and grow.”
Mr Perryman said art and cultural events should also be used to engage, inspire and connect the community.
“Whether the outcome is education, employment, entertainment or simply an expression of a viewpoint, it will add vibrancy to the city,” he said.
“The coming council term is like a new chapter for Mount Gambier.
“The ground work has been laid over the past term and if re-elected, my focus will be to drive the activation of economic and community capacity building projects.”
