This is the second stage of the City to River Masterplan and the Community Reference Group (CRG) has released its City Oval/Sawyer Park Concept Plan for community consultation.

I encourage interested community members to take advantage of the various opportunities to discuss the proposed changes with members of the CRG and to provide feedback.

These plans have been developed through negotiation by and with the user groups who each have representatives on the CRG.

Thank you to the CRG members for your vision, time, and contribution to the future livability of our municipality.

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Another welcome prospect for our area is the amount of interest from industrial businesses looking to expand. Council owns three industrial estates - the Enterprise Estate, Burnt Creek Industrial Estate and Dooen's Wimmera Agriculture and Logistics Hub.

A significant number of enquiries are being fielded from businesses who are new to the region, considering expanding or relocating their current operations from another part of the municipality to an industrial estate. Meeting this demand demonstrates the importance of subdividing and having sufficient industrial land ready for sale to meet the diverse needs of interested parties.

Excitingly, if they come to fruition, each of these investment proposals will lead to new employment opportunities within our municipality.

Currently, many of our local businesses can't operate at full capacity due to the challenges of attracting new staff to fill vacancies. New and expanding industries will add to this challenge.

We all understand the constraints on increasing the housing stock to meet the demands of current and new residents. Fortunately, land supply isn't an issue within our municipality, however the challenges of accessing qualified tradespersons and materials are real and they are being experienced across regional Victoria.

The importance of a strong health service in meeting the needs of our residents and in our ability to attract and retain residents cannot be over emphasized.

Especially when you consider Horsham is competing for the same residents with Melbourne and the nine other regional cities. We know what a wonderful place Horsham Rural City is to live, work, play and invest.

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