Make An Enquiry

	COUNTRY COMMUNITIES - THE POWERHOUSE OF THE ECONOMY
	The Honourable Tony Kelly MLC Minister for Regional Development

The Complete Lifestyle Package

Country areas of the State offer a lot when it comes to lifestyle.

But as most people will attest, one of the quickest ways of getting yourself into an argument in a bar is to start comparing the lifestyles experienced by metropolitan and country folk.

There are the strong opposing views, the arguments for and against – those who wouldn’t move for millions, and those who have the ‘please tell me more’ expression on their faces.

And you can argue until the cows come home…metropolitan areas have their advantages and disadvantages, just like country areas.

But now there’s a campaign entitled ‘Country Week’ – convincing people in metropolitan Sydney that they should at least consider a move to country or regional New South Wales to improve their way of life.

The campaign is aimed at attracting industry, commerce and individuals out of the metropolitan areas to the country districts.

It has a two-fold purpose… to take pressure off Sydney, which is now bursting at the seams, and to get badly needed industry, commerce and population into the country areas.

More than 3500 people a week are moving into Sydney; and governments and councils are struggling to provide the infrastructure to cater for the needs of all those people.

At the same time, many smaller country centres are losing population as young people make their way into the metropolitan areas.

Living in a metropolitan area brings with it congestion, people having to travel  hours a day to get to and from work and the pressure this places on family life; in some cases pollution; major traffic snarls and, it seems, crowds wherever you go.

The Sydney region is no exception. Many thousands of people have moved here for that dream job, education or what the feel is greater opportunity. And what are they confronted with? The nightmare of the daily commute to and from work with trips taking longer and longer as the traffic congestion becomes heavier and heavier.

There’s also the higher cost of living in metropolitan areas … not to mention the high cost of real estate and the increasing battle young people are fighting to realise the Australian dream of owning their own home.

In country towns and cities, homes are much cheaper.

Depending on the area selected, a three-bedroom brick veneer home can cost under $200,000.

Research shows it’s the opportunities that matter.

It’s not dislike for big cities that encourages people to consider moving to a country or regional area, more it’s about the cost of housing, changing a lifestyle, new job opportunities and retirement.

This was just some of the results of research conducted by the University of Sydney at the Country Week Expo staged in Sydney last year.

7,500 people attended the three-day Country Week Expo which was staged at Rosehill racecourse last August. This was the third annual Expo staged in Sydney.

The research was conducted by Professor John Connell who is the Professor of Geosciences (Geography) at the University of Sydney.

Professor Connell said he was interested to find that it wasn’t dislike for big cities that encouraged people to consider moving but more the positive opportunities that existed outside of the cities.

Two groups were identified as being the most interested in moving to a country or regional area.

These are younger people, often house holds that have been recently formed. The cost of housing, the availability of employment and safety for children were the key factors in their decision making.

The second group most interested in moving were older couples whose children have left home and become independent. For these people a more relaxed lifestyle was the most important factor in their decision to move.

The research revealed that most people who attended the Expo were serious about moving.

Professor Connell said it shows that people have several stages in their decision making process when they are considering moving away from a city. These include researching their options directly by phone or on the internet, visiting those towns that initially appeal to them but predominantly, being able to compare what was available at the Country Week exhibition.