THE benefits of living and working in the south-west are being spruiked to city slickers this weekend.
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Leaders and representatives from councils across the region are in Melbourne for the annual Regional Living Expo — but the region will be promoted long after they return home.
Deputy Premier Peter Ryan launched a $280,000 Great South Coast advertising campaign yesterday that will continue to lure people to the area. The ‘Because it’s a better life’ campaign is designed to attract new residents, investment and workers.
The campaign involves radio advertising, a website that includes job listings, billboards and promotional videos and covers the six local government areas that make up the Great South Coast Group — Colac Otway, Corangamite, Southern Grampians, Moyne, Glenelg and Warrnambool City — as well as West Wimmera.
Great South Coast Group chairman and Corangamite Shire mayor Chris O’Connor said the $280,000 was made up of a $140,000 state government grant and a $130,000 pledge from Telstra following the 2012 Warrnambool telephone exchange outage. But he said the best thing about the campaign would be the technology that would remain.
“We’ll be left with this great technology that will allow us to map the reasons people have moved to the south-west that will allow us to better target our services,” he said.
Cr O’Connor said day one of the expo had been busy. “You can get a bit tongue-tied talking to so many people, but it’s such a fantastic way to promote the region,” he said.
“Our biggest selling point seems to be real estate prices. People can’t believe how much further money goes in the south-west compared to Melbourne and surrounds.”
jwoolley@fairfaxmedia.com.au