NEW wind farms, extensions to a Koroit supermarket, milk factory expansion and housing developments are all on the agenda for Monday nights’ Major Projects Forum.
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The small business festival event is offering community members an opportunity to keep abreast of upcoming ventures.
The two-hour session, held at the Warrnambool Surf Life-Saving Club will be hosted by Moyne and Warrnambool City councils.
Event organiser Loren Tuck said the forum would offer more than a list of developments.
“It’s an opportunity for businesses to get information about potential work,” she said.
“The annual event lists the major projects coming up and that could not only prompt tenders but it also sets a train of thought like ‘some projects might need roads built, some might need additional accommodation or services.”
Moyne Shire director of sustainable development Oliver Moles said small business owners should see the event as a way to cultivate new opportunities.
“There are real spin-offs that come about from local projects that people often don’t think about,” he said.
“Yes they may have peaks and troughs and eventually die away with the completion of a project, but there are certainly peaks of opportunity for people.”
Mr Moles said including the community in upcoming projects was beneficial.
“If we don’t engage with the community and the rumour mill says something’s about to happen, then we’ll start to get calls.
“Once people know about major projects such as the wind farm we get a number of contractors contact us straight away and say ‘how do I get engaged with the company that’s going to build this thing? I’m an electrician or I’m a concreter..
“So part of Monday nights’ event is to alert people to the opportunities.
“There’s a whole backroom support network that needs to keep things functioning and there’s opportunities for community businesses to take advantage of these things.”
Aside from major projects Mr Moles said a vital part of shire planning included external factors.
“We are also planning for continued existence,” he said.
“To continue into the future we need to look at continued housing growth, dealing with sea level rise and climate change and riverine flooding and so on.”
The event will be held at the Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club on August 20 from 6pm to 8pm.