HN 4 NBAC recommends that further investment Some communities that have received assistance in structural adjustment be targeted to under the MBD regional economic development communities that have been identified as program have not been and will not be affected by impacted by water recovery by the social water recovery: others have much greater needs. and economic work, focusing on: Each community has a different social and assistance for individuals to re-skill, economic profile that dictates the most effective relocate and find new work assistance for it. assistance for businesses to build Communities are best placed to advise what sort of capacity and diversify low interest loans to restructure assistance they need: size fits all’ programs do ‘one and adapt not work. exit strategies and relocation costs Academic research and best practice indicate that small business is the principal driver of regional economies. In some affected communities, leaving is the best option, is only viable if assistance is available. HN5 NBAC recommends that MDBA facilitates The question most asked at local meetings is: and supports permanent Toolkit why is the Basin Plan necessary and what is it trying Implementation Committees (TICs) with to achieve? community and government Effective implementation of Toolkit measures is representation in each catchment in the best achieved by tapping into knowledge and Northern Basin. The establishment of a experience. Northern Basin Plan Implementation Oversight Committee with community TICs would be best placed to deal with operational representation for liaising with all issues involving tradeoffs. government jurisdictions is also An Oversight Committee could regularly assess the recommended performance of the Plan in the Northern Basin and give policy advice based on adaptive management.
HN 4 NBAC recommends that further investment in structural adjustment be targeted to communities that have been identified as impacted by water recovery by the social and economic work, focusing on: assistance for individuals to re-skill, relocate and find new work assistance for businesses to build capacity and diversify low interest loans to restructure and adapt exit strategies and relocation costs Some communities that have received assistance under the MBD regional economic development program have not been and will not be affected by water recovery: others have much greater needs. Each community has a different social and economic profile that dictates the most effective assistance for it. Communities are best placed to advise what sort of assistance they need: ‘one size fits all’ programs do not work. Academic research and best practice indicate that small business is the principal driver of regional economies. In some affected communities, leaving is the best option, is only viable if assistance is available. HN5 NBAC recommends that MDBA facilitates and supports permanent Toolkit Implementation Committees (TICs) with community and government representation in each catchment in the Northern Basin. The establishment of a Northern Basin Plan Implementation Oversight Committee with community representation for liaising with all government jurisdictions is also recommended The question most asked at local meetings is: why is the Basin Plan necessary and what is it trying to achieve? Effective implementation of Toolkit measures is best achieved by tapping into knowledge and experience. TICs would be best placed to deal with operational issues involving tradeoffs. An Oversight Committee could regularly assess the performance of the Plan in the Northern Basin and give policy advice based on adaptive management.
NBAC-advice-report.docx