The Rural City of Wangaratta is firmly comitted to business and economic development. There are a number of major projects that Council is currently involved in including the King Valley Masterplan, Glenrowan Revitalisation Strategy and the Population Growth Strategy. 

Population Growth Strategy
All levels of government are committed to population growth. Quality research and policy development underpin the Federal Government's approach to population issues. While the Government does not consider it appropriate to set population targets, policy priorities for population growth include a need to continue to:

• pursue family friendly policies that will help to minimise further falls in fertility
• encourage more older workers to remain in the workforce longer
• enhance the skilled migration intake and encourage better dispersal
• assist improved environmental management practices and behaviour
  

Encouraging regional population growth is a goal for the State Government which has a commitment to regional population growth of 1.25% per annum from 2006. Regional Development Victoria (RDV) has an important role to play in reaching this target through the development and delivery of programs to boost growth, working with agencies to deliver skilled migration and employment initiatives, and advocating policy changes at the Commonwealth level. In addition, RDV will help to ensure that regional areas remain attractive places to invest, live and work.
 
The State Government launched the 'Make It Happen in Provincial Victoria' campaign which is a program focussed on raising the awareness amongst Melburnians on the unique livability attributes of regional Victoria which for too long have been overlooked.
 
The Rural City of Wangaratta has experienced unprecedented growth across all sectors of our economy over the last few years. This growth is continuing to surge with major projects like Big W, Ito En and innumerable others now taking shape.

The next major challenge for the Rural City of Wangaratta is to forge strong population growth if it is to sustain the skilled workforce so vital to our economy and address the rapidly aging population demographics of the region.
 
The Rural City of Wangaratta is now embarking on an ambitious population growth strategy with a target of 2.0% growth per annum against the forecast 0.3%. This target needs to be realistically assessed given the State and Federal Governments' measurements. It could be argued that a more conservative growth rate of between 0.75 and 1.5% (between 180-310 individuals) could be achieved.
 
To achieve this target, the Rural City of Wangaratta is taking a leading role in attracting skilled migrants from overseas and was successful in securing State Government support through the Regional Migration Incentive Fund (RMIF) to actively progress this opportunity.
 
The Rural City of Wangaratta is also taking full benefit of this government strategy to ensure the Rural City of Wangaratta is seen as a pre-eminent relocation option.

For more information please contact Council's Economic Development unit on (03) 5722 0775 or email wangarattaunlimited@wangaratta.vic.gov.au