A BUSINESS delegation from Manning Valley Business Chamber says it had a fruitful meeting with the State member, Stephen Bromhead on Tuesday morning to present final details on the State application for the Northern Gateway transport hub.
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"This was the first opportunity we have had to formally brief Mr Bromhead since Greater Taree City Council and the chamber had provided the finished application to NSW Trade and Investment." Geoff Jackson, president of Manning Valley Business Chamber, said.
"The potential job numbers and economic benefits to the region caught his eye because our latest analysis is significantly improved on the numbers we discussed with him last year in the early stages."
The meeting was also attended by Graham Brown of GDP Partners, Ivan Batchelor of Saxby's Soft Drinks and Steve Attkins, economic development manager from the business chamber.
Graham Brown reiterated how critical this project was to the future economic sustainability of the region, and detailed some of the potential investments which could happen from this project.
"Interested companies from as far afield as Adelaide have made it known they would consider investment into the Northern Gateway. I see nothing else on our radar with the potential employment potential of 500-600 full-time jobs," Mr Brown told Mr Bromhead.
Ivan Batchelor told the State MP, "What impresses me about this project is that every small to medium business in the Mid North Coast region stands to be more efficient and productive because transport costs effect every business here. The benefits from this project are wide ranging throughout the region."
There had been some confusion about the job numbers and also the level of support but that was soon clarified by the delegation and Mr Bromhead said he would provide whatever assistance he could to make the project a reality.
He committed to helping facilitate a meeting with Andrew Stoner, Deputy Premier and minister for infrastructure.
He also suggested that he would arrange a meeting with NSW Trade and Investment to ensure that the full benefits and details can be communicated directly to the State government.