7 / 12
the region, the Council had to take
a comprehensive look into the wid-
er area and develop a strategic plan
that would benefit not only the econ-
omies of its own townships but those
of the surrounding areas as well. For
one, the expansion of sealed roads al-
lowed economic growth to spread out.
The influx of services was a direct re-
sult of that and now the Council is con-
cerned with building infrastructure to
attract visitors and build more interest
in the commercial market. According
to Robert O’Brien, the Council’s CEO,
the hope is that by providing the ini-
tial services and necessary infrastruc-
ture, the private sector will take over
and breathe new life to the region.
Heavy investments in the
road network
Because of all that, it is easy to see
that the Council’s investments in the
road network have benefitted the wid-
er region as a whole. Of course, a big
part of their workload is completing
road projects for the state government.
“A big part of our work is doing work
on behalf of the state government on
the state road network. If we can get
that average of 10 to 15 kilometers
per year rolled out, we will still have at
least a 10-year program ahead of us. A
lot of these roads, which were original-
ly part of the beef roads network, are
just five meters wide with single lanes.
Robert O’Brien, CEO