Business View Oceania | February 2021

41 42 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2021 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA FEBRUARY 2021 Australia with the population we have of around 15,000. Half of our area is state forest and we have the Collie River flowing by. We have three major settlements: the Town of Burekup, the Town of Dardanup and the Towns of Eaton- Millbridge with a combined population of about 12,500, and our other small localities are under 1,000 at the moment. But they are growing fairly quickly with the desire of people to become more regional with the COVID pandemic going on. So that’s a good thing – our smaller towns are getting looked at more seriously now.” Residents and visitors of the Shire of Dardanup are blessed with beautiful parks, picnic facilities, reserves and public open spaces, plus a bevy of scenic natural wonders, like the Ferguson River Valley and the nearby state forests and National Parks. Agricultural is a long-standing mainstay of the shire and traditional farming enterprises like beef and dairy production are now complemented by a growing tourism industry based on local attractions such as Gnomesville, exceptional wineries, restaurants and boutique accommodation. “Gnomesville has quite a story,” says Bennett. “It’s known internationally; people come there just to place gnomes – there are probably close to 6,000 now. It’s quite quirky, just a place on the side of the road. In fact, it’s become such a draw that a toilet is being put in because of the site’s popularity. We keep the walkways tidy but we don’t want to commercialise it too much… it’s just a unique tourist attraction that kids and adults love. Gnomesville even has its own website.” Eaton forms the largest part of the shire’s rate base and commercial hub and is home to the shire’s main administration building, as well as the Eaton Fair Shopping Centre. Stage two of construction is now underway for the expansion of the Centre – a go-to destination with its major supermarkets and retailers plus 75+ specialty shops which have the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day 363 days a year. And the much- anticipated stage three will double the size of the retail centre. From an economic driver standpoint, Bennett explains, “We’re very fortunate in the Dardanup Shire because we’re in the centre of half a dozen shires with a large array of employment opportunities. There are coal mines, power stations and South32 Bauxite Mine to the east which draw a lot of workers out of our area. Our neighbouring shire to the north has a heavy industry park with Lithium, Silica and other industries along with producing beef and dairy products which employ workers from the region. And there are supplemental industries with tourism attractions and local manufacturing businesses. There are about 100,000 people in the region working within all of those industries. Ourselves, we have a timber industry hub which produces laminates and compressed board for furniture making, as well as pine timber production and a glue factory, wood chipping – quite a few smaller to medium size enterprises with the majority of our workforce being employed in manufacturing. All around us are different jobs and everybody works in different shires. It’s a very diverse industry group.” SHI RE OF DARDANUP , WESTERN AUSTRAL I A Councillor Michael (Mick) Bennett, Shire of Dardanup President