Being a standout town next to a behemoth such as a national capital is not easy but Yass citizens believe they have the right mix to keep Canberra at a distance.
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After all, they’re older (Yass was established in 1837) and possibly wiser, as how to live in a more relaxed way close to the fruits of the land.
Agriculture is still the main wealth provider to the region, and with the wine industry in the Yass Valley defeating the effects of drought so far, viticulture looks like continuing as a major industry for a long time.
And Yass has one very unique trait. It has one of the youngest demographics for any regional town in NSW. It provides a place for younger people to get a start in life and enjoy the amenity of country living. It also shows the town’s growth has been strong for at least the last 10 years.
The town has changed remarkably in the last few years. It’s shops are full - but always changing to meet the new markets.
Yass mayor Rowena Abbey says that type of lifestyle that favours people who appreciate boutique wares is what keeps Yass apart from Canberra. Its services are also comprehensive.
“I have everything I need here. I do all my shopping in Yass,’’ the Mayor declares. The “sheep and cow girl” is proud to be the torchbearer for a town that has thrived since the Hume Highway bypass was built.
She leads a council she says is highly functional and focused on getting things done. Development applications are very quickly processed compered to state averages. It also has an active chamber of commerce.
“We are still basically a regional agricultural area. Ag is one of our predominant industries,” she said.
“We have a regional community strategic plan that looks at what the aspirations of community for the next 10 to 20 years. We had strong messages from nine village areas.
“The Upper Lachlan and Goulburn, saw themselves as individuals and have special aspects they want to keep as a community.
“A very strong message came through… ag is very important, our lifestyle is important and it’s important that we don’t become a suburb of Canberra.
“We looked at South Coast regional plans, Sydney-Canberra corridors and Southern Tablelands economic development strategies to give us some guidance.
“Yass Valley agriculture and viticulture is still the largest employer and cool climate wines growing in momentum and reputation. There is still very strong beef, sheep and broadacre farming and tourism is also growing. - mostly day-trippers, but that’s changing to longer stays.
“Businesses that add value to agriculture like the South East Livestock Exchange, Martins Fertilizers, which has gone from a small business to a smart automated large and growing potting mix bagging processor.
“It’s a really interesting mix of produce in this area. From bigger acreages to smaller acreage niche industries. Mushroom factory, olives and smaller concentrated boutique farms.”
The council had varied rates in a bid to boost basic infrastructure funds, mainly for roads and bridges in the council area. This appeared to be accepted by ratepayers.
“All that money we have raised will mostly all go directly into improving roads,” she said.
“We are looking at what we need from a regional infrastructure to allow our communities to grow and to prioritise those things like roads, water and sewer projects across the whole region. So if one area succeeds, there is always a flow-on effect to neighbouring councils.
“It’s a challenge, but as a group we can get more traction to get more funding for infrastructure process across the region.
“Also that freight connection we have with Canberra airport, port of Eden, and Wagga which is on the Inland Rail. We are right in the middle of all of that – so Yass Valley in particular is an extraordinary place for a lot of the opportunities in the future.”
That’s also including helping build the new transmission lines from the Snowy 2.0 scheme with Transgrid, with many workers expected to be located in Yass.
The town also had strong aged care facilities (2) and child care facilities (8).
“We already have our identity and don’t want to become a suburb of Canberra, we are a small country town with a lot of small villages and we have a great mixture of tree-changers and semi-retired people moving to our area.”
As with most regional centres, Yass shire builds up its economy with an array of festivals, including the Irish and Celtic Music festival, Classic Car Festival, the Yazz wine fest, Murrumbateman field days, the Beer, Wine and Barbecue festival at Sutton and Sculpture in the Paddock (from September 22 to October 7).
There is continuing debate in the shire over whether the smaller villages should have better education facilities and Yass wants to stop the student drain from the villages to Canberra, rather than students wanting to finish their education in Yass. For the moment, roads have become a priority for the council.
“From a council perspective, one of our major obligations to the community is to try and have those roads, so you can get your kids to school, get your freight, livestock, wool, - product to markets,” Mrs Abbey said.
“Our job is that our businesses and communities have access to those markets.”