Halls Gap: Economic Impact and Recovery Flood and Extreme Weather Events in 2011 Samantha Magill Director Marketing & Community Development Greg Little Municipal Recovery Manager

Halls Gap

Halls Gap the tourist village with everything!

The Impact on Halls Gap Stoney Creek stores flooded

The Impact on Halls Gap Township evacuated and isolated

The Impact on the Shire

The Impact on Halls Gap Damage to private residences, investment properties and businesses

The Impact on Halls Gap Community Infrastructure damage

Halls Gap Landslide

The Impact on Halls Gap Community confidence eroded

Economic Impacts Key statistics from the January 13 th event Current trends The hidden impacts Contributing factors

Immediate Response One on one discussions Communications Community meetings Small business mentor

Recovery Economic Recovery Plan Key Result Areas Economic Recovery Committee Where are we today?

Key Stakeholders Parks Victoria Grampians Tourism

Politics and advocacy The double edged sword Understanding and planning for our needs $$ for infrastructure recovery v’s $$ for economic development initiatives Sharing the pie Continual efforts

Community Capacity Building Difficulty in funding for recovery Focus on the four pillars of recovery: –built, environment, social and economic Work to the Municipal Recovery Action Plan Road and infrastructure repairs vital Landslide Contingency plan in place Social rebuilding for the local resident population Restoration of business and economic confidence

Longer term Actions Rebuild Agency and community capacity to support emergency events. Maintain key connections and links Identify barriers to trade Update our resource base to include knowledge gained from these events

Conclusion Halls Gap as a township and tourist destination has been rocked by the series of events commencing with the bushfires in 2006 and culminating in the floods, earthquake and landslides in The confidence in the local residents, investment and business community has continually taken huge hits. What draws people to Halls Gap and the Grampians still exists. The local community needs the capacity to continually adapt to natures changes. Our role in facilitating and guiding the recovery is to ensure this.