Donald and Camperdown, the towns saving themselves
TWO small Victorian country towns are defying the population drift away to bigger centres and giving hope to other small centres that they can also forge a strong future.
TWO small Victorian country towns are defying the population drift away to bigger centres and giving hope to other small centres that they can also forge a strong future.
After years of hardship, Donald in the Wimmera and Camperdown in the state’s southwest, have both rebounded thanks to the vision and drive of locals prepared to back their own communities.
In Donald, local businessman Graeme Harris has been one of the driving forces behind the town’s turnaround.
“In the early 1990s the town’s meatworks closed and the railways left and about 200 jobs were lost,” Graeme said.
“If the town was going to survive we needed those jobs back, but we realised we were more likely to achieve that by attracting a number of smaller industries rather than relying on a single, large employer,” he said.
With the help of Buloke Shire, the local entrepreneurs came up with a plan to identify possible industries that could tap into the huge surrounding agriculture sector and nearby infrastructure.
One of the group was a baker with a biscuit recipe and Kookas Country Cookies was born. The locals stumped up the capital, sourced local wheat for flour that is milled in nearby Bridgewater, local transport operators came on board and Kookas thrived so much it’s embarking on a $1.7 million expansion with Victorian Government backing.
“Something had to happen, there is a point in small towns where there is no return,” said Graeme, explaining the decision for locals to back the project with their own money.
The Kookas success formula was also used to establish Australian Eatwell, one of the town’s other key employers. Local investors again looked around for possible industries that could cash in on the lentils and chickpeas grown in the region, then identified and bought Australian Eatwell, a Melbourne-based company that was making vegetarian and vegan foods such as vegie burgers and sausages.
They moved the company to Donald in 2003, acquired the Simply Better Food brand in 2009 and expanded their product range to include tofu made from local chick peas and soy cheese and is continuing to look for new investment opportunities.
“It’s about value adding to what you already have,” Buloke Shire Economic Development officer James Goldsmith said.
“That’s where the jobs are.
“One man can run 100,000 acres but it takes 15 people to process it.
“We have 800,000 square kilometres up here and just 6000 people, so the opportunities are there.”
As such, one of the strategies the Shire uses to attract new opportunities to Donald is seeking investment in intensive agriculture pursuits, such as broiler farms.
“It’s a great opportunity for broadacre farmers to diversify and give them a consistent cash flow,” James said.
“It means even in a bad year they still have money coming in and then there are all the employment spin-offs, the transport, the catchers, the food suppliers and producers and so forth.”
Innovation continues to abound in Donald. The local footy club’s survival is assured after it took over the local caravan park and now has a guaranteed cash flow, and the industrial estate is booming, as new businesses flock to buildings financed by locals or the shire and rented at low rates as a relocation incentive.
Down in the southwest, Camperdown’s clocktower may be shrouded in scaffolding but you don’t need to see its dial to know that retail times are changing in the picturesque town.
Less than two years ago, a number of shopfronts along the 3000-strong community’s main street were empty, a sign of the economic times as shoppers shift online.
But a remarkable turnaround has occurred.
A butcher, a rebranded cafe, a liquor store, a beauty salon and two women’s fashion stores have opened up either side of the elm-lined Manifold Street. Even the imposing Leura Hotel, bereft of activity for nearly a decade, is abuzz again with antiques replacing ales in the front bar.
Here owner Lily Currell returned home to Camperdown to open her fashion store stocking solely Australian-produced designs.
“It’s been a snowball effect. There were more than a few empty shop fronts only a year ago and now Camperdown has a lot more activity in the main street,” she said.
The Butcher’s Cut owner Marlin Walsh already operated a store in Cobden but decided to expand operations.
“There’s a lot of through traffic travelling from Geelong and Colac down to Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland,” he said. “The number of tourists wanting to stop in town and have a look around has increased. More people are realising the importance of small business to country communities.”
Corangamite Shire mayor Jo Beard said Camperdown’s retail revival was all the more impressive given the parlous state of many main streets throughout regional Australia. “These are not easy times for country businesses, so it’s great to see a number of new business people set up shop in Camperdown,” Cr Beard said.
“What’s important is that local people support those businesses and clearly they are. I think when one new business sets up shop, others follow and that’s been the case in Camperdown.”
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