Jobs ‘the key’

By Kath Gannaway
THE loss of jobs in Warburton over the past decade is being blamed for a population drop in the district.
Reversing the trend could depend on developments like the proposed Ythan Springs and Edgewater resorts, according to local business operators.
According to the 2006 Census there are 818 fewer people living in the 3799 post-code area – Warburton, Millgrove, East Warburton, Wesburn and Reefton – than there were in 2001.
Figures which show just 608 people in the 15 to 24 year age group and 683 in the 55 to 64 age group in the area support the view of long-time resident and local real estate agent Chris Thomas that when young people leave the town looking for work, their families often follow.
The largest demographic of 2245 residents was in the 25 to 54 age group with people 55 and over making up the next largest group.
The number of couples with children has also fallen.
Mr Thomas said he was surprised at the drop in just five years.
“It’s bad for the town but there is no employment up here.
“What we find is a lot of kids finish secondary school and because there are no job opportunities they leave,” he said.
“When I left school you had endless job opportunities here – the Country Roads Board, Telecom, the local council, SEC, MMBW and lots of accommodation places and retail-type shops.
“They just aren’t here anymore and on top of that we have seen the hospital and Sanitarium factory close in the past decade, leaving just Signs Publishing as the main employer.”
Even there, modern technology has seen a reduction in the workforce at Signs.
Signs general manager Glen Reed says his company currently employs about 50 people but there’s no escaping the fact that most Upper Yarra residents need to look elsewhere for work.
“The traffic heading down the highway is 10 times more than what is heading up the valley,” he observed.
Andrew Irvine, assistant manager at Signs, says Upper Yarra communities are missing out when young people are left out of the mix.
“What you end up with is young people visiting on holiday rather than people working and living in the community and it’s that (diverse age) involvement which creates a sense of community.”
The developers behind Ythan Springs and Edgewater resorts told the Mail last week that Upper Yarra communities can feel confident about pinning at least some of their job aspirations on the projects.
Eric Sward, CEO of The Crockett Group behind the Edgewater Resort (the former Sanitarium factory), said work was progressing steadily.
“It has always been seen by us as a major employment generator for the area,” Mr Sward said.
“Obviously there will be a flow-on effect to local suppliers of all sorts of goods and services.”
Mr Sward said their experience with other resort developments has shown people work their way up the career ladder then may leave to gain experience in major cities or overseas.
“They then tend to come back and take up department and management roles, or higher, and continue their career,” he said.
Paul Zaviska, company director behind Ythan Springs, said everything was in place for construction to start on their resort development in November.
“The resort will provide work for about 120 people and we would expect half of those people will be local people,” he said.
Mr Zaviska said he expected construction to take 18 to 24 months and that where possible local people would also be used in the construction phase.