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SCT Board’s first meeting
June 23, 2008: The management of tourism
marketing and promotions in the Bega Valley Shire is now under the
control of an independent management company called Sapphire Coast
Tourism Limited.
The company’s nine-member board was officially
appointed last Friday.
The members are Bruce Leaver (chair), Geoffrey
Morrissey (deputy chair), Gordon Beattie, Barry Harrison, Lyn Mott,
Adrian Sandrey, Tim Shepherd, Grant Webster and Council
representative, Cr Tony Allen. (Biographical details of all Board
members are attached)
In recent years Bega Valley Shire Council has
implemented a comprehensive restructuring of tourism marketing and
promotion based on the premise that the tourism industry is best
placed to manage its affairs.
A number of arrangements were put in place with
industry bodies to manage aspects of Council’s former Sapphire Coast
Tourism operation.
These arrangements were funded by Council and
included the operation of Visitor Information Centres in Merimbula,
Eden, Bermagui and Bega, Sapphire Coast Tourism promotions and
marketing, Cruise Eden and the SCT Booking Service.
Committed work by a number of groups such as the
Eden Chamber of Commerce, Bermagui Chamber of Commerce, Bega Cheese
and the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum has enabled operations to
continue to develop during this period.
The establishment of the independent body was a
recommendation from an industry forum held in April, 2007, and
agreed and managed by Council and the business forum over the
intervening period.
The Mayor, Cr Tony Allen, who is the Council
representative on the company’s Board of Directors, said he was
delighted with the first meeting of the new company,
"Council has placed the industry in a strong
position to move forward positively, building on the past work of
Sapphire Coast Tourism staff and, in the last year, the enormous
efforts of the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum.
"We are very fortunate to have so many highly
credentialed people prepared to give their time to fostering the
tourism industry in the Shire," he said.
"Each member of the Board brings his or her own
unique and relevant skills into play and the result was evident at
the first meeting.
"There is already action on creating a new
website, producing an attractions publication, management decisions
about the Visitor Information Centres across the Shire as well as
marketing and promotion opportunities."
The Board was keen to embrace the opportunities
provided by the recently announced Wilderness Coast inclusion in the
National Landscapes initiative.
Cr Allen said the new company’s articles of
association included clear corporate governance guidelines as to how
the body should relate to the various elements of the community.
Council will provide $150,000 in the coming budget
for the operations of the new body and will hold a further $50,000
in reserve for use by the body if required.
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Biographical notes on the SC Limited Board of Directors
Sapphire Coast Tourism Board
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Tony Allen
The mayor, Cr Tony Allen, is the council representative on
the Board. He has lived in the Bega Valley all his life and has
an extensive history of community service.
This includes12 years as chair of the Cobargo Co-operative
Society; chair of the Southern Area Hospital Board; president of
the Bega High School and Cobargo Public School P and C
Associations as well as leadership in a variety of sporting and
agriculture organisations.
He was elected to the Bega Valley Shire Council in 2002 and has
been mayor since 2005.
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Gordon Beattie
Gordon Beattie is e director of Arrow Solutions, a
consultancy with the theme Making Things Happen by Design,
working in the areas of events, conferences and festivals,
cultural planning and policy, research, community consultation
and cultural mapping, facilitation and change management.
Before settling at Brogo in 2001, he was senior lecturer in
Theatre, head of Performance and chair of the Courses Management
Committee in Design and Contemporary Arts at the University of
Western Sydney.
Mr Beattie has more than 35 years’ experience as a teacher,
researcher, consultant and practising artist working and leading
major arts projects in Sydney and other areas of Australia.
He is chair of the Bega Valley Regional Gallery Advisory
Committee, sits on the board of Fling Physical Theatre and is
working with the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre on
strategic planning and the design for its first exhibition
space.
He is also a member of the Bega Valley Shire Arts Network, an
informal group of professional artists, gallery owners and
managers, events organisers and cultural workers, representing a
significant number of small businesses working in the Shire’s
creative and cultural industries.
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Barry Harrison
For the past six years Barry Harrison and his wife Diane
have managed Waterview Luxury Apartments in Merimbula.
Mr Harrison is secretary of the Merimbula Chamber of Commerce
and Tourism and president of the Australian Resident
Accommodation Mangers Association (ARAMA) – South Coast
Division.
In his spare time he is a member of the Merimbula Royal
Volunteer Coastal Patrol and annually attends the Cowra Wine
Show in his position as deputy chief steward.
Bruce Leaver
Bruce Leaver lives near Cobargo and works with the
Commonwealth Government’s Parks Australia section. He is
currently working on major tourism planning projects for Kakadu
and Uluru National Parks.
Mr Leaver has vast experience in natural resource management,
nature based tourism and liaison with both government and
private sectors.
He is also the co-convenor (with Tourism Australia) of the
National Landscapes Reference Committee. The National Landscapes
project recently gained national media exposure as iconic
landscapes around the nation, including the Wilderness Coast
that runs from Bermagui to Lakes Entrance, are identified to be
promoted internationally by Tourism Australia.
Mr Leaver is a member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Tourism Advisory Committee and has worked in protected area
management in NSW, South Australia and Tasmania.
Geoffrey Morrissey
Geoffrey Morrissey has been the proprietor of the Bega Downs
Motor Inn and Restaurant in Bega since 2003 when he and his wife
Rosemary returned to the Bega Valley for a change of lifestyle.
Having grown up in Bemboka and Bega, he considered the Valley as
being close to ideal due to its natural facilities.
During the 1980s and 1990s he travelled extensively on business
which provided the opportunity to participate in tourism
experiences offered by other countries and allowed comparisons
with the tourism experiences Australia offers national and
international travellers.
Mr Morrissey says the Bega Valley has the advantages of learning
from the development paths undertaken by other communities but
needs to develop its own tourism industry that is based on the
special and unique attributes of the region rather than attempt
to emulate tourism business models of other regions.
He is a member of the Bega Chamber of Commerce and Industry
executive committee; Bega Valley Shire Business Forum; Bega
Valley Shire Economic Development and Tourism Committee; and was
on the 2007/08 BVSF Tourism Management Committee.
He has a background in engineering, events merchandising,
marketing exporting and large scale manufacturing.
Lyn Mott
Lyn Mott and her husband Michael bought the Regatta Point
Caravan Park and moved to the Bega Valley in 1997.
Since arriving in the Shire Mrs Mott has been actively involved
in many business and community organisations.
These include secretary of the Bega Valley Shire Business Forum;
secretary of the Wallaga Lake Tourist Association; chair of the
Wallaga Lake Affected Landowners Group; secretary of the
Bermagui Area Committee; secretary and president of the Caravan
and Camping Industry Association – Sapphire Coast Region;
Secretary of the Bermagui Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism;
secretary-treasurer of the Sapphire Coast Caravan Parks
Association; and voglunteer guide to the Montreal Goldfields at
Wallaga Lake.
Most recently she has been a member of the Bega Valley Shire
Business Forum management committee looking after tourism in its
transition year.
Mrs Mott wants the new board to develop meaningful networks with
local businesses, regional and State tourism organisations to
promote and strengthen a vital industry for the Shire.
She brings significant skills to the board in the areas of
research, mentoring business management and financial
monitoring.
Adrian Sandrey
Adrian Sandrey is the publican at the Great Southern Inn in
Eden. He and his family moved to the Bega Valley Shire eight
years ago, having spent five years working and running a
landmark hotel at The Rocks in Sydney.
In addition to extensive management experience in the
hospitality and tourism industry, he is a qualified chef and is
passionate about quality and preparation of local seafood and
produce.
Mr Sandrey is very active within the Eden community and has been
a driving force behind the ongoing development of the Eden Whale
Festival. He has a solid record for getting on with the job.
After attending several board meetings of the South Coast
Regional Tourism Organisation he recognised the potential value
of a local board and is prepared to put in the hours to this
project to make it work.
Mr Sandrey has a broad understanding of community need and wants
to help to develop economic growth within the Shire.
Tim Shepherd
Tim Shepherd has been the regional manager for National
Parks for the Far South Coast, based in Merimbula, since 2000.
His region extends from the border to Batemans Bay and inland to
Braidwood and Bombala and includes 30 National Parks and other
reserves that cover an area of about 450,000ha.
Before taking on that role he worked in a range of jobs with
National Parks based in Sydney and Queanbeyan.
He also spent a number of years working in National Parks ski
resort management, based near Jindabyne.
That involved the environmental management of major tourism
developments and planning for the future of the ski fields.
Mr Shepherd see National Parks as being really important now and
in the future for tourism on the Sapphire Coast and looks
forward to working with the Tourism Industry.
Grant Webster
Grant Webster is manager of the Merimbula News Weekly and
has lived in the Bega Valley Shire since March 2006.
He came from a small business background and gravitated to a
career in advertising and journalism with Riverina Media Group
in western NSW before establishing a communications consultancy
in 2002 based mainly around the irrigation industry.
Mr Webster’s experience extends to all aspects of communications
and public relations, from copy writing and graphic arts to
event co-ordination and communications and media strategy
development.
He played a pivotal role in the 2004 United Nations
International Year of Rice, including the co-ordination of
displays and media liaison for the IYR launch at Parliament
House, Canberra.
He has also maintained a long-standing relationship with
Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre, publishing the centre’s
newsletter for some time before moving to the area.
Mr Webster has been successful in initiating and facilitating
national media exposure for a number of his communications
clients and has developed relationships with numerous media
representatives throughout Australia.
He brings to the board his insight into the media and
communications fields and a desire to contribute fresh ideas to
assist the Bega Valley take full advantage of its immense
natural resources and tourism potential.
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