08 Aug Another Successful Funding Application Using REMPLAN – Yarra Valley Regional Tourist and Rail Link
REMPLAN prepared a report in response to a request from Yarra Ranges Shire Council to assess the likely economic benefits of The Yarra Valley Regional Tourist Precinct and Rail Link Project. Currently the Yarra Valley Railway is running from Healesville to Tunnel Hill. The Council is seeking the funding to extend the tracks to connect two popular tourist towns of Yarra Glen and Healesville.
This report details the unique economic structure of the Yarra Ranges economy in terms of employment, output, wages and salaries and value-added. The role tourism in contributing to the local economy is a key focus. A quantitative assessment of the direct and indirect economic impacts of the Yarra Valley Regional Tourist Precinct and Rail Link Project is also presented.
Executive Summary (Excerpt)
The Yarra Valley Regional Tourist Precinct and Rail Link Project will create a link between Yarra Glen and Healesville and various tourism experiences that already exist in the Yarra Ranges region.
This will provide improved opportunities for local businesses to collaborate in creating “packages” of experiences that will significantly grow the Yarra Valley’s attractiveness as a tourism destination and add value to the experiences already on offer including wineries, events, food, recreation and nature based activities.
The Project will enable a significant increase in the number of people who can experience the Yarra Valley Rail and other tourism related experiences in the Yarra Valley. It is anticipated that, once the Yarra Valley Regional Tourist Precinct and Rail Link Project is completed and the services are fully operational the number of passengers can grow from some 20,000 to 200,000 per year.
The greater linkages with existing tourism experiences will also attract many of these visitors to stay overnight in the Yarra Valley and use the Yarra Valley as a platform to access more experiences in the region and beyond. The increase in overall, and overnight, visitation will result in an increase in the goods and services purchased from businesses in the Yarra Range region, and beyond, in areas such as accommodation, retail, food and transport.
The increase in overall, and overnight, visitation will generate a significant increase in employment within the Yarra Ranges region.
The construction of the various elements of the project will create some 10 construction related jobs. The wages and income associated with this construction employment and the expenditure of local goods and services will generate a further 15 jobs and will grow the size of the local economy by more than 19 million dollars on an annual basis during this time.
When Yarra Valley Rail is operating at full capacity the increased visitation is forecast to generate more than 170 additional jobs. These jobs will be spread across a range of businesses in sectors such as food and accommodation, retail, health and wellbeing and transport. The wages and income generated by this increased employment will also enable increased expenditure on goods and services from businesses throughout the Yarra Ranges region. In all, this increase in employment will grow the size of the local economy by more than 35 million dollars on an annual basis.
This project was successful in receiving $3,560,000 in funding from the Regional Development Australia Fund – Round Four.
More examples of using REMPLAN to successfully obtain funding can be found in our “Using REMPLAN for Funding Applications” blog…
For further information on how REMPLAN can assist with Funding Applications, please contact the team on 1300 737 443
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