Cowra Council candidate Donna Peters believes now is the time to consider the shire's future rezoning and development as the population continues to grow.
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Ms Peters says increased movement of people from the cities to the regions means councils need to start discussions around the layout of the town.
"Until recently the flow of people has been from the regions to the cities, but this is no longer the case for many reasons - tree changers, over-stimulated property market in the capital cities and the coast, government policies encouraging people to relocate to the regions," she said.
"Cowra to date has great untapped potential which fortunately lends us to easily plan and zone our future for decades to come.
"Perhaps now is the time to consider our future rezoning and development - maybe by mapping not only our current suburbs but also future suburbs."
She said the Cowra township does not have a clearly defined industrial area and taking the issue into consideration now will assist with housing and business development down the track.
"Our Shire absolutely needs industry but we can have a tidier looking town if we simply plan and zone our industrial area," she said.
"We have industrial areas on two of our main entrances, Young Road and Redfern Street, and Grenfell Road is looking a bit industrial, new shed has gone up in Pridham Street, new industrial estate recently commenced between Fishburn St and Young Road, as well as all this, part of Boundary Road is zoned industrial.
"So you'd have to ask exactly where is our industrial area? Moving into the future, what do we want our entrance ways to our town to look like?
"Over time, I would like to see any new industrial estate contained to a particular area."
In particular, Ms Peters would like to see further planning in West Cowra near the airport and towards Grenfell.
"It's imperative that our airport is not landlocked. In fact it is imperative that the airport precinct meets our needs when our population is approaching triple figures," she said.
"I see our airport as our future employment, training and a stimulus for local businesses.
"What the Inland Rail has done for Parkes, is exactly what our airport can do for Cowra, but only if we act now."
Ms Peters said it's impossible to predict how exactly Cowra will grow in the decades to come, but having suburbs with an identifiable boundary is crucial.
"There is no cost to giving West Cowra a name and a boundary," she said.
"Taragala and Mulyan are not formal names but these names serve a purpose by identifying those areas.
"Once this is done we can move on to zoning and naming other parts of town.
"It's well documented that failing to plan is planning to fail."
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