Economic Development Strategy & Destination Management Plan
Glen Innes Severn Council has once again brought in outside consultants – SC Lennon & Associates –fully funded, through a grant, to review and rewrite the town’s Economic Development Strategy and Destination Management Plan. The idea is to build on the last set of documents and produce something “visionary, practical and evidence-based”.
According to Council, these two shiny new strategies will steer the region’s economic and tourism priorities for the next five years. In other words, another round of big-picture plans that may, or may not, translate into actual projects on the ground.
The stated objectives?
- A “visionary” blueprint to grow the economy through attracting investors, supporting local business and finding workers (no small feat).
- A Destination Management Plan to boost the visitor economy by luring more tourists and making sure they spend more while they’re here.
The paperwork will also spell out Glen Innes Highlands’ supposed “comparative advantages,” list all the usual enablers (infrastructure, services, attractions, workforce skills, etc.), and set up a framework of goals, outcomes and measures of success – because no strategy is complete without tick-box Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Of course, the consultants won’t do this in isolation. They’ll be “working with the community, industry and government partners,” which in practice means yet another survey. Business owners, operators and residents are asked to spend 5–10 minutes filling out a five-question form to have their say.
The survey closes Wednesday 10 September 2025, after which the consultants will crunch the responses into glossy reports that Council will point to whenever the economy is mentioned.
Glen Innes News encourages everyone to complete this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Glen_Innes
