Chamber of Commerce taking care of business

The Blackwood Chamber of Commerce and Industry is undergoing a revival.

Bridgetown’s newly resurrected Chamber of Commerce is coming together with a number of meetings held, an updated constitution and other documents, and plans are coming together for a strategic planning session in September.

Tracey Hodgkins has been elected President of the renamed Blackwood Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She brings a lot of experience in the agricultural industry as chair of the WA Future Food Network to the job.

At present it’s a fully volunteer effort but she hopes that funding may become available for a paid staff member.

She said one of Bridgetown-Greenbushes’ challenges is achieving a balance between different businesses. The Chamber has farmers, mechanics, wineries, hotel interests, tourism, and main street businesses all represented.

“My approach in all of this is about balance, the balance of all these different industries,” Ms Hodgkins said.

“We’ve got a very large agricultural industry here, we’ve got a large tourism industry here, and we’ve got a very large mining industry here now.

“So we need to balance all of those things with all the small business problems that are going to come out through this because there are a lot of resources that are going to be needed from the community, that are going to be needed to service all of these industries now.”

She thinks the development of a Light Industrial Area is a priority, and the lack of housing is a challenge with the influx of new Talison workers. But there’s also a problem of attracting staff to industries other than mining, when Talison’s wages are so much higher.

“We have to think around what can we do to bring the people in that are going to service all of these industries,” she said.

She think there are questions around higher building densities and more affordable housing, and also about the challenges posed by a growing population for our hospital and shops, and other industries. Some of those questions and challenges are equally relevant to the neighbouring communities of Manjimup, Pemberton and Nannup.

There are discussions with the Chambers of Commerce in Nannup and Manjimup about working together on common issues and collaborating, but getting the Blackwood Chamber of Commerce and Industry established is the first priority.

She’s concerned about the impact of the recently introduced Aboriginal Heritage legislation and what she says are the uncertainties around the process.

“The issue is communication, they are very poor communicators this government, and unfortunately that lack of communication and the fact that they’ve got no website – the website they’ve got is appalling, it does not have one single process in there.

“So they’re going to have to get their act together pretty quick, because if they don’t people are just going to stop doing things,” she said.

Over 130 delegates will gather at the Bridgetown Library from the 1st to the 3rd of September for the Royal Western Australian Historical Society’s 58th State History Conference of Affiliated Societies.

Bridgetown, with its rich local history, and its wealth of historic buildings, is a fitting venue for the conference which demonstrates the value of history to the community and draws delegates from across the state.

It’s the first time the town has hosted the conference. Some of the highlights will include a talk by Aboriginal elder Sandra Hill on First Nations People, their history and inclusiveness in museums, and Pat Scallan OAM speaking on Mining in Greenbushes from tin to lithium.

Dr Erica Shedley will lead a flora and fauna walk through Dorothy Scott Reserve on Saturday, while Richard Allen will also guide delegates through a walk through Bridgetown’s history, starting at the Police Station Museum.

Mary Elgar, Chairperson of the Bridgetown Historical Society, will speak on Oral History – Voices Sparking Memories, before giving the closing address.