EXPECTATIONS that Wagga's population would swell to 100,000 people by 2038 might have to be tempered amid concerns the coronavirus pandemic has slowed growth.
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In 2018, the state government released its 20-year economic vision for regional NSW and identified Wagga as a "growth centre" that could reach 100,000 people by 2038.
The tag no doubt helped Wagga, which has a population of about 66,000 people, secure special activation precinct status from the then Berejiklian government in a move designed to drive jobs growth.
However, some argue the pandemic and ensuing immigration crisis has impacted Wagga's workforce to such an extent that the 100,000 population target is no longer possible in the next 16 years.
Committee 4 Wagga chairman Adam Drummond this week revealed his organisation is now assuming a revised population target of 90,000 people by 2040 is more likely.
"[With the] original forecast there wasn't any sign of COVID and there wasn't any immigration crisis," he told The Daily Advertiser this week.
"We just don't have the number of people to fill those jobs."
If Wagga maintained its current population growth rate of 1 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it would take more than 40 years to hit 100,000.
However, Wagga MLC Wes Fang said he was not giving up on the 100,000 target, saying it was still a reasonable expectation.
"[It's] not a pipe dream, I think it's very much in the realms of reality," he said.
"I don't think we should be abandoning the idea ... I think we need to be planning for it."
Mr Fang said the special activation precinct (SAP) at Bomen will be a "game changer" for Wagga and the city hasn't "quite grasped how many jobs are going to flow from that single point of investment alone".
The 6000 SAP jobs anticipated within a decade are now expected by 2050. Mr Fang argues that as works continue on the precinct, the immigration crisis will gradually improve in tandem.
"I think we will see a return to those normalised settings and that's going to be beneficial for finding workforces," he said.
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Although the pandemic has impacted immigration levels on a country-wide scale, Mr Fang said it has bolstered population growth on a regional-rural level.
"There's been a definite shift in people living in metropolitan areas moving out to regional areas," he said.
"There has been an increase in the property values [and] rental prices because demand is there, and the demand is there because people are wanting to move here."
Murray-Riverina regional manager for Business NSW Anthony McFarlane said it is vital that housing supply develops at the same as this population "boom" to ensure sustainable growth.
"Businesses NSW would encourage initiatives that help speed up development planning timeframes," he said. Mr Fang said all levels of government will need to work together to make this happen - with council providing "quick" assessments for developments and releasing blocks for housing, the state government investing in social housing, and the federal government developing new infrastructure.
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