Tasman Council wins LGAT award for campaign

The Tasman Council recently received the LGAT Delivering Excellence – Smaller Council Award.

The council won the award for its Think Tasman campaign, which aimed to attract people and businesses to the region.

Tasman Council general manager Blake Repine said it felt great to win the award.

“It was well deserved for the team from the council that put it all together,” Mr Repine said.

“They worked incredibly hard to take a vision and turn it into a reality and into something that has raised the profile of the council – not just within the state, but nationally.

“It shows that we are punching well above our weight for a small council to be able to do something like that.

“Everything that’s come from that campaign has been incredible.”

The Think Tasman campaign was launched in 2024.

“It was to get people to think about when you are looking for a place to invest, Think Tasman?” Mr Repine said.

“When you’re looking for somewhere to raise your kids, Think Tasman?

“If you’re looking for a great place to live, Think Tasman?”

Mr Repine said there are more than 350,000 visitors to the Tasman annually.

“We thought, how do we raise our visibility, visitors and investment down here?

“How do we increase the number of people living down here to support all these tourists and businesses that need workforces?

“How do we bring more people into our communities to fill the schools and volunteer with the community groups?

“That was the whole purpose of Think Tasman – when people think about where they want to go or where is best, it’s the Tasman.”

Since the campaign launch, Mr Repine said there had been positive results.

“We’ve seen an increased number of subdivisions and investment in the property sector, but also investment in the business sector.

“Quite a few businesses have changed hands since then or invested further into their business, which is attracting more people to the region.”

Mr Repine said the Think Tasman campaign had also resulted in more hospitality and accommodation providers setting up shop in the region.

“They didn’t realise there are a lot of people who come to the Tasman and really like it.

“Our gross regional product has increased in the last couple of years from just under $100 million to over $120 million annually.

“That economic stimulus and growth have come about from the Think Tasman campaign.”

The Tasman Council hoped to push further forward following the campaign.

“We’ll continue to build on and build those relationships, raise our visibility, and partner with organisations in the private sector to increase the economic sustainability of our entire region,” Mr Repine said.

He said that the Think Tasman campaign was a blueprint for other regions to follow.

“The key is to look at the strengths of your region and think about how to build on them.

“Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, how do you actually highlight the strengths of your region and present that statewide or nationally?”