REGIONAL NSW is still getting shunted down the governments priority list and local councils are calling for more investment to help push decentralisation.
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Councils across the state pledged their support to the Evocities program for four more years and the first meeting of the Tamworth-driven Regional Cities NSW will be held next month.
With a state and federal election a matter of months away, the two groups will have plenty to vie for with a change of government possible in both votes.
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As Regional Cities NSW holds its first official meeting, Evocities chair Kevin Mack said the groups would be complementary and wouldnt hinder each other.
Cr Mack wants the state government to invest $500,000 annually for the next four years into Evocities to help increase market exposure.
Each of the seven member councils (Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga) agreed to pour $332,000 each into the cause during the next four years.
Cr Mack said there had been up-lift in website traffic following recent radio and television advertising campaigns in Sydney.
He said the next challenge was having the regional NSW portfolio established as a standalone ministry.
John Barilaro has been really good trying to make it work, Cr Mack said.
But its a minor portfolio, he holds three or four on his own.
It needs its own minister if were going to get serious incentives for businesses to go regional and decentralise.
He believed the time was ripe to push the decentralisation message after Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared NSW needed a "breather" after rapid population growth.
Ms Berejiklian said Sydney had done the heavy lifting when it came to infrastructure and called for a cut to migration intakes.
Several people spoke about how Sydney reached its point of no return, he said.
The next steps should be directing people into the regions with a regional NSW minister, marketing the regions and offering direct incentives to encourage people to move into the regions.
Since its launch in 2010, 3619 households have reached out to Evocities staff since relocating to the any of the cities involved in the program.