I know a lot about population growth.
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My first ever computer game was The Sims 1 Deluxe Edition, it took two CD's and patience I didn't have to install it.
Actually I lie. My first computer game was Hugo's House of Horrors and it came out on floppy disk.
Whatever. The point is I grew up in a generation where we built things. Computers games were less about mass-murder with semi-automatic rifles and more about building lives, big beautiful homes with bay windows and the ability to wield the power of God with the click of a finger.
Of course there were times when I took all the doors off the bedroom and the ladder out of the pool, condemning the character to a slow and painful death.
Sue me, there's entire websites on the Internet dedicated to the worst things gamers have ever done on The Sims.
But if I learned anything on these games it was that to grow a family, a population; you need money.
You need infrastructure. You need better healthcare, more schools and education.
There's no cheat code in reality, unfortunately you can't hold down rosebud;:;:;:;:;: and make $999,999,999 in just a couple of minutes.
Tamworth Regional Council has an ambitious plan to grow the population to 100,000 by 2041.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last month showed the local government area grew by 0.9 per cent from 2017 to 2018. The whole electorate has grown by around 625 people each year across the last ten years to 2018, at the current growth rate it will be 2073 before Tamworth reaches its six-digit dream.
If we can't grow the population quickly enough with a natural increase, we should bring more people out of metropolitan areas and into Tamworth. A university campus and bigger hospital would certainly help.
With congested roads quick to become more of a headache for our Sydney and Melbourne counterparts, Tamworth might just be the tree change people are looking for.
Let country music fuel the constant ringing in their ears.
- Madeline Link is an ACM journalist