TAMWORTH appears to be holding on tight to its Evocities membership as other councils look likely to pull the pin.
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Armidale councillors have been urged to pull the city out of the program and will take a vote on the matter at their meeting on Wednesday.
The report on which Armidale's councillors will vote questions the return on investment.
"Based on reporting provided by Evocities there was little evidence of a direct correlation between the marketing activities of Evocities and direct benefits to the Armidale region, over the last four years of membership with respect to population growth or business attraction," it said.
Evocities is a marketing campaign targeted at metro audiences, financially backed by seven regional councils and aiming to get people to move from the city to the country.
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Each council was set to spend $332,000 on the campaign during the next four years.
However, Tamworth's councillors, including acting mayor Phil Betts, remained supportive of the scheme.
"The Evocities campaign is extremely important to councils in the regional areas of NSW," he said.
"What it does, it penetrates the metro market to advertise and promote the regional lifestyle."
Cr Betts didn't criticise Armidale for looking to withdraw from the program and said each community had to weigh up what was best for them.
Jim Maxwell, who lives in an outer-lying community, also believed the region got a benefit from Evocities.
"We could spend that money somewhere else, but I think the profile it gets you being in an organisation like that is one step above," Cr Maxwell said.
Mark Rodda said Tamworth would have to reconsider its membership if any more councils pulled out.
"I think it probably is a good opportunity to network with other councils of similar sizes and demographics and see if, pooling resources, we can get better results for rural councils," he said.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
